When first revealed earlier this year, it was stunning to see Yamaha's Motobot ride the flagship R1 like an actual rider.  The development is certainly an interesting one and something that we  have kept our keen eye on. In fact, the Motobot posed a challenge to the  Japanese manufacturer's MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi, who decided to  pay a visit to the robot and check out his development. Being built at  Yamaha's San Francisco office in the US, Rossi visited the test site  during the American Grand Prix and the company has now released a video  showing the first encounter between the robot and motorcycle rider.

Built by Yamaha and its partner SRI International, the video showcases the progress  made by the team on the Motobot. While the first video showcased the  bike ride on a straight surface, the latest video showcases the Motobot  taking to corners and hills at the Thunderhill Raceway circuit. While  the robot may not be prepared enough to pose as a challenge to the  legendary MotoGP rider currently; the company does aim that its  ambitious project eventually mimics the actions of real riders complete  with knee downs.

Rossi looks intrigued with the project in the video and shows off some of his  skills on the track, the data of which will help Yamaha and SRI in  aiding the Motobot project.

For those still wondering why this is so  important, the Motobot project could just be the next big thing in  motorcycle development. This could also be Yamaha's potential answer to  Honda's ASIMO. The Motobot is the new kind of autonomous vehicle  technology to join the bandwagon on similar lines as the projects from  Google and Tesla. No wonder then, that the project has been commanded in  California.

The Autobot project will also help scale  development of even faster motorcycles, without having an actual rider's  life at stake. However, there is still sometime for the project to  reach those lengths and so is the eagerly awaited standoff between the  Autobot and Valentino Rossi. That said, the Japanese manufacturer aims  to have the Motobot make laps on a race track doing 200 km/h by 2017.

Source: Yamaha