Wheelie detection for single-track vehicles

Single-track vehicles electronic control systems have been experiencing an important growth in the last years. Despite some similarities with four-wheeled vehicles the dynamics of two-wheeled vehicles have some unique features that require ad hoc solutions. One of those is the lift of the front wheel from the ground during severe accelerations, usually known as wheelie. This phenomenon is particularly important since, if not controlled, can lead to vehicle instabilities. Moreover, it has a significant impact on the vehicle longitudinal speed estimation, essential for the development of wheel slip-based traction control systems, so widely spreading. In this paper the problem of detecting a wheelie occurrence is discussed. Two algorithms, that employ only standard vehicle equipment sensors, are presented. Their parameter tuning procedure is described and experimental data are used to show their effectiveness, as well as for a performances comparison.