Alpinestars have lately showcased the most recent in new technological advances for motorcyclists. Their new airbag technology supplying small airbags encased inside the motorcycle suit itself has been around undercover development since early 2000. Although only presently produced for road racers, it is anticpated to be folded out in to the public domain within the next 2 yrs.
Alpinestars, who’re already one of the main producers of leather suits, jackets and Alpinestars boots, take their clothing range one stage further by leading the means by innovative technology. Their initial airbag suits featured airbags on the outside of from the suit which, at the purpose of impact, inflated to encase the rider. This really is still under development and could originate from Alpinestars inside a couple of years.
The very first consumer implementation of airbags right into a leather suit was particularly created for road racers. These airbags are focused on the shoulders and neck, the most typical injuries throughout a road race crash. The airbags are put inside each shoulder pad using the electronic ‘hub’ slotted in to the neck hump. This tucks it of view and just adds 500 grams of weight towards the suit. This really is compared to Dainese’s similar D-air suit which weighs between 700-750 grams.
These new airbags be a saviour for professional motorcyclists and lots of have previously taken possession of 1. These new airbags may be the distinction between them bouncing support following a crash and breaking their collar bone leading to missing a season of riding.
Probably the most complicated a part of production involved developing the algorithms accustomed to control the launch from the airbag. Numerous years of development and testing have ensured the airbags are controlled to produce at the purpose of contact, making certain protection of both shoulder and neck bones. They also have developed separate algorithms for race and road environments to be able to create a suit appropriate for public use.
The airbags can deploy inside a mere .05 seconds and provides the rider 5 seconds of protection. To do this, the suit holds cylinders that contains a nitrogen based mixture of gases which inflate the airbags securely. Yet another fantastic feature would be that the airbags then retract and recharge themselves ready for an additional crash. This enables the rider to return to the bike and continue riding knowing they’ll be protected should they have another crash.