Lumigrids is a simple, clever and above all useful concept that aims to improve the safety of cycling at night. The device is an LED projector that fits on the handlebars of your bicycle, projecting a square grid onto the ground before you. By looking at the changes and abnormalities in the grid, the cyclist is able to easily pick out potholes and other obstacles, helping them to avoid potential crashes and falls.
The team behind Lumigrids claim that the design is an improvement over traditional bicycle lamps, which casts shadows around both concave and convex obstacles, making it difficult for the rider to judge the surface effectively. Lumigrids' grid projection system makes it a lot easier to identify the nature of the abnormalities, with the squares of the grid bending and changing in an easy way for the rider to process.
The projector has three different settings, offering a variety of grid sizes that are designed for use in different situations. The device's normal mode will display a 140 x 180-mm (5.5 x 7.1-inch) grid, the high speed mode ups the area to 140 x 260 mm (5.5 x 10.2 inches) and the “team” mode widens the grid to 300 x 200 mm (11.8 x 7.9 inches).
Like normal bicycle lights, the light itself will also alert pedestrians and vehicles to the rider's presence, further improving safety. The device is powered by either the movement of the bike's wheels or by an internal battery. There's only one button on the device, which should make it possible to turn the projector on and off and run through the modes while on the move.
The Lumigrids device isn't the first time we've seen projectors used to improve cyclists' safety. Xfire's Bike Lane Safety Light projects a virtual bike lane on the road around the bike, while the BLAZE light projects a symbol of a cyclist onto the road in front of the rider. Combining one of these with Lumigrids might just provide the ultimate cycling safety kit – that's if you're OK with looking like something out of Tron.
Lumigrids was created by a team of researchers from the Sichuan University in China, and has been awarded the Red Dot Design Award for 2012. There's no word yet on whether or not the device will be produced commercially.
Source: Red Dot Awards
If the grid is 2-3 m in front of you and you are travelling more then 10km/hr, then there is buckley's chance of avoiding the gaping maw in the road.
Place a range finder with a small speaker on your helmet that beeps if there is a rapid change in depression. Use an accelerometer to detect head movement preventing unnecessary beeping.
re; Ju_LC
This works because you are looking at the grid at a different angle than it is being projected at.
re; sk8dad
This uses less power than a headlight that that provides the same level of clarity and is therefor lighter. I will ride right over a "bottomless" 2 inch wide gap but will try to avoid running over a 2x2 inch bump.
Two things: - These pictures are fake, Slowburn, you would easily agree. Or explain me why in the 3rd picture, the fourth horizontal line starting from the bottom is broken despite that the difference between the projection angle and the view angle is zero. - Why don’t they present the real view then? A computer and a projector is enough to simulate a more realistic case. Does it work well with the reall configuration? Is the angle sufficient to be effective? Even at the bottom of the grid? Is the real grid projection easy to be processed by a human brain as it is in the case when the beam comes from the ceiling (in these pictures)?
There was a reason for releasing these fake pictures…? And the answer is probably in one of these previous questions therefore I would not be too enthusiastic about this product! But maybe I am wrong…
this thing would not do anything to warn you about gravel, sand, water, oil, ice
not to mention brick walls or a pedestrian in black
holes and bumps - MAYBE
but there are a lot of other nighttime hazards
wle