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Making a smart bike light

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Thatsmybike

Student
Nov 10, 2021
1
I am part of a student company and we would like to make a smart bike light which will blink or make noise to make it easier to find your bicycle in crowded places. Our problem currently is that we are not sure about which technology to use to remotely access and find the light. We are trying to choose between a radiottransmitter, bluetooth and wifi(battery consumption is the main concern). The production is also an issue, we dont really know how we can contact a factory so we can scale production any help in each of these catagories would be much appreciated.
 
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What is currently being used for car remote security / door lock / unlock, seems to work OK, flashes light and shouldn't be to difficult to play Beethoven's 9th, although you will require a power supply on the bike.

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)
 
You need a simple yes/no signal, not transmitting an encyclopedia, so wi-fi is an unnecessary power hog. BlueTooth is too short range, though not by much more than your typical RF remote for car alarms.

Production is an entirely different concern than design, but the former is seriously affected by the latter, so worry about the things you can control right now (design).

Dan - Owner
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Start reverse engineering Garage Door Openers.
The range of some garage door openers may be similar to the distance at which you can see and hear your alarm.
There must be many designs on which the patents have expired.
Or do a patent search and check the expiry dates.


--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!
 
Is the concept of operations (CONOPS) always that the user remembers where they left their bike? What if they don't? Lime rental scooters can be found through and app, so cellular data, and you could find your bike across a city if necessary.

Alternately, you could pair your bike to your app, and it remember the GPS location of the bike when the bluetooth link was broken, and your app would get you back to the location within about 10 ft. At that point you can reestablish the bluetooth link and it can annunciate its location though flashing lights if necessary,

While a random RF device like a garage door opener could be used, it would need to have all the accoutrements of a garage door opener, such as rolling code, etc., since the CONOPS will need to assume that there may be dozens of similar bikes in the area, all flashing their lights in response to your summons. Additionally, having an extra remote control is a PITA, but you almost always have your phone, and I've already got too many dongles on my key chain: Costco, Yubikey, etc.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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