Patent ID: 8913855

Claim:
A getting-on/off determination apparatus that determines rider's getting-on/off for an inverted two-wheel vehicle that travels while maintaining an inverted state, comprising: an optical fiber laid in a step portion that a rider gets on/off; a light emitting unit that emits detection light, the light emitting unit being connected to one end of the optical fiber; a light receiving unit that receives the detection light emitted from the light emitting unit, the light receiving unit being connected to another end of the optical fiber; a plurality of transmitted light varying portion that varies an amount of transmitted light of the detection light that passes through the optical fiber in conjunction with a vertical displacement of the step portion that occurs when the rider gets on/off the inverted two-wheel vehicle; and a determination unit that determines getting-on/off of the rider based on an amount of the detection light received by the light receiving unit, wherein a plurality of space portions are provided in the optical fiber laid in the step portion, the plurality of space portions being formed by severing the optical fiber in such a manner that ends of the severed optical fiber are spaced by a predetermined distance, each of the plurality of transmitted light varying portions goes into/comes out from the space portion in conjunction with a vertical displacement of the step portion that occurs when the rider gets on/off the inverted two-wheel vehicle and thereby varying the amount of transmitted light of the detection light, the light emitting unit, the light receiving unit, and the determination unit are housed inside a box, which is hermitically sealed and located in a place away from the transmitted light varying portion and the space portion, the step portion is provided in a vehicle main body, the plurality of space portions are formed in a longitudinal direction in the step portion, and the transmitted light varying portion is provided so as to correspond to the space portion.