SAFETY SYSTEMS AND MODES OF LIGHTING FOR ELECTRIC BICYCLES
Various systems and methods associated with protecting a rider of an electric bicycle from hazards while riding their bicycle are described. In some embodiments, the systems and methods enhance the safety of the rider in response current detected conditions surrounding the rider, such as conditions associated with the route or path traveled by the rider, other vehicles within the route or path traveled by the rider, potential hazards within the route or path traveled by the rider, environmental conditions through which the rider is traveling, and so on.
1 . An electric bicycle, comprising:
a frame having a head tube, down tube, top tube, and seat tube;
a front wheel attached to the frame via a fork connected to the head tube;
a rear wheel attached to the frame via a dropout assembly of the frame;
an electric motor mounted to the rear wheel that propels the electric bicycle;
a battery pack mounted to the frame of the electric bicycle that provides power to the electric motor;
a controller that controls operations of the battery pack of the electric bicycle and the electric motor of the electric bicycle;
one or more sensors attached to the frame of the electric bicycle; and
a rider safety system stored in memory of the controller, the rider safety system having multiple hardware modules, including:
a hazard detection module that receives data captured by the one or more sensors and from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling and detects:
an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle; and
an imminence of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle;
an action selection module that selects a safety action based on the occurrence of the potential hazard and the imminence of the potential hazard; and
an action module that causes the electric bicycle to perform the selected safety action in response to the detected potential hazard.
2 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the hazard detection module detects the potential hazard is a vehicle moving towards the electric bicycle at a certain rate of speed above a threshold rate of speed associated with a dangerous movement of the vehicle with respect to the electric bicycle; and
wherein the action selection module selects:
a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed; and
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to perform an auditory alarm in a direction towards the vehicle.
3 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the electric bicycle is traveling through a low lighted environment;
wherein the hazard detection module detects the potential hazard is a vehicle moving towards the electric bicycle at a certain rate of speed above a threshold rate of speed associated with a dangerous movement of the vehicle with respect to the electric bicycle; and
wherein the action selection module selects:
a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed; and
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to emit safety illumination in a direction towards the vehicle.
4 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the hazard detection module detects the potential hazard is a vehicle moving towards the electric bicycle at a certain rate of speed above a threshold rate of speed associated with a dangerous movement of the vehicle with respect to the electric bicycle; and
wherein the action selection module selects:
a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed; and
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to transmit a warning message to the vehicle.
5 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include motion detection sensors that capture data associated with movement of objects within the environment; and wherein the hazard detection module detects an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle when the captured data identifies an object moving towards the electric bicycle or towards a path of travel of the electric bicycle.
6 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include image detection sensors that identify types of objects within the environment; and wherein the hazard detection module detects an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle when the captured data identifies a certain type of object within a current path of travel of the electric bicycle.
7 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include sound detection sensors that capture data associated with movement of objects within the environment; and wherein the hazard detection module detects an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle when the captured data identifies an object moving towards the electric bicycle or towards a path of travel of the electric bicycle.
8 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include motion detection sensors and image detection sensors, and wherein the hazard detection module detects an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle when the captured data identifies a certain type of object moving towards a current path of travel of the electric bicycle.
9 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the action selection module selects a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed via a display action performed by a user interface of the electric bicycle.
10 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the action selection module selects a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed by presenting a vibration alert to the rider of the electric bicycle via one or both handlebar grips of the electric bicycle.
11 . The electric bicycle of claim 1 , wherein the action selection module selects a safety action that alerts the rider to the movement of the vehicle towards the electric bicycle at the certain rate of speed by causing the electric motor to perform a regenerative braking action.
12 . A method performed by a rider safety system stored in memory of a controller of an electric bicycle, the method comprising:
receiving data captured by one or more sensors of the electric bicycle and from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling;
detecting an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle;
detecting an immediacy of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle; and
selecting a safety action based on the occurrence of the potential hazard and the immediacy of the potential hazard.
13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
causing the electric bicycle to perform the selected safety action in response to the detected potential hazard and the immediacy of the potential hazard.
14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining a ride context associated with a route through which the electric bicycle is traveling within the environment; and
selecting the safety action based on the occurrence of the potential hazard, the immediacy of the potential hazard, and the ride context associated with the route through which the electric bicycle is traveling within the environment.
15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving data captured by one or more sensors of the electric bicycle and from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling includes receiving data captured by image detection sensors mounted to the frame of the electric bicycle.
16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving data captured by one or more sensors of the electric bicycle and from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling includes receiving data captured by motion detection sensors mounted to the frame of the electric bicycle.
17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving data captured by one or more sensors of the electric bicycle and from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling includes receiving data captured by environmental sensors mounted to the frame of the electric bicycle.
18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents, when executed by a rider safety system stored in memory of a controller of an electric bicycle, causes the rider safety system to perform a method, the method comprising:
detecting an occurrence of a potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to a rider of the electric bicycle based on data from an environment through which the electric bicycle is traveling that is captured by one or more sensors of the electric bicycle; and
selecting a safety action based on the occurrence of the potential hazard,
wherein the selected safety action includes:
a safety action that alerts the rider to the occurrence of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle; and
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to warn an entity associated with the potential hazard of the occurrence of the potential hazard.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising:
detecting an immediacy of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle; and
selecting the safety action based on the occurrence of the potential hazard and the detected immediacy of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the occurrence of the potential hazard is a vehicle moving towards the electric bicycle within the environment;
wherein the safety action that alerts the rider to the occurrence of the potential hazard to the electric bicycle or to the rider of the electric bicycle includes displaying a warning to the rider of the electric bicycle via a user interface of the electric bicycle; and
wherein the safety action that causes the electric bicycle to warn the vehicle of the electric bicycle of the occurrence of the potential hazard includes:
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to emit safety illumination in a direction towards the vehicle; and
a safety action that causes the electric bicycle to perform an auditory alarm in a direction towards the vehicle.