Bicycle handlebar brake lighting

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2009/11/02 @ 5:50 pm
Category Arduino, Fun & Games

MAKE subscriber Justin Shaw has posted a project on Instructables for a bike brake lighting system that features lights on the ends of a bicycle’s handlebars, controlled by an Arduino and a Pololu 3-axis accelerometer. He’s even offering a $35 prize to the first person who follows his plans and posts proof of a successful build.

Bar End Brake Light: BEBL

BY Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelancer writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture, including the first book about the web (Mosaic Quick Tour) and the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. He is currently working on a best-of collection of his writing, called Borg Like Me.

In the Maker Shed

7 Responses to Bicycle handlebar brake lighting

Shadyman on November 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm said:

Bonus points if you add a yellow LED for nighttime travel.. even more if you add turn signals based on accelerometer input.

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japroach on November 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 pm said:

awesome

shady: sadly a turn signal is useless unless its manually controlled.

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Angus Og on November 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 am said:

Well it’s a neat idea but in reality, what use is brake light on a bike? How is it any more useful than a flashing or steady red light? At bicycle speeds an indication of braking is not really of any use to other road users.

Also, a cheaper and more robust implementation would be a simple switching mechanism at the brake levers.

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BusterB on November 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 am said:

In addition to the ‘robust’ comment – exactly how is someone, presumably a driver in a vehicle, supposed to see these lights? It is fine if one is at an oblique angle, but even directly behind a near-anorexic woman the lights are obstructed. So of what use are the lights?

And of what use are the lights in bright daylight? Useful, or useless?

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- Marc on November 4th, 2009 at 9:12 am said:
  
  @BusterB: I think that is his young daughter, not an near anorexic woman.
  
  I don’t think this supposed to be a perfect and final solution. Looking at his blog, it is one in a line of iterations over bike light & brake light designs as well as general arduino tinkering. For instance, check out his uber light:
  http://wyoinnovation.blogspot.com/2009/03/complete.html
  
  This form factor does have one bonus, you can plug those into the handlebars without any addition to the bike or modification to the braking mechanism.
  
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Anonymous on November 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm said:

That music R to L fade was annoying!

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doroti on November 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am said:

“At bicycle speeds an indication of braking is not really of any use to other road users.”

… so cars going 30mph don’t need to signal stopping either then? Sorry that’s just wrong. I can go 45 mph on big downhills and I’m just a commuter, not a racer. Realistically I often do 30 on mild slopes and this is occasionally necessary to beat traffic for a short stretch. On flats I typically cruise at 18mph. Amazingly drivers often have no regard for life and will actually tail gate a cyclist at such speed. I can stop very fast. I really like this idea. Some kind of water spray out the back would be nice too.. may. Drivers wrong preconception that bikes move at a crawl is a huge cause of dangerous situations usually involving being cutoff.

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