The Copenhagen Wheel is a full enclosed electric power hub that converts any bicycle into an electric assist bike. The concept was shown at Hopenhagen’s Future Cities Exhibit and comes from MIT’s Senseable City Lab with other partners. It’s official debut comes tomorrow (Dec. 15) at the COP15 United Nations Climate Conference.
Inside the hub is a 3-speed internal gear hub along with the battiers, a torque sensor, GPRS and a sensor that measures environmental pollution, noise and temperature and relative humidity. As if all that’s not enough, it’s fully-sealed nature allows it to be built onto any bicycle! Not impressed yet? OK, how about being able to control it all from your smart phone and be able to see ride data with environmental info. Here’s there official blurb on the bike:
Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you. As you cycle, the wheel’s sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go. You can also share your data with friends, or with your city – anonymously if you wish – thereby contributing to a fine-grained database of environmental information from which we can all benefit.
Want more cool bicycle concepts? Check out the others from COP15 on TreeHugger (thanks to BicycleDesign for the Tip!)
UPDATE: Additional U.S. based coverage on Boston.com (thanks to Jeffrey at Ergon for the link!)
