The sensors are being installed on 200 Belfast Bikes and will log a range of activity that can be used to the benefit of cyclists.
See.Sense bike sensors for Irish cycling scheme
Irish company See.Sense is to use bike sensors to log accident and near-miss black spots in a new venture with Belfast City Council.
Some 200 sensor devices have been fitted to Belfast Bike scheme bikes and over time will log a range of high-value data.
As well as mapping the locations of the collisions and near-miss incidents the bikes are in, the sensors will also map route activity. It can be used to confirm where cycling infrastructure is needed most.
Another factor that can be captured by the new See.Sense sensors is poor road surface.
The sensor devices will be powered by dynamos on each bike, meaning the cyclists simply need to travel around to contribute to the crowd-sourced data.
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The project, which is beginning this month, will run for an initial one-year trial.
It is a collaboration between See.Sense, Belfast council, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Bristol and British Telecom.
See.Sense is already well known for its ICON bike lights which use sensor technology.
See.Sense is well known in Ireland, and indeed overseas, for its flagship product; intelligent bike light ICON.
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The lights contain sensors that allow them react to the changing environment, such becoming brighter when cyclists ride into darker areas or approach roundabouts and other road features.
Versions of the sensors in the city bikes are already being used in the ICON lights.
The ICON light is being deployed in closed data trials in other cities at present.
And See.Sense is hoping the technology will be used by many international shared bicycle schemes.
See.Sense chief executive Philip McAleese said the new Belfast Bikes project was an exciting venture for the award-winning company.
“Our city bike offering is innovative on two fronts,” he said.
“Firstly, our patent-pending use of sensor technology allows us to collect never-before-seen data from bikes, including road surface and near-miss events.
“Secondly, our ability to communicate this data in a very low power way from the bike is also unique - requiring only the power generated from the bike’s own dynamo.
"This is a huge leap in city bike technology, and it also has the benefit of allowing a city to rapidly deploy a low cost sensor network.
"The benefit of the technology from the cyclist viewpoint is that they do not need to fuss with apps or other devices to contribute data to their city.
"They simply hop on the city bike and ride in the knowledge that they are helping their city with their anonymised data from the crowd."
Irene McAleese, co-founder of See.Sense, said the Belfast scheme will provide invaluable data as the city plans more cycling-friendly measures.
“Many cities around the world aspire to increase cycling participation to tackle the growing problems of congestion, pollution, as well as increase the health of their citizens,” she said.
“But there’s currently a real lack of meaningful data in cycling, so our aim with this pilot is to provide useful data to reduce those barriers to cycling, particularly around safety.
“Better data will also help to make cycling more visible to politicians, and by helping to connect cycling we allow cities to take adaptive, data-driven real-time decisions, which will help integrate cycling into future mobility solutions for the city.”
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