Help design a better bike light

There has been a collaboration between the Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve Management Advisory Group and Brunel University for some 2 1/2 years, principally with their Centre for Flood Risk & Resilience.
They have helped us improve the array of natural flood management that we have installed in Park Wood SSSI, to reduce the flood risk for some 80 residential properties between the woodland and the River Pinn.

On Wednesday the 11th of December I gratefully accepted an inviation to attend the Brunel Design School Industry Review event where some 60 students presented posters of their final year projects.

Muayed is proposing to design a better bike light, to reduce the risk of cycling.
I'm certain the hive mind here can offer him some suggestions based upon experience,
not just of cycling at night,
but also the demerits of those bike lights already commercially available.

This is going to sound trite, but there is nothing wrong with 99% of the bike lights on the market. No new tech bike light will ever make riders safer. Drivers don’t look, don’t care or are just bad drivers.
Unless your light has a way of physically stopping a car that is.
Sorry.

Design a bike light that includes an EMP blast that can disable a distracted driver's vehicle from 100m away.

I'm happy with the bike light system that I've got, as are most people I can think of. The issues that I've heard from other cyclists come from forgetting to bring their lights or forgetting to charge them.

Magnetically powered lights like this one are one way to solve those problems (if they don't get stolen): https://reelight.com/collections/battery-free-lights/products/ams

i dislike the internal rechargable battery that can't be removed. i'd much prefer a pair or 4 rechargable AA batteries that you can remove and replace at will. if you forget to charge up your light and are just getting ready to leave for a ride the light is pretty much redundant. if you had exchangeable batteries just switch 'em out and off you go. likewise out on the road, a long night ride and the battery was only half charged when you leave, you end up with a useless light attached to your bike.
you can either carry a spare light or a spare set of batteries. one option is far cheaper than the other given the costs of lights these days.
in an emergency a spare set of batteries can easily be purchased out on the road a new light less so.

I'm not a designer or entrepreneur so I'd never bother trying to make a new product like this but I have often wondered about the merit of a light that attaches to the top of your top tube near the head tube or indeed on the back of the handlebars with a wide light source surface area that emits a lowish power fill light that actually illuminates the body of the rider.
I often see riders on dark bikes and in dark clothing with a regular front light and they seem almost invisible apart from a spot of white light approaching.
This could go some way to countering that without the need for all the pro-commuter vest and helmet lights.
Would still need to be used in conjunction with regular lights.

Alternatively how about a top tube shaped solar panel that charges a pair of regular lights

solar panel

Have you been outside this year? :D

I like dynamo lights for avoiding the "I've forgotten to charge this thing"

But they almost always need to be supplemented with battery lights for "ahh I can finally see stuff" when you're not moving fast enough or you have those shitty German legally stunted lights.

I've seen flexy stick on solar panels that are supposed to charge GPS trackers. I wonder if that could be used for lights.

Also, this is a sticky?

to reduce the risk of cycling

would like more details on exactly what is the 'risk' to offer an opinion :)

I have often wondered about the merit of a light that attaches to the top of your top tube near the head tube or indeed on the back of the handlebars with a wide light source surface area that emits a lowish power fill light that actually illuminates the body of the rider.

This is a nice idea. Do you think it would help to humanize the cyclist to motorists?

I'm hoping Muayed will show up and explain his poster/project, as any summary if what I saw last week will inevitably omit detail let alone nuance.

I wonder if the volume/space for the battery could be for a rechargeable 18650 cell, but with pick ups for 2x or 4x AA cells?

Removable rechargeable batteries so you can bring a spare one. And a larger diameter LED area so you're more visible for others.
More like this;

1 Attachment

Got a link to open source targetting software?

1.0 Use a mount style that is ubiquitous and brand agnostic already (i.e if it's quick mount bracket type thing – GoPro, Garmin, etc etc etc compatible). We dont need new proprietary solutions for problems that have been solved multiple times. (Fuck you Magicshine Seemee micro-garmin-style-mounts)
1.1 Make the mount element on the light itself bolt on and exchangeable
1.2 Be mindful of orientaiton and mount points. Assume users will want to attach in multiple ways to bikes and mount points of various size+ shape; bolt on straight, bolt on sideways, bolt under, direct to saddle rail, ø22.2 - 31.8 handlebars, ø16-22 stays, round things, oval things, square things, textile things, stem things, etc etc etc.
1.3 Don't rely on single piece silicone for casing + mounting. When it's broken, it's in the bin. Related: minimise mouldings, rubberised coatings and anything else that is clearly going to be rendered useless or unusable through use.
2.0 Secondary Downlights (like the Masgicshine Seemee) are a great way to increase visibility (on rear lights).
2.1 Secondary downlights or floor marking on front lights are unecessary and distracting for riders and drivers alike
3.0. Aggressive flash and rhrythm modes are incredibly dangerous to all other road users, especially at high lumen. Distracting and dazzling is not "seen".
3.1 Invent a way to stop fuckwits mounting their front lights at 90º+ ... Anti-tilt? Accelerometer driven self righting internal lamp shade? Alarm warnings for elevated mounting? Pie in the face? Whatever works
4.0 Replaceable rechargeable battery cells
4.1 USB c input for battery (we dont need proprietary magnetic charging cables)

They do exist.

https://www.amazon.com/ShineOn-Bike-Light-Waterproof-Rechargeable/dp/B09KMH1WBB

I'm sure there was someone selling something in the UK at some point but it obviously didn't sell well.

Not bad yeah. Shitty mounting though

Better it's red spectrum light I think (due to how people reflexively read lights of different colours and what they mean on the road) Magicshine does this already quite well: https://magicshineuk.com/product/seemee-300-smart-tail-light/

Basically they need to be simple to use in the dark, in rain, whilst riding, with freezing cold hands etc. (I'm primarily thinking of commuting/general lights here rather than Exposure style highly engineered lights):

An easy attachment system that fits multiple parts of the bike and is sturdy.

A simple operating system with 2/3 modes max of flashing and static.

A built in usb charger (lezeyne do this already) which means you don't need to carry a cable and it can be charged quickly via a computer.

Amen to all of these points. But dynamos rule

A built in usb charger (lezeyne do this already) which means you don't need to carry a cable and it can be charged quickly via a computer
But can it not snap off after 12 months 1 day of use please?

A couple of left-field ideas that I've mused on for rear lights:

The best way to allow drivers to judge closing speed is to have two or more distinct light sources, since these will visually diverge as you close. I think you can already get a light bar, but it might be an idea worth tinkering with to improve. For example a lightweight horizontal beam with a light at each end.

Secondly aircraft carriers have an system of lights that indicate to pilots their angle relative to the desired glides path. I wondered whether a similar thing could be designed for a bike to show extra lights to drivers if they are too close or change the display when they are passing with enough clearance.

No idea about the feasibility of these. Just idle speculation.