Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System

Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.

Riding at night can be a daunting and dangerous task; many biking commuters are faced with the issue of being obscured when riding on the streets. Visibility at night is a vital component of biker safety, hence the need for reflectors and attachable lights. However, some of these devices are not always effective especially from the side.

We created a system that requires very little rider input and maintenance, while increasing the visual footprint of bikers from all directions especially from the side. We accomplished this by expanding the surface area of light emitted through the use of RGB LEDs inside the rims of the wheels that change from red when slowing down to white when at cruising speed.

It should be noted that Project Aura is a lighting system which allows a rider to be seen, but does not replace a forward facing headlight to illuminate the roadway. By law (in Pennsylvania, the laws vary state by state) a front headlamp and rear reflector are required, use of a rear blinky is up to the rider‘s discretion.