HANDLE - High tech communication solutions for safer bicycles

Important results from the project

This project is about the development and testing of a smart handlebar for bicycles. The handlebar can warn a bicyclist of oncoming traffic and/or obstacles using vibrations, blinking lights or using a display mounted to the handlebar. The functionality of the handlebar has been tested in a virtual reality bicycle simulator. 24 participants experienced 3 different scenarios with and without the smart handlebar.

Expected long term effects

The results from the simulator show that the participants in the experiment biked more carefully with the smart handlebar which indicates that the information from the handlebar was useful for the participants. The answers from the questionnaire also indicate that most participants thought the handlebar seemed useful. However, the answers also indicated a number of things that could be improved. In summary, the result is positive and it seems that the developed bicycle handlebar can be useful for cyclists.

Approach and implementation

The project consisted of two main parts. (1) The development of the smart bicycle handlebar. The bicycle handlebar was built by integrating the HMI interface (such as motor, display unit and LED bar) on an existing handlebar. The vibration intensity was chosen based on tests with an actual cycle. (2) The evaluation of the handlebar in VR. In the project, a new bicycle simulator was developed. The simulator was developed in the game engine Unity and a place in Lund was recreated in a virtual environment with the help of drone filmings at the location.