Cycling jacket that detects motion

[GLC1968]

Wow, that rocks! DH and I would totally buy one. I wonder if we should alert some of the companies that make cycling apparel that there is a market for this??

[GuitarRiderGrrl]

I'm going to start working on it
Its one of those "Duh!" things....... and its so simple!
I think that as far as a taillight goes, I should be able to put the accelerometer and the meager amount of electronics to support it, inside a standard blinkie housing - Could use bicolor LED's too, that would go from yellow, for normal riding (as long as you have a back red reflector, you meet the law for a rear red light - so what would happen is when you are either accelerating or coasting, your blinkie would be amber, and when you decelerate, it changes color to red... easy peasy.
whatcha think?
Cyn

Wow, that rocks! DH and I would totally buy one. I wonder if we should alert some of the companies that make cycling apparel that there is a market for this??

[sgtiger]

Sounds great, Cyn! Let me know when you have it worked out, okay? I'll take a couple of those.

[GuitarRiderGrrl]

Sounds great, Cyn! Let me know when you have it worked out, okay? I'll take a couple of those.

Yeah, I'm thinking this could save lives, and as more and more people dump their stinky car bubbles, the market should expand.
I did a quick patent search, and it looks like its in the clear, but, that was only a quick search. I found several mfgr's for accelerometers - the thing is that this doesn't require fancy linear output, or high accuracy - If it sensed a deceleration of say 1-2 G or more and then switched, that would be as accurate as it needs to be!! Nothing at all fancy - I want to use solid state so that its rugged. ~ If I come up with something, I could get the gals who might be interested to be "beta testers" on T.E. to help test them out with me. I have no idea yet what it would cost, but I don't think a whole lot.

Does the idea of using bi-color (amber that turns to red, when decelerating and stopping) LED's sound like it would alert drivers that the cyclist is stopping??

My wheels are definitely turning,
BTW, I didn't do the preliminary patent search cause I'm a money grubber, but rather to keep my fanny out of the jaws of the attorney's if it were to turn out to be a viable concept. ~ Wouldn't it be cool if we each put our expertise into projects that could make a difference? .....And maybe show the rest of the world, that even though their is a pack of loonies, brigands, thieves and maroons in Washington D.C., that Americans still have it (Particularly gals!)

Cyn

[pll]

Does the idea of using bi-color (amber that turns to red, when decelerating and stopping) LED's sound like it would alert drivers that the cyclist is stopping??

Cyn,

I think bi-color would be great (I think it is awesome you are thinking about this). I wonder if amber/red is noticeable enough in a small light for car drivers who are not really looking.

-pll

[divingbiker]

Sign me up as a beta tester! I ride in traffic every day (in Washington, DC, home of the "loonies and maroons") and would love to see if this would improve my interactions with cars. Amber to red sounds good, but not critical in my book.

And when it's ready to buy, I'll be in line for that, too.

[NbyNW]

I think you're onto something.

Would there be a way to make the brake lights work like they do on cars? Moderate red for accelerating/coasting, BRIGHT red for braking? Seems like drivers are already programmed to understand that.