A group of entrepreneurs have come up with the “bike of the future”, the Vanhawks Valour.
A team of entrepreneurs from Toronto, Canada have now developed a high tech smart bike that offers a range of convenience and safety features such as the detection of vehicles in the rider’s blind spot, assistance in choosing easier routes, and communication with other bicycles should it ever be lost or stolen.
The company behind the Vanhawks Valour has already raised about 7 times its goal of $100,000.
One of the creators of the Vanhawks Valour smart bike, Ali Zahid, enhanced the exposure that the new form of mobile device has been receiving, through a demonstration of its prototype on an episode of “Metro Morning” with Matt Galloway. This helped to spread awareness of the device and its crowdfunding campaign, causing the number of donations to skyrocket.
The smart bike is designed to function as a high tech commuter bicycle that enhances the rider’s safety.
Its frame is a carbon fiber and it has straight handlebars. When a car enters into the rider’s blind spot, the handlebars vibrate in order to make the individual aware of its presence. Through a connection to the rider’s smartphone, it offers navigation features that flash LED lights on the handlebars in order to indicate the direction that the rider should turn.
Moreover, the bike also collects data about routes from its own rider as well as from the other riders of the Vanhawks Velour who are in the area. Zahid explained that “Every pothole that you travel, every bad road that you take, it detects that through a gyroscope and magnometer,” adding that “over time it can give you better route suggestions.”
It can also learn about traffic and hills in order to help its rider to avoid less pleasant riding experiences. Its connection with other nearby Vanhawks bikes can help to improve the data for making more accurate suggestions.
The smart bike also has an important anti theft feature. Zahid explained that “If my bike got stolen and you were riding [past] my stolen bike, I will get a notification right away that that was the last known location of the bike.”
