Initial presentation of my final project for the Rest of You class at ITP.

I’m logging forces experienced by a bicycle {rider} when traveling through an urban environment. Many of these forces go unnoticed by the rider focused in the action of riding.

I’m looking to utilize mobile GPS-enabled handsets as a central part of the sensor platform to take advantage of their increasing ubiquity and a natural tendency for riders to carry a handset at all times. External sensors and hardware may be connected to these handsets to measure specific metrics, such as light and sound levels, air quality, proximity, heart rate, stress, breathing, work, attitude, speed and vibration.

after a couple of late nights, i have a proof-of-concept in the real-time cycling-related datalogging. the reasons behind the project are still getting sorted, but lately my interest in ubiquitous urban sensor networks has been piqued and this is a tentative exploration in that area. sensors don’t have to remain static as part of physical infrastructure…millions of people are carrying millions of sensors around with them daily. (more…)

(note: I’m awaiting the HR sensor, this is mostly outward forces)

I’m logging the acceleration forces at the handlebars of my bicycle while riding through New York City. The body has roughly three contact points with a bicycle, the hands at the handlebars, the “seat” at the saddle, and the feet at the pedals. The downward force of the rider’s weight and pedaling force and the upward forces of the bicycle rolling over uneven ground are distributed over these three points. I was interested to see just what kind of forces are “pushing back” that I may not be aware of, myself lost in the act of simply keeping the bicycle upright and safely navigating through traffic.

To contextualize the raw accelerometer data I also tracking GPS location and eventually geocoding the raw data in software. The bicycle sensors are being transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile phone and the data is logged with a custom written (but now open-source!) python script. Below is the first draft of the visualization. (more…)

This is just a teaser for a project I’ve recently begun, but I had an “a-ha” moment when the visualization program finally came together just now and wanted to share…

This is geocoded accelerometer data from the handlebars of my bicycle on my commute from Greenpoint to ITP in the East Village. The sample at middle of the graph, and the red circle on the path coincide. I realized just now that this is a seam in the Williamsburg Bridge. Neat.

I’ll post proper documentation of the project as it becomes more robust…but I’m excited. Waiting for the heart rate monitor interface to arrive…looking to couple internal status with external events…