Short primer: the Copenhagen Wheel is an innovative device from MIT's Senseable City Lab that turns any bike into an electric hybrid bike by simply replacing the rear wheel. By using an array of environmental sensors embedded in the wheel hub, it also collects real-time data on pollutant concentrations, noise levels, and traffic.
Of the criticisms levelled at the Copenhagen Wheel, these are the most common:
- Any speed benefits are likely to be counteracted by the added weight of the hub.
- Using an iPhone to control your bike is (to use a diplomatic paraphrasing of the various comments) suboptimal.
- Bike theft.
Although no official figures are posted, various comments have estimated the weight at 4-6 kg based upon components and similar products. Using figures from Ken Kifer's Bike Pages, this will slow you by roughly 5% on those arduous climbs. Will the energy stored up during braking compensate adequately? Only time (and use) will tell.
As a tech geek, this is an intriguing use of Bluetooth. As a cyclist, shifters are placed out on the handlebars to keep them closer to normal hand position. On the other hand, add in a headset and voice commands and you've got hands-free gearing - provided that you have a smartphone, which still puts you in the (small yet growing) minority.
Yes, this will make an attractive target for bike thieves. Then again, most bikes are attractive targets in larger cities.
Unfortunately, the press coverage largely ignores the real-time data gathering capacities of the Copenhagen Wheel. Remove the iPhone control, scrap the hybrid charging, pop the sensor and Bluetooth assembly out of the hub, stick it in a compact box, add a solar charger, and mount that on the frame or handlebars. What do you get? A cheap, lightweight, and self-contained data gathering device. You could even swap the Bluetooth for a simpler USB connection for data uploading. Why?
- Cities could pay cyclists to gather data on the urban environment, providing additional jobs and a gold mine of urban planning information at relatively low cost.
- With modular design, the sensor box would be quite powerful. Cyclists could map out popular bike routes, free wireless hotspots, nighttime light pollution, report traffic accidents, measure intersection waiting times, check ground level light in those notorious downtown office tower canyons...
- Why limit data gathering to cyclists? Install one in every car. Hand them out to pedestrians, skateboarders, small craft pilots, traceurs.
Data is king. Until we accept that, I firmly believe that our most pressing problems will remain intractable.