VIDEO: MIT's Traffic and Pollution Tracking Wheel
The boffins at MIT have reinvented the wheel! The bicycle wheel, that is.
Dubbed "the Copenhagen Wheel" and unveiled in, you guessed it, Copenhagen, the wheel was designed by the SENSEable City Lab at MIT and is described as a new emblem for urban mobility. The wheel transforms ordinary bicycles quickly into hybrid e-bikes, measuring pollution levels, traffic congestion,and road conditions in real-time. It also captures the energy dissipated while cycling and braking, saving it for when you need a bit of a boost. Couple the device with your smartphone and you can lock and unlock your bike from your cell phone, change gears and select how much the motor assists you.
Check out the video below to learn more. Is this something you'd use? Wait, do you even own a bike? Let us know in the comments below!
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Great! Now we can get fat while exercising too!
Very interesting idea. I like the option to link with your cell phone, but hopefully that's not the only way to control it. It also looks like you shift through your phone. Can't say that I like that. What happens when my cell battery dies? I can't use my bike then?
I also wouldn't want to bike in the rain with my smart phone on the handlebars. Good way to destroy a good phone. I also don't want to think about what would happen to my phone if I crashed.
Very interesting idea. I like the option to link with your cell phone, but hopefully that's not the only way to control it. It also looks like you shift through your phone. Can't say that I like that. What happens when my cell battery dies? I can't use my bike then?
I also wouldn't want to bike in the rain with my smart phone on the handlebars. Good way to destroy a good phone. I also don't want to think about what would happen to my phone if I crashed.
This is a classic case of an engineer getting a good idea and taking it to far. Connecting it to your phone is ridiculous. Connect it to existing hardware for shifting!
I like the motor assist bit but really, 100 gimmicks and 1 useful feature does not make a good product. I hope my tax dollars didn't fund this.
is this the best MIT can come up with... seriously?
I do not see how iphone was connected to bike...
and see if you will be able to get to your destination...
i see it is connecting to online place...
And Chinese already been using this electric assist bikes powered by battery. which are very efficient and they recharge when you cycle
Also, tomorrow we will see advertising like stop using any device while Biking as too many people crash uploading their speed info or other info in facebook which is far more complicated then texting...
Please do not text but you are welcome to browse and click on some buttons
Yeah, I'd love to have something that captures the energy of braking and gives me a push-button on-demand boost but they can keep all that other junk. Anybody know where I can get something like that?
is this the best MIT can come up with... seriously?
No, MIT comes up with much better stuff all the time. Seriously.
This sounds GREAT! No when I'm forced to go up a ridiculously steep hill just to get to the grocery store I can get pushed from energy used earlier. =D
Get ready to get it stolen. Must install lojack also.
Way to go MIT.
I think thats rad
They'd better make an affordable electrical byke.
"Green Miles" Wow! Guess this will be a future form of tax in our push for "Carbon Neutrality."
Next up: We measure how much CO2 you breathe out, watch out healthy & active people, you'll be charged more for polluting our enviroment! (Ironic how the green mile tax rebate might void the possible CO2 tax)
is this the best MIT can come up with... seriously?
No, MIT comes up with much better stuff all the time. Seriously.
Harvard is good if you want some serious degrees to get you a job anywhere.
Yale is good if you want to party but still get a respectable degree.
MIT is were you go to make the world bow down to your feet (I'm a Canadian, and I still realise this).
I see this as useful for having a smartphone as a attachable GPS for your bike, velocity (km/h of course, screw the Imperial system), distance travelled, clock etc. and having a better damned looking electric bicycle. I don't give a damn about the whole braking crap, as I go a km between each time I brake. Plus, electric bicycles just aren't common enough.
Way to go MIT, this actually shows promise.