The Winners
Top three prizes awarded in Bike Safety Invention Challenge
Grace Huynh and Choong Ng, Team Brite Lite, earned the top prize for
their invention of the HighLite. The HighLite provides increased daytime and
nighttime visibility of bicyclists from all directions with a flexible string
of LEDs enmeshed in a reflective strip, backed by fluorescent yellow fabric.
The HighLite provides active lighting, passive reflectivity, and daytime visibility
for a bicyclist. The versatility, simplicity, manufacturability and affordability
of the design won over the panel of judges. Huynh and Ng were awarded a
$5,000 team grant for their project along with bikes from Trek and Fuji, CatEye
cyclometers and lights, helmets and Rickshaw Bagworks messenger bags.
The second place winner was Team SkullFX for their invention
of Halo. Team members Greg Magee MD, Kevin Chao MD, Ron Jou MD, and Avi Roop,
fellows from Stanford Biodesign, designed a unique visual alert
system that increases the visibility of bikers during the day and night. The
device would replace standard bicycle lights and features a “Halo,” an
open ring of LEDs directed radially and downward illuminating a field around
the bicycle creating a larger footprint that is more easily visible at night
from any angle. There is also a manually activated "Flash" mode, an
extra high intensity blinker that floods a wide area with light and is easily noticeable
even in the daytime. Team SkullFX received a $2,500 grant plus additional
cycling gear for each team member.
Third Place was Team FCBC: “For Cyclists by Cyclists” submitted
by Daniel Shen, Alan Asbeck and Dmitry Khabashesku, graduate students in Electrical
Engineering and Medicine. Their data showed that most cycling fatalities
occurred at intersections and that half of these occurred during the day. Their
inventions, Daytime Brights and Intersection Bicycle Detection, address the pressing
need for bicycle safety to draw attention to bicyclists at intersections during
the day and night. One facet of their invention incorporates flashing light sources
(e.g., camera flash LEDs or xenon flash bulbs) that combine low power consumption
(meaning smaller, lighter devices) with the ability to provide high intensity
light that is easily visible during the day. Another incarnation coupled
bike detection (via RFID, inductive loops, or infrared sensors) at dangerous
or busy intersections with traffic signals to alert drivers to a cyclist's presence,
for example by lighting up the bike lane in which a cyclist is riding. A $1,000
grant and Rickshaw Bagworks messenger bags were awarded to Team FCBC.