The only difference between the motorcycle and models without the airbag jacket system is an LED display on the main instrument panel.
The “Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize” this year goes to Luigi Ronco, Head of Research and Development at Italian motorcycle accessory manufacturer Dainese, and Federico Sabbioni, Head of Vehicle Project Management at Ducati the development of an innovative airbag jacket now on sale.
Ducati’s Multistrada D-Air model has an intelligent system of sensors wirelessly connected to Ducati Apparel airbag jackets by Dainese. This is a ‘world’s first’ in the motorcycle industry that combines designs from two famous Italian brands. While too early to be certain, it appears that the new Ducati model takes a significant step forward in two-wheel safety.
The prize worth €50,000 was officially presented last week by Professor Sabine Seidler, Rector of the Vienna University of Technology, Dr Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, and Dr Hans Michel Piëch, Member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG.
The new Multistrada 1200 S Touring D-air identifies impending accident threats and transmits a signal to the Ducati Apparel D-air riding jacket, which deploys integrated airbags in 45 milliseconds to protect the rider against injuries to the torso. Besides a rider’s head, the torso is the part of the body exposed to the most severe risk during a motorcycle accident. Compared with a back protector, Ducati’s new airbag system reduces forces acting on the rider’s back by up to 72%. Compared with a chest protector, the D-air jacket is up to 89% safer.
The system identifies the most common motorcycle accident scenarios, including head-on collisions, side collisions and side skidding, for example on wet roads. Ducati claims that D-air can reliably distinguish between a potentially dangerous accident and a low-speed incident, or the motorcycle simply falling over.
The Ducati D-air system has two three-axis accelerometers on the left-hand and right-hand front suspension forks and two further sensors in the D-air electronic control unit under the seat. These sensors provide riding data that are processed by an algorithm. If the system detects a potentially hazardous accident scenario, it can decide within 25 milliseconds whether airbag deployment is needed or not. In an emergency, the electronic control unit transmits a radio command to the driver’s and passenger’s riding jackets, which then react within 20 milliseconds. By comparison, the blink of an eye takes 400 milliseconds.
The only difference between the new motorcycle and models without the new safety system is an additional LED display on the main instrument panel. The “Rider” and “Passenger” sections of the display are lit up in green if the rider’s and passenger’s jackets are connected to the system and flash in the event of an error. The central “D|air” section of the display lights up to warn the rider if the battery integrated in the jacket is low. The battery can be fully charged via a USB port in five hours – providing sufficient power for 30 operating hours.
The D-air riding jackets and vests that are available are virtually indistinguishable from conventional riding apparel. The only difference apparent is the battery at the bottom of the jacket. Following deployment, the airbags can be replaced individually if the jacket has not been severely damaged by the accident.
