Create a smart jacket to protect cyclists

Warn the rest of the vehicles when they are going to turn thanks to a wireless connection

      The number of cyclists in large cities continues to increase and the number of accidents between these and other vehicles increases. "At Ford, we want to help people - and merchandise - move more safely, confidently and freely in our cities," says Tom Thompson, project manager of the Ford Smart Mobility team.

For this reason, automotive engineers have developed a jacket that allows cyclists to orientate themselves more easily and to clearly signal their presence and intentions to other vehicles, while they are connected to an application.

"The smart jacket concept helps us to better understand how the different actors that form part of the urban mobility ecosystem - cyclists, cars and pedestrians - can coexist better through the application of intelligent technologies and how we can apply what we have learned to ideas future �.

          This smart jacket prototype features sleeves that light up to signal when users plan to turn right or left. Connected wirelessly to a smartphone, the jacket's bicycle navigation app vibrates the right sleeve, so that the user knows where to go, using routes that avoid the roads and the busiest intersections.

In addition, it is not necessary for cyclists to remove their eyes from the road or their hands from the handlebar to consult the screen of their smartphone. The acoustic and haptic interfaces allow users to take calls, receive messages and repeat the navigation indication.

         The jacket also integrates a flashing brake light. "There is an immediate change in mentality once it is no longer necessary to stop to consult the navigation applications directly on the phone, or worry about whether you are heading to a particularly busy or dangerous crossroads," says Thompson, who helped develop the jacket in his free time.

The passionate team of cyclists who developed the jacket and has been testing it on its daily bicycle journey to the Ford Smart Mobility Innovation offices in London is in charge of investigating the "last mile" challenge.

It refers to the last stage of a trip, not only in the context of a personal journey, but also referred to the delivery of goods and services in urban environments with heavy traffic. This section is generally associated with a higher cost and complexity.