Riding an e-bike that applies the brakes itself when things get dangerous – that can sometimes be a bit scary

It won’t happen!? I was really looking forward to this, a test drive with a prototype intelligent electric bicycle that intervenes at dangerous points in traffic. Does that fall through at the very last moment? Mario Boot (34), who prepared the bicycle, looks confused. “Huh, the battery is empty?” he says while moving a switch up and down. “This morning it was still 68 percent!”

After a few more futile attempts, he disappointedly suggests going back inside to his former office. To place the e-bike on the charger there. And to tell us a little more about himself and his research.

Boot has investigated the cycling experience of several smart technologies among e-bikers, intended to make cycling safer. He’s here was promoted at the end of last month at the University of Twente in Enschede – the first city in the Netherlands where fat bikes have recently been banned in the center.

Over a cup of coffee, Boot explains that he grew up in Zoutelande, part of the Bible Belt. “My parents were progressive, but the environment was one of: don’t complain, but bear it.” Partly because of the many conversations with his mother, he became fascinated by the workings of the human mind, emotions, behavior and influencing them. “My mother was way ahead of her time. She started a World Shop and ran it successfully despite a severe bipolar disorder. I had long conversations with her about how she experienced a manic episode, for example, and what was going on in her head.” In addition, Boot says, he experimented with psychedelics as a student. “A world opened up for me.”

Another fascination arose when Boot was pursuing his master’s degree human-centered media at the University of Amsterdam did a research internship at Exertion Games Lab, part of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. This attempts to improve the human experience during interactive games. He became fascinated by transhumanism, which he describes as “enhancing human capabilities through advanced technology.” “Many people find cyborgs scary, but not pacemakers.”

Boot says he is particularly interested in how bicycle technology can improve humanity. “Cycling was taught to me from an early age. For a long time, my parents covered more kilometers per year by bicycle than by car.”

Bicycle gives speed advice

Boot says that he was one of six PhD students in the project smart connected bicycles. In addition to the universities of Twente and Delft, TNO, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and bicycle manufacturer Accell (known for brands such as Batavus, Sparta and Koga) participated. Within the project, a series of technologies were investigated around the question: how do you make cycling on an e-bike safer? For example, can you ensure that mobile phones of e-bikers exchange information about current (dangerous) traffic situations without violating privacy? Can you have the bicycle give speed recommendations so that the cyclist can always go through the green light at traffic lights smoothly, without sudden maneuvers?

More safety is needed, says Boot, because traffic has become more complex and dangerous for cyclists in recent decades. Figures from CBS show that the total number of road deaths has decreased over the last 50 years from about 3,000 to approximately 700, but in the last ten years there has been an increase in the number of fatal accidents among cyclists. “Traffic has become busier,” says Boot. There are all kinds of new types of vehicles that are difficult to hear. They go at all kinds of speeds. “People cycle on average 0 to 5 km/h faster on e-bikes than on regular bicycles.”

Then you also have the much faster speed pedelecs, flash delivery vehicles, and souped-up fat bikes. In addition, the arrival of electric bicycles has made it easier for older people to get on their bike. It is mainly people over 70, and especially men, who are involved in fatal bicycle accidents. Boot also believes that the car lobby takes far too little responsibility for traffic accidents. Boot calls himself a bicycle activist and believes that the persistent dominance of the car in traffic must be broken. “Even for journeys of up to 5 kilometers, the car is used very often worldwide. There is enormous potential for the bicycle.”

The research he has done – evaluating the perception of new technology among cyclists – usually receives little attention, says Boot. “Traffic theories and models underestimate what a strong physical and emotional experience cycling is. Think of the pleasure of a chance encounter along the way, or a beautiful view, the sun on your face, smells and colors.”

For example, Boot investigated how e-bikers experience it when they receive a signal when approaching a known dangerous or busy point. And what do they do then? Do they slow down? He examined three types of signals: a vibration via a glove, a beep via headphones and information via a screen. He also investigated how people feel if the e-bike stops pedal assistance when approaching such a point. Or, even more drastic: engine braking. “In the sporadic cases where this experience has been investigated in the past, this was done with questionnaires before and after cycling,” says Boot. But do people remember exactly what they experienced?

He developed a system where people could use their mobile phone on the handlebars to indicate how pleasant or unpleasant they found moments during cycling while cycling. Heart rate and skin conductance were also recorded, via a measuring tape around the chest and wrist, respectively. Such data says something about emotions and can supplement insights from questionnaires and interviews, says Boot. “My experiments show that the more intense the procedure, the more unpleasant people find it.” A sound on the headphones was perceived as less unpleasant than a vibration in the glove. Braking by the e-bike motor was experienced as the most unpleasant. Some felt their autonomy was compromised. But the speed reduction in that case was high, 3 km/h in 15 seconds. Boot finds this “particularly interesting”, especially when you think of dangerous intersections or busy city centers.

Repeat on a larger scale

Despite the disadvantages of the interventions, some participants did see value. “If interventions save accidents, people may be more likely to accept the applications.” His experiments were still too small in size – he conducted three, each with about twenty to thirty people of different ages – to make general statements for the entire Dutch e-bike population. In his dissertation he recommends repeating the experiments on a larger scale.

Boot checks the battery and the rest of the equipment that is in a wooden box on the carrier of the e-bike. “Everything works again.” Happy! We go downstairs, and a little later I get on the prototype e-bike. “You have to exceed 20 km/h for the braking to work,” Boot tells me. I pick up the pace and with the pedal assistance at level 2 (out of 5) I cycle off campus to cycle the same pre-programmed route of about 4 kilometers that test subjects have previously completed. The busy Hengelosestraat is approaching. The bicycle suddenly brakes much sooner than expected. It’s really a shock. I’m scared! The bicycle intervenes three more times during the rest of the route, including at a shopping center. It remains shocking and annoying.

“That slowing down could be a bit more gradual,” Boot admits afterwards. There is more that can be improved. Now the bicycle automatically braked at a number of pre-programmed, usually busy points. “But often enough the traffic there is also very quiet.” The e-bike preferably adapts to the traffic situation in real time. And also on the cyclist’s state of mind. “Someone who has just received bad news reacts differently than someone who is happy and energetic.”

Four days later I send Boot another email. I completely forgot to ask what he actually thinks about the fat bike ban that has been introduced in Enschede. “I see the problems with people on fat bikes, but I don’t think a local ban is a sustainable solution. It will be a mess and a cat-and-mouse game, because you can now see again skinny bikes appear that are not covered by the ban. I would prefer to see much more mutual love worldwide.”

Give a gift





Part





Email the editor