Yamaha wants its motorcycle-riding robot to be faster than humans

 By 
Victoria Ho
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

UPDATED 30 Oct 5am ET with Motobot's current top speed.

Japanese motorcycle giant Yamaha created a robot that is learning how to copy a motorsports champion.

At the Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday, the company revealed Motobot, its autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid robot, which can to ride an unmodified motorcycle.

Yamaha told Mashable Motobot is able to ride at 106 km/h (65 mph) on a racetrack now, but the company is expecting it to be able to go faster than 200 km/h (124 mph) "in the near future."

"The task of controlling the complex motions of a motorcycle at high speeds requires a variety of control systems that must function with a high degree of accuracy," Yamaha said in a statement. Motobot is also part of Yamaha's research efforts toward better rider safety, it said.

In the promotional video above, the robot issues a challenge to Italian world champion Valentino Rossi. As a childhood picture of Rossi comes on screen, the robot, using a digitized boy's voice, says: "I am improving my skills everyday, but I'm not sure if I can even beat the five-year-old you."

Motobot makes it clear that it's gaining on Rossi -- and the rest of humankind: "I am not human but there has to be something only I am capable of. I am Motobot. I was created to surpass you."

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