19
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2015
T I A R T R O P Y N COMPA
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Life Company Portrait Continental
CONTINENTAL
GLOBAL
Conti? A driving force for tires. But also for up-to-the minute anti-lock brakes, two-stroke fuel injection, and even talking patches of oil – a visit to the Frankfurt „Chassis & By Michael Schümann; photos: Jacek Bilski, Continental Safety Division“.
Without cornering ABS
Emergency braking maneuver when inclined: bike can skid side-on (center), tries to return to an upright position and drive straight ahead instead of cornering.
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With cornering ABS
Same braking maneuver, same angle of inclination: the bike slows down but corners safely without deviation from the intended trajectory
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T
he red BMW rolls swiftly onto the steep test ramp. Half-way up, the rider brakes and the bike stops. Grinning a little mischievously, Hans-Georg Ihrig looks across to the spectators, plants both feet on the ground, takes his hands off the handlebars and raises them above his head. You would normally expect the S 1000 XR, a machine weighing 228 kilograms, to roll away from under the Continental test rider and fall over. But it doesn’t. It remains upright on the slope as if it had been welded in place. What we have just witnessed is a demon stration of an “extended control function“ of the latest Conti ABS anti-locking system: MHG – which stands for “Motorcycle Hold & Go”, already a familiar feature of cars and the BMW-K-1600 models, otherwise known as “reverse-roll lock” or “hill start assistant”. Motorcyclists who hear the name “Continental” immediately think of tires. After all, when the company started in Hanover back in 1871, it called itself “Caoutchouc-Compa gnie”. “And that is still our core segment to this day”, confirms Sascha Till, Product Mana ger Motorcycle Tires. Having only recently introduced the TKC 70, an adaptation of the almost legendary chunky-treaded TKC 80 but more suitable for on-road use, Conti now covers the whole range for two-wheelers – supplying tires for everything from a
scooter to a racing superbike. “Where tires are concerned, a technology transfer from motorcycle to car is perfectly possible,” adds tire specialist Till, citing the example of the “Black Chili Compound” mixture developed especially for two-wheelers by Conti engineers, but now commonly used for car tires, too. Technical developments usually move in the other direction, however – from cars to motorcycles. Besides ABS and its continuing technical advances, Adaptive Curve Lighting is another example worth mentioning. “Generally speaking, this kind of technology is initially developed for the car and then transferred to motorcycles as and when required. That was definitely the case for Adaptive Curve Lighting, although the hardware – the spotlamps and headlights, that is – were supplied by other manufacturers, not us,” explains Lothar Kienle, Head of Development Motorcycle ABS at Continental. How many of the 4,000 employees at Conti’s Chassis and Safety technology faci lity in Frankfurt are actually involved with motorcycle-related topics? Well, it’s hard to give an exact figure because of the many overlapping areas just mentioned. “Both fields – car and motorcycle – are closely related. It’s not unusual for employees to switch from one field to the other; in fact, we are fully in favor of such moves,” says ABS developer Kienle, who moved from
A safe emergency stop although the bike is leaning? Already a reality thanks to special software and Continental’s current ABS
Measurement electronics: data is registered and parameters adjusted immediately on the Conti test track in Frankfurt
Interview Alessandro Cataldi, Business Development Manager Synerject “Without fuel injection, it’s the end of the road for two-stroke engines” ? The new emission standard Euro4 for motorcycles is coming in 2016. What changes will this bring? ! There’s a difference between fourstroke and two-stroke engines. As far as four-strokes go, our technology has already been compliant with Euro4 for some time. The only change the end user (the purchaser of a new bike from 2016 onwards, Ed.) will really notice is the mandatory inclusion of the OnBoard-Diagnosis (OBD) warning lamp. Work on fulfilling the Euro5 standard, which will become law in 2020, started a long time ago. ? But what about the not inconsiderable number of two-stroke bikes still in use, for example in off-road motor sport? What will Euro4 mean for the future of two-stroke motocross or Enduro bikes? Will there even be new
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machines with two-stroke engines from 2016 onwards? ! Let’s take a little look back first. Up till now, suppliers and bike manufacturers have always found ways to ensure that two-stroke engines with carburetors comply with the currently valid emission standard. When Euro4 comes in, this will no longer be possible without sacrificing performance – and the high specific performance of twostroke engines is the biggest point in their favor. At any rate, one thing is clear: the days of the two-stroke engine are numbered without a fuel injection system. But Continental has plenty of solutions to offer here. We are world market leaders in the field of two-stroke fuel injection, and Euro4 doesn’t cause us any problems. Our systems comply with the limits without compromising performance. ? Will two-stroke engines with fuel injection be more expensive than carburetor versions?
! Well, you’d really have to put that question to the bike manufacturers directly, but I think the effort and expense required for fuel injection are similar to the latest generation of electronic carburetors. They had to be introduced in order to comply with emission standards, which of course also made motorcycles more expensive. On the other hand, components we already use in four-stroke fuel injection systems will also be used for two-strokes, making production cheaper. What’s more, an injector lowers fuel consumption and improves ignition performance. ? How will the Euro5 standard due in 2020 affect two-strokes? ! We don’t know yet. As I said, the new standard won’t be a problem for four-stroke engines. We are still waiting for the emission limits for two-strokes to be determined, but all in all we are confident that we will be able to surmount this obstacle, too.
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Company Portrait Continental cars to bikes in his professional environment, but has always been a keen motorcyclist in private life. One of the most important new items in Kienle’s field is the cornering ABS system, known at Conti as oCB (Optimized Curve Braking) and available as the optional extra “ABS-Pro” on certain new BMW models. In order to install the system, which ensures optimized, virtually risk-free braking on bends, the bike must have an inclination angle sensor and modern Can-Bus electronics on board. If this equipment is present, oCB can be retrofitted as a software update. Another item of software, not yet avai lable but currently being developed by several Conti teams, is “e-Horizon”. This virtual
High-concentration Conti input for MOTORRAD (from right): Motorcycle World Sales Executive Bettina Lehmann, fuel injection expert Alessandro Cataldi, Head of ABS Development Lothar Kienle, Product Manager Tires Sascha Till, test rider Hans-Georg Ihrig, Press Officer Miriam Baum (in foreground)
Interview Dr. Bettina Lehmann, Conti Key Account Executive Motorcycle “Like a good rally co-driver” ? Look into your crystal ball and tell us where you see possibilities for improving motorcycle technology and safety engineering. ! Taking premium motorcycles first, rather than the global mass market, requirements are focused on three areas: safety – in the form of the best possible braking system and optimum tires, but also comfort and information. Of course, there are some close links between these areas. A good example is “e-Horizon”, a system that gives bike and rider constantly updated information about the road ahead, which enhances riding safety. The question here is how we can enable the rider to see into the future. It’s a very exciting prospect. We are already working on technology that will help to prevent potential accidents, such as warning about a patch of oil in the road that isn’t even in the rider’s field of vision yet. ? But how is a patch of oil supposed to warn an approaching rider: “Look out, you might skid on me and fall off 100 meters ahead!”? ! The patch of oil can’t, but other vehicles can. The same applies in the event of an accident that has just happened or an imminent local thunderstorm. With e-Horizon, we will soon be able to use a vehicle as a sensor and transmit vital information to other road users.
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? Is that based on so-called Car-to-Car Technology? ! Yes, it is. To be precise, it’s actually car-to-server-to-bike communication. However, the technology doesn’t just inform following vehicles about what is happening right now. E-Horizon uses high-precision map data and can, for example, warn the rider that he or she is not taking an upcoming curve at the right angle because it becomes tighter further along – like a good rally co-driver would. That’s a subject that would certainly interest motorcyclists.
friends while we’re on the road? How do we get news? ? Surely not “social media in the saddle”? ! Oh yes! Maybe that’s not an issue here in Germany, where riders are more individualistic. But it could be of interest in other countries, where people ride in packs and want to be connected with one another. Or Adaptive Cruise Control … ? … which automatically adjusts my speed to that of my buddy riding ahead of me? ! Exactly.
? In other words, another Driver Assistance System. What other possibilities are there? ! Motorbikes as wireless power sources. Although the devices we carry around with us are becoming smaller and more versatile, they also use more and more power.
? Maybe Continental is already working on the self-riding motorbike? ! Well, we aren’t yet, actually. But when and if the self-driving car becomes reality, we can imagine that the self-riding motorcycle will be just as topical a few years later.
? You mean the phone in my bag will be charged as soon as I get on my bike? ! That depends on the bag. The “Wireless Power Charging” technology already integrated in cars could quite easily charge a cell phone in a rider’s tank backpack fitted with the right equipment. Integrating the necessary charging surface in a motorcycle would be very simple. So much for the „Comfort“ list.
? But I want to be able to control the bike myself in future, too! ! And we want motorcycles to be able to intervene in critical situations. Nowadays lots of people ride machines that are too powerful for their capabilities. Unlike in a fourwheeled car, a biker needs to be informed in advance of an automatic emergency stop, because otherwise he or she could be thrown off. This warning could come via the handlebar grips, which would allow the rider to actively brace him- or herself. There are lots of possibilities.
? That still leaves „Information“. ! Right. The question here is how do we exchange information with
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Mirrors with Blind Spot Icons (BSD) Knock Sensor Temperature and Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
Wireless Power Charging**
PASE**
Fuel Delivery Module
Instrument Cluster Fuel Hoses / Vent Hoses
Audio System / Infotainment with integrated Navigation system
Body Control Unit
Stereo Multi Function Camera (TSA, FCW, IHA)
Sensorbox
Crash Detection (included in Sensorbox)
Wireless Security Module**
Light Control Unit** Rear facing Short Range Radar (BSD)
Long Range Radar (FCW) Immobilizer MK 100® MAB* / MK 100® MIB*
Vehicle Control Unit
Cooling Water Hoses
Connectivity Box Oxygen Sensor
Wheel Speed Sensor
Wheel Speed Sensor TKC 70
Catalytic Converter Substrate Heavy-duty Rubber and Plastic Timing Belts
Engine Temperature Sensor Fuel Injector
Idle Air Control Valve (DLA)
Fuel Rail Assembly
Electronic Throttle Bodies
Engine Control Unit
A boxer engine with belt drive? No, not a futuristic project, but an illustration of all the motorcycle features that the various divisions of Continental AG can develop or deliver for every kind of motorized two-wheeler electronic horizon processes precise map and topography data which is then combined with information transmitted from other vehicles. In the interview on the left, Conti’s “Motorcycle Key Account Executive” Bettina Lehmann explains how this kind of networked information could make motorcycling safer in the future.
However, Conti is not merely interested in the future of high-tech bikes, but is also watching the other end of the market: the millions of small motorcycles on the roads. At present, less than one percent of these small bikes worldwide are fitted with ABS, but this figure is sure to increase – which is what Conti wants, too.
* one or the other ** under development
But now back to the Conti hill start assistant on the S 1000 XR, as shown earlier. This system is not yet available on any other machines apart from the BMW K 1600 and R 1200 RT – will it soon be fitted to many other models? “You will have to ask the manufactu rers for the answer to that.” As we have seen, Conti is already testing it on other machines.
ABS and its other capabilities
Core competency: prevents wheels from locking
Traction control: no wheel spin
RLP function: prevents rear-wheel lift and “somersaults”
Cross-country ABS: allows controlled drifting or skidding
Hill start assistant: prevents bike from rolling back
oCB: optimized Curve Braking
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Mastering roads. Thrilling ride. Growing portfolio. Technologies for a better ride. Continental has an expanding product offering around powered two-wheelers. Ultimately, we will provide a comprehensive portfolio for safety, connectivity, environment and comfort for standard two-wheelers as well as for high-end motorcycles and scooters.
Find out more under www.continental-automotive.com