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Press release #Connected mobility
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Faster emergency assistance: Bosch introduces automatic emergency calls for motorcycles

Help Connect automatically alerts emergency services via smartphone

  • Harald Kroeger: “Help Connect adds a digital guardian angel to the broad Bosch portfolio of motorcycle safety systems.”
  • Connected: With its new, intelligent crash algorithm, Bosch motorcycle sensor technology is able to detect accidents and set the rescue process in motion via smartphone app.
  • Effective: In some cases, an automatic emergency call can reduce the accident response time by up to 50 percent.
Thorsten Schönfeld

Thorsten Schönfeld >

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Stuttgart, Germany – When an accident happens, every second counts. The quicker motorcyclists receive assistance, the greater their chances of survival. The risk of being killed in a crash is still 20 times higher for motorcyclists than for car drivers. This has prompted Bosch to develop Help Connect, a digitally connected emergency call system for motorized two-wheelers that speeds up the rescue process. “Help Connect adds a digital guardian angel to the broad Bosch portfolio of motorcycle safety systems,” says Harald Kroeger from the Bosch board of management. The digitally connected emergency call system uses an intelligent crash algorithm installed in the vehicle’s inertial sensor unit to detect accidents. Via a smartphone app, Help Connect transmits information about the accident scene and the rider to the Bosch Service Center, and from there to the emergency services, helping them find the victim more quickly. An automatic message of this sort can cut the time it takes for emergency services to arrive on the scene by up to half (source: EU project Harmonised eCall European Deployment, I_HeERO).

Help Connect adds a digital guardian angel to the broad Bosch portfolio of motorcycle safety systems.

Bosch board of management member Harald Kroeger

App transmits data about accident scene and rider in an emergency

Help Connect draws on information from the Bosch MSC motorcycle stability control, and more specifically its inertial sensor unit. One hundred times a second, this integrated sensor measures acceleration and angular velocity, i.e. how fast the angular position of an object changes with time. The sensor can thus accurately calculate the motorcycle’s current position and angle of lean. Moreover, the integrated crash algorithm enables the sensor to detect automatically whether the motorcycle has been involved in an accident, or whether a mishap has caused it to fall over when being parked. It does not require an additional control unit, which makes integrating it into the motorcycle more straightforward. It connects to Bosch’s Vivatar emergency app via Bluetooth. Other smartphone apps, such as motorcycle manufacturers’ proprietary apps, can also be integrated into the emergency call solution. Apart from information about location, Help Connect also transmits any medical data provided by the rider to the Bosch Service Center. These data may prove vital for the emergency services. On request, other people may also be automatically contacted with news of the accident.

The emergency call service will initially be available for customers from Germany. Users will be able to communicate with the Bosch Service Center in German or English from any European country.1 If the accident is severe and the rider fails to respond, emergency services are immediately directed to the scene. As smartphones are generally carried close to the body, riders who have been in an accident can be quickly located even if they were thrown off their vehicle in the crash.

Bosch accident research analyzes crashes worldwide

Like all Bosch assistance systems, Help Connect is the result of close collaboration between engineers and the company’s in-house accident research. “Before we develop products that increase safety for motorcyclists, we need to understand the critical situations they face,” Kroeger explains. Access to real motorcycle accident data lets accident researchers provide the impetus for safety innovations. Bosch went to great lengths in developing the automatic emergency call system. Some 18 crash tests were carried out solely to analyze specific accident scenarios and demonstrate the functionality of Help Connect.

Intelligent assistance systems prevent accidents

Enhancing motorcyclists’ safety has been a major concern for Bosch for many years. With the motorcycle ABS it introduced 25 years ago and the MSC motorcycle stability control launched in 2013, the globally leading supplier of motorcycle safety systems has already made motorcycle riding much safer. Radar-based assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning system, and blind-spot detection assistant round out the Bosch safety portfolio.

1 Apart from Germany, in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Tags: Motorcycle

Mobility is the largest Bosch Group business sector. According to preliminary figures, it generated sales of 56.3 billion euros in 2023, and thus contributed almost 60 percent of total sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is safe, sustainable, and exciting. For its customers, the outcome is integrated mobility solutions. The business sector’s main areas of activity are injection technology and powertrain peripherals for internal-combustion engines, diverse solutions for powertrain electrification, vehicle safety systems, driver-assistance and automated functions, technology for user-friendly infotainment as well as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, repair-shop concepts, and technology and services for the automotive aftermarket. Bosch is synonymous with important automotive innovations, such as electronic engine management, the ESP anti-skid system, and common-rail diesel technology.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 428,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2023). According to preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 91.6 billion euros in 2023. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 90,000 associates in research and development, of which roughly 48,000 are software engineers.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com.

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