TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Skip the Sweat on Your Commute

Dave Greenfield | Date: 01-13-10 | Comments

A bicycle battery created by MIT stores energy for when you really need it, making commuting by bike a more plausible alternative to automobiles.

The rising energy prices have had several positive side effects, one of which is the increase in commuting via bike. You save energy and get into better shape. What could be better? But how about when you arrive at work sporting some sweat stains? Or when you come in panting with helmet hair? You have to shower and change. It�s a process, but one that is worth it to both your wallet and your health.

An innovation by MIT unveiled at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change may help with these problems, as well as keeping you a bit more fresh and clean on your commute.

MIT has created a battery that will fit in the wheel of a bike. When you step on the brakes, it stores energy. When you need a boost getting up a hill or finishing the home stretch, it returns that power. The smart battery measures your effort as you bike, and the hub sensor tells the motor when to give you some help. You recharge by applying the breaks. The motor recoups energy while you slow down.

The hope is that the device will make biking more enjoyable and comfortable, thereby encouraging more people to join the �biking renaissance,� as Carlo Ratti, MIT director of Senseable City Lab and the Copenhagen Wheel Project, put it.

�It�s sort of like �Biking 2.0��whereby cheap electronics allow us to augment bikes and convert them to a more flexible, on-demand system,� he says. In addition to making it biking easier, it will make commuting over longer distances possible, increasing the number of people for whom biking to work is an option.

The MIT team added a host of features to make it even more attractive to consumers, including a Bluetooth connection that allows the wheel to send data to your iPhone so you can monitor your speed, direction and how far you have traveled. Commuting? Yeah, there�s an app for that. They also designed the device to fit into any existing bike easily.

Host to the climate change conference, Copenhagen will likely be the first to try out the battery as the city tries to transition its employees from cars to bikes. The wheel battery, which will be sold online and by electronics and bike vendors, comes with a $500 to $1,000 price tag. Too steep for a battery? How much does a car payment, insurance, gas and maintenance cost a month? The battery, at least, helps you get in shape.

It may not completely eliminate sweat stains or help at all with helmet hair, but the battery does have the potential for helping meet emissions reduction goals and improving your morning commute.