Hi folks, I'm an Innovative Product Design student in Dundee Scotland and my last brief was to design a short range communication device that works over 20m. The user group i have chosen is cyclists and now that the project is a few weeks in i would really appreciate some feedback and constructive criticism on my idea. The idea is that when off- roading in groups and especially at night it is difficult to determine where the bulk of the group is going to go. Also when just joining a group it is daunting to shout for everyone to stop when a puncture or similar problem occurs. Originally i aimed this to only used be accomplished cyclists but further feedback has changed this and i now think it would be especially good for children groups or family cycling holidays. My proposed solution is a lightweight, handlebar mounted display that uses digital compass technology to detect where the group "leader" is going and shows this on a LED pointer display. A visual alarm is also included so that a rider in trouble can quickly alert everyone in the group when a problem occurs. I am also thinking of including a lesser alarm that notifies the riders behind of obstacles such as fallen trees or hairpin bends but i am wary of how much the device will weigh. Some feedback on this idea would be really useful. Thanks in advance
Hi folks, My proposed solution is a lightweight, handlebar mounted display that uses digital compass technology
I'd like to have a handlebar-mounted compass on my bike, but even if the bars, stem, brake-shifter levers, and frame were made of non-ferrous materials, I think the cables would still cause errors. I haven't heard of non-steel bike cables. And then there's the Earth's weakening magnetic field to worry about 🙂.
My proposed solution is a lightweight, handlebar mounted display that uses digital compass technology to detect where the group "leader" is going and shows this on a LED pointer display. A visual alarm is also
How? The immediate solution I can think of (indeed, the only solution I can think of) is to use a GPS receiver on each bike and transmit position fixes amongst the participants. But in a lot of cycling contexts, GPS fixes are hard to obtain. Otherwise you're into using radio direction finding, which would be hard to productionise.
