Tuesday 20th January 2015

JLR 'Bike Sense' project launched

An interesting active system promises to help cars and bikes stay apart

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There's not much that sets the internet ablaze like the debate about the relative merits of cars and bikes. And especially discussion of who was in the right during one of the increasingly common comings-together on video. Last week's story about the road rage incident between the thuggish white van driver and the camera wearing cyclist who may (or may not) have admonished him for using a mobile phone got more prominence on the big news websites than many otherwise significant world events.

Knock, knock - who's there?

It's war out there, clearly.

Except, of course, it's not. Very few drivers and cyclists ever deliberately attempt to put themselves or each other in danger. The vast majority of collisions and scrapes happen accidentally and without any malicious intent. That's why Dan was less than impressed with Volvo's plans to create a Cyclist Detection system that comes close to removing a driver's responsibility to keep a good look-out through full safety overrides up to and including stopping the car dead.

But JLR's new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Bike Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn drivers about potential hazards from bikes and motorbikes. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new XE and XF.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic warning noises or alarms - which take a while to process - the idea is to use lights and sounds that a driver will instinctively recognise: bike bells and motorbike horns will be played by the speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'tap' the driver on a shoulder to warn of an unseen risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction.

JLR promising more subtle approach to active safety

Then, as a cyclist gets closer to the car, a "matrix of LED lights on the window sills, dashboard and windscreen pillars will glow amber and then red" with the direction of the threat reflected by the pattern the lights take.

More importantly - especially to anyone driving in a bike-rich environment - we're also promised that in a group of cyclists the system will be clever enough to just prioritise the nearest hazards so the driver doesn't get overwhelmed with light or sound. And if the driver ignores the warning the system won't automatically drop the anchors, rather vibrate the accelerator pedal, or make it feel stiff.

Not enough for you? Well we're told that Bike Sense stays alert once the car has stopped, and will warn anybody who is about to open their door into the path of a car or cyclist by flashing lights or vibrating the door handle.

Obviously as with many of the growing plethora of "active" safety systems the risk for any production version is going to be false positives and information overload. What do you think - technology as enabler, or Big Brother?

[arkenphel]

Interesting tech. As long as it is unobtrusive and doesn't "Do a Volvo" like the article above that's ok.

The best thing would be separate lanes for cyclists, IMO.

[Al U]

I think it's just continuous improvement, JLR seem to be trying to establish themselves as a "we had it first" technology company in recent times. The whole big brother thing in this instance is nonsense really I think that even with the volvo system you wouldn't rely on it, it's instinct to try and stop if you think you are going to hit anything it would take a long time to retrain your instincts to think "oh it's ok the car will stop for me". At the end of the day if it saves one life it's worth it IMO.

[Ved]

Clever approach by JLR. They're quickly becoming the favourite car company I won't buy from. At least yet.

[graememac]

arkenphel said:

The best thing would be separate lanes for cyclists, IMO.

And the Government could pay for it using the massive amount of money they've allocated for cycling....

[arkenphel]

graememac said:

And the Government could pay for it using the massive amount of money they've allocated for cycling....

They have?

I was going to suggest Cyclists pay a road tax.

Or better yet, Introduce a fat tax, that would be far more lucrative... but I digress.

[toerag]

But JLR's new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Bike Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn drivers about potential hazards from bikes and motorbikes. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new XE and XF.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic warning noises or alarms - which take a while to process - the idea is to use lights and sounds that a driver will instinctively recognise: bike bells and motorbike horns will be played by the speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'tap' the driver on a shoulder to warn of an unseen risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction.


But ACME new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Car Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn cyclists about potential hazards from cars and lorries. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new bikes.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic common sense - which takes a while to process - the idea is to use the bikes breaks so that a cyclist will instinctively recognise the large metal object to their right hand side: bike bells, motorbike horns and whistles will be played by a speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'zap' the cyclist up the ass to warn of the obvious risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction (forwards).

Edited by toerag on Tuesday 20th January 12:11

[Chicane-UK]

Another cycling related thread - this can only go well

[Eviltad]

toerag][- said:

But JLR's new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Bike Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn drivers about potential hazards from bikes and motorbikes. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new XE and XF.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic warning noises or alarms - which take a while to process - the idea is to use lights and sounds that a driver will instinctively recognise: bike bells and motorbike horns will be played by the speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'tap' the driver on a shoulder to warn of an unseen risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction.[/-]


But ACME new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Car Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn cyclists about potential hazards from cars and lorries. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new bikes.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic common sense - which takes a while to process - the idea is to use the bikes breaks so that a cyclist will instinctively recognise the large metal object to their right hand side: bike bells, motorbike horns and whistles will be played by a speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'zap' the cyclist up the ass to warn of the obvious risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction (farwards).

Edited by toerag on Tuesday 20th January 08:23

Not bad, 6/10 but let down by 2 spelling mistakes.

[xRIEx]

Eviltad said:

toerag][- said:

But JLR's new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Bike Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn drivers about potential hazards from bikes and motorbikes. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new XE and XF.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic warning noises or alarms - which take a while to process - the idea is to use lights and sounds that a driver will instinctively recognise: bike bells and motorbike horns will be played by the speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'tap' the driver on a shoulder to warn of an unseen risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction.[/-]


But ACME new idea sounds far more sensible. The 'Car Sense' research programme is looking to create some less intrusive detection systems that are designed to warn cyclists about potential hazards from cars and lorries. It's nothing more than a project at the moment, but the very fact the company is telling us about it suggests it's seriously considering introducing something very similar alongside the battery of other active systems we can expect to see on the new bikes.

So what does it do? Well rather than using generic common sense - which takes a while to process - the idea is to use the bikes breaks so that a cyclist will instinctively recognise the large metal object to their right hand side: bike bells, motorbike horns and whistles will be played by a speaker closest to where the hazard is detected. Oh, and seats are also able to 'zap' the cyclist up the ass to warn of the obvious risk on that side, creating the instinctive reaction to look in that direction (farwards).

Edited by toerag on Tuesday 20th January 08:23

Not bad, 6/10 but let down by 2 spelling mistakes.

5/10 for failing to use strikethrough properly.

[loudlashadjuster]

Why oh why can't the Govt. not just grind those pesky cyclists into a fine paste that could be used to fuel power stations?

This is surely the only sensible solution for removing the two-wheeled menace from our roads and preventing them from impeding honest, tax-paying motorists?

[ajhmini]

arkenphel said:

They have?

I was going to suggest Cyclists pay a road tax.

Road tax pays for Motorways, which cyclists don't use. Council tax pays for normal roads.

Nice tech, and particularly poignant for JLR at the moment - A very respected and liked JLR Engineer was killed while cycling home from work just after Christmas.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-new...

[A common lawyer]

ajhmini said:

Road tax pays for Motorways, which cyclists don't use. Council tax pays for normal roads.

Nice tech, and particularly poignant for JLR at the moment - A very respected and liked JLR Engineer was killed while cycling home from work just after Christmas.

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-new...

I'm disappointed it took five whole answers before someone got the "road tax" thing wrong. It's vehicle excise duty. Cars pay zero if they emit zero CO2. Guess what a bicycle would pay if it were subject to the same rules?

And no, there's no ring-fencing of VED income for motorways. All goes in the general taxation pot (most of which, of course, is from taxes on income).

[exceed]

I'm just going to sit here, no literally I'm just going to sit here and my car will take me home whilst knocking on my shoulder, bombarding me with yellow/white/red/blue LED's until I go completely insane.

Interesting tech, but are there that many (non-deliberate) bike accidents???

[Maxie95]

Here in Amsterdam, with cyclists everywhere, the system would have to work overtime. Could see it become annoying quite quickly.

[garypotter]

Don't worry about cyclists as they wear LYCRA protection...........

[smilo996]

Given the amount car comanies spend on R&D, it might want to develop a blocking tool that prevents people using mobiles unless they are hands free.
That would be worthwhile. Whatever happened to hand free kits?

Jaguar seemed to think it was a good idea.

[J4CKO]

I was expecting and external speaker that shouts "OUT OF THE WAY PEASANT"

[FIREBIRDC9]

J4CKO said:

I was expecting and external speaker that shouts "OUT OF THE WAY PEASANT"

^ I'd pay for that!

[feef]

ajhmini said:

arkenphel said:

They have?

I was going to suggest Cyclists pay a road tax.

Road tax pays for Motorways, which cyclists don't use. Council tax pays for normal roads.

"Road tax" (Road Fund Licence) as a means to pay for the roads only existed until 1937. After that it became Vehicle Excise Duty paid directly to the Exchequer. The road fund itself, as a central government fund paid for by grants NOT the VED existed until 1955.

Vehicle Excise Duty we pay now is simply an excise tax for vehicles, it's nothing to do with how the roads are paid for.

I'd have thought PH would have understood this all by now.

[JaguarsportXJR]

J4CKO said:

I was expecting and external speaker that shouts "OUT OF THE WAY PEASANT"

You mean they actually make those? All the years of dreaming finally coming good...

Seriously though this system doesn't seem too bad. I'm not a fan of systems that override driver control or supply so much information as to be mesmerising, but this seems to be more of what it's meant to be, an aid.

Sadly, most of the issues I used to get when cycling were from busses and lorries clipping me on the head with their wing mirrors more than regular motorists not paying attention. I can't see this sort of thing making much difference to someone who's seen you, but doesn't really care.