This is one of the best projects we have seen in sometime, borderline genius – the Copenhagen Wheel. The project transforms ordinary bicycles quickly into hybrid e-bikes that also function as mobile sensing units. The Copenhagen Wheel allows you to capture the energy dissipated while cycling and braking and save it for when you need a bit of a boost. It also maps pollution levels, traffic congestion, and road conditions in real-time.
Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you. As you cycle, the wheels sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity.
Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go. You can also share your data with friends, or with your city – anonymously if you wish thereby contributing to a fine-grained database of environmental information from which we can all benefit.
awesome project!
I cross posted this on Chairman Bruce’s (Sterling, that is) blog.
I am confused (not unusual for me). Is this real or not?
Are people working on making this a reality or, is it a fig newton of Digital Urban and MIT?
From the description, there is nothing particularly bleeding edge about this technology. Thus, there’s no reason that it couldn’t be out and in use right now.
Is it possible for you to clarify this?