The role of technology in urban transport

It is hoped that the bike can provide some of the solution by taking some of the strain away from mass transport systems such as trains, tubes and buses by pursuing to move around using pedal power. But, while the benefits of using a biketo get around are clear, many are put off by longer distances and steep hills. Bike design has gone hi-tech in recent years with increasing integration of technology such as lighter materials and near friction free bearings now commonplace. And, like the automotive industry, bike designers have been increasingly interested in integrating electric motors and hybridising them. While many initial systems were bulky and required fairly significant implementation of a throttle control, batteries and motors, a development by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SENSEable City Lab in the US thinks it has come up with a far more elegant and practical concept. "The Copenhagen Wheel is a self-contained unit," says Professor Carlo Ratti, director of SENSEable City Lab and co-inventor of the Copenhagen Wheel. "It can be attached to any bike without needing additional electronics or wires, and it is fully controlled by your feet. When you pedal forward the motor supplements your torque, when you pedal backwards, to brake, the motor starts regenerating electric energy while reducing your speed at the same time." The principle of the Copenhagen Wheel has now been spun out in to the company, Superpedestrian. The wheel integrates batteries, gearing, a motor, sensors and control elements in to a single hub unit that can supplement a cyclist's effort by providing three to ten times additional pedal power to the wheels. The aim is to assist cyclists, to enable them to cover greater distances and more easily tackle hills. The hope is it will encourage people to take up cycling, and thoswe already cycling to take on longer journey's. "The Copenhagen Wheel is part of a more general trend of inserting intelligence into everyday objects to create smart, supporting infrastructure," says Professor Ratti. The wheel uses a 250w or 350w brushless DC motor driven by from the 48v battery pack. The hub connects to smartphones via a Bluetooth connection that allows riders to log routes via a GPS connection, along with speed, and riders pedal power. The Wheel is ridden like a normal bicycle with the motor smoothly phasing in and out automatically. The Wheel intuitively learns rider behaviour by analysing how hard he or she pedals against topography to determine how much support the rider may need. So on a steep hill the motor assistance will make the rider still feel like they are pedalling on a flat road. There aren't, however, any additional throttles, wires, or buttons as the company is very keen to not take away from the pure simplicity of cycling. The Wheel also features an intelligent locking system that locks the bike when the rider walks away and unlocks upon their return. The Wheel also features a smart security system where if someone rides away with it, the Wheel goes into a mode where the brake regenerates the maximum amount of power and sends the owner a text message with its location. "Effectively, the Copenhagen Wheel puts your bike online at the centre of your personal Internet of Things," says Professor Ratti. "Over the past few years we have seen a kind of 'biking renaissance'. We could also call it a 'Biking 2.0' revolution, whereby cheap electronics allow us to augment bikes and convert them into a more flexible, on-demand system."