Safety4Bikes : Assistance Systems for Cycling Children to Increase Safety

• Cycling is a popular urban mobility solution. However, cyclists are more vulnerable and relatively unprotected compared to other road users. In Germany, the number of accidents withcycling children increases dramatically from age 8 to 14. This is not least due to their insufficient cycling skills and understanding of traffic, which is a detriment to their safety. The project Safety4Bikes, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research(BMBF), grant no 16SV7669, aims at mitigating the risk of young cyclists by developing appropriate modular assistance systems that detect situational hazards and promote safe behaviour. Within the project, we are developing novel visual, tactile and acoustic signals integrated in bicycles and helmets to convey information for children in an understandable andnon-distracting way. Embedding the cyclist into the surrounding context, we develop andinvestigate sensor technologies, algorithms and routing strategies needed for identificationof the behaviour of cyclists on the road, traffic signs, safest routes and trajectory corrections.Additionally, we focus on the enhancements of Car2X communication to enable the exchange of information with other vehicles. The project follows a user centric approach inwhich the developed system components are continuously tested and adapted to the needsand characteristics of the target group. Answering the question of how the components willhave to interact with the user is an important part of the research. Therefore, we evaluate theefficacy of the designed interaction and recognition methods as well as sensors, algorithmsand routing strategies through laboratory experiments and bicycle simulators. With controlled test-track experiments on a test route, the components are further evaluated and optimised. 

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Assistance System

Bicycle simulator

Road safety

Connected vehicles

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)