APUS

Artificial intelligence as a road communication tool for cyclists

Currently, the search for non-polluting transportation alternatives has led to a considerable increase in the use of bicycles worldwide. At the same time, it has been observed that not all aspects related to this dynamic have been fully optimized, such as communication between cyclists, safety in this transport, among others.

In response to the need to optimize the products that are currently on sale, we have developed a device that supports the communication of cyclists with their environment.

Apus is a technological and compact device, which through data received via sensors and artificial intelligence analysis, is able to recognize the movement patterns that a cyclist will make. basically, when you want to turn right, users lean between 10 to 20 degrees of vertical inclination (movement called Roll), this pattern allows the device to recognize and indicate to the environment the action to be developed through an automated lighting system.

The use of apus as a communication tool, reduces the risk of accidents, seeking in wide margins, the comfort and safety of cyclists when using this means of transport.

Poor road communication between cyclists and their environment is a serious problem today, affecting pedestrians, drivers and cyclists themselves. The great demand currently produced by the search for non-polluting transportation alternatives has aggravated the number of accidents involving cyclists, stress generated by insecurity, among others. Factors that contribute to this situation are: the lack of road culture of coexistence with cyclists and, most importantly, the lack of elements that indicate to the environment if the cyclist is going to turn and in which direction.

Nowadays, more than one million people move through the streets by means of a bicycle, and therefore these are the people who are most exposed to risks in the street because of it, however, motorists and pedestrians are also affected as they are also part of the accidents with cyclists.

Figures from the studies developed by the Apus team to 100 individuals in Santiago, Chile, have shown that 62.5% of them have been directly affected in accidents. 

As a consequence of all of the above, different incidents occur on the streets every day, such as collisions, deaths, arguments, among other inconveniences derived from these traffic accidents.

Apus is a product designed to prevent accidents on public roads, between cyclists and other road users.

Our solution will directly benefit cyclists, reducing the risk of suffering a traffic accident due to poor communication with their environment. This will make a big difference for those people who move around the city with a bicycle or other means of transportation, due to the improvement of their visibility to drivers and pedestrians when riding on streets, roads, parks, among other places. This aspect has not been focused by the current products and signals used by cyclists, noting that nowadays, when they make a turn, they do it in ways that pose a greater risk to their physical safety, using signals made by the arm. This is precisely what we want to avoid with our device, to counteract the current vulnerabilities via the optimization of the systems used and obviously an update of these; bringing organizational value to both cyclists and secondary users such as drivers and pedestrians.

Our solution is specifically oriented to the niche of cyclists of all kinds, so we have been interested from the beginning to know their perspective of the problem. To carry out this task, we have designed a survey that will allow us to understand their point of view, as well as that of other people who play a pedestrian or driver role. However, this is not the only strategy we have in mind to reach our niche; we also plan to conduct personal interviews with individuals of interest, establishing ourselves in points where they commonly move, such as hills, city parks, busy streets, among others. Additionally, we are interested in establishing contact with cycling organizations to support the project with periodic feedback on our development. 

All of this will allow us to design and implement our solution in a way that satisfies the current problems of the individuals in our niche.

The problems of traffic accidents in which cyclists are involved, we identified the need to find a way for cyclists to notify drivers and pedestrians that they are going or are making a change of direction in their travel. This would ensure that drivers and pedestrians are forewarned of bicycles' movements and do not have to react unexpectedly, which is often quite dangerous in these cases. It is precisely for this reason that the developed concept focuses on the optimization and automation of occupied resources, in order to obtain the least interaction between cyclist and device, to avoid unnecessary distractions, and to be able to communicate efficiently the action being performed.

It is of utmost importance to satisfy this need, since it would save lives by reducing the percentage of traffic accidents, including cyclists, pedestrians and drivers.

The Apus team is developing the transfer from concept to product, analyzing all the variables involved in decision making by artificial intelligence. The objective of this process is the creation of a computer capable of detecting the actions produced by the cyclists, collecting the data obtained by the sensors and making a communicative response.

To carry out this process we have worked on 3 fundamental areas:

• Design: In this section we prioritize the development of the 3D models corresponding to the Apus body, focusing on aspects such as size, shape, resistance, etc. 
• Systems: In this section we have managed the creation of a programming code in c++ and python language, which logically evaluates the variables collected by the sensors and determines the fulfillment of constraints already established.
• Marketing: We evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the method of solving the problem with respect to the experiences of users; prioritizing the study of aspects to improve, in order to optimize resources to solve the security problem induced by poor road communication.

Taking into account the implementation of existing technology as a key component of bicycle innovation, Apus seeks to develop its automated communication function via the following process: 

The execution system starts with the collection of data from the sensors, where they capture the inclination corresponding to 3 physical axes. These data are taken from the gyroscope sensor to the microcontroller where the analysis of these data will start through a system of comparison of the current state with the normal state corresponding to the initial inclination of the bicycle, or rather the straight mode. Once the action being performed is identified, the system will execute the operation of flashing LED lights on the relevant side, in order to inform the environment of the action being performed. 

It is worth mentioning that the microcontroller will eventually recognize the user's behavior pattern, such as how much inclination develops in a certain turn, among others, in order to optimize the execution of communication systems.

We have not yet launched our solution to the market, because it is still in the development phase, however, we can make an estimate of how many people we think we could benefit next year with our solution. If we focus on the Chilean environment, which corresponds to the place where we are going to launch our product in the beginning, we have to take into account that the approximate number of cyclists is more than one million. However, according to a survey we made to more than 100 people, 62% use this type of articles for security, so we can deduce that more probably an approximate of 600,000 peoples are the ones that would be affected by Apus.

Apus' impact goals for the coming year are to increase the physical safety of bicyclists on public roads and to motivate people to use bicycles as a means of transportation in the face of a reputation for being unsafe. As the Apus team, we plan to accomplish these goals by developing a beta model and then launching a final model so that the people we serve will begin to benefit from cycling. Then, over time, we hope that more and more people will be able to purchase the product so that they can start cycling on the streets more safely, and avoid multiple accidents and fatalities that happen every day around the world.

At this moment we are developing the project according to a plan or list of base objectives, which as a team we agree are the most important. These objectives are structured as steps that we must carry out, which gives the process an order that facilitates the detection of problems during the process and the ability to correct the route if necessary. Additionally, we have to say that we currently have the support of a project incubator in Chile, to which we periodically communicate our progress in order to receive constant feedback. Furthermore, this organization provides us with training in areas related to the realization of smart city projects, which means that we can determine a horizon for Apus in a more focused and organized way.

Currently, Apus development is affected by two main areas: 

On one hand, we have technical difficulties, both in optimizing the space occupied by Apus elements, and also in optimizing the programming code, which we seek to solve with the integration of a team with more complete knowledge in this area.

On the other hand, the members of the team have no experience or knowledge in business matters. This implies that it is more difficult for us to make decisions regarding the steps that the project has to follow to be successful, so there is a need for the team to learn about the subject or to receive support from third parties.

Apus was born out of the intersection of several factors. On one hand, two of the main members of the team have had personal experiences with accidents related to poor communication from cyclists. 

One of these experiences is linked to the physical integrity of a family member of the team, where he was involved in a traffic accident due to poor road communication.

Additionally, the creator of the idea "Franco Nicolai Corvalán Mansourova" after observing this situation, participated in a national contest developed by the Diego Portales University supported by the Ministry of Transport of Chile, where the premise was the incorporation of technology in common problems of modern cities in Chile, which after the support of the leaders of the previous contest, the possibility of bringing it to reality was observed, incorporating the project to a start-up incubator. 

In addition to this, the team members have knowledge and experience in 3D design, microcontrollers and programming language, so that the sum of all the above factors, ended up giving birth to the project called Apus, which seeks to support cyclists not to put their physical integrity at risk for poor road communication.

The collaborators who are currently supporting the development of Apus, is Smart Araucanía. This is an UFRO initiative funded by BID Lab, Corfo and GORE of La Araucanía that connects companies, start-ups, cities and citizens, incorporating a comprehensive vision of the innovation ecosystem of smart cities.

Smart Araucanía aims to solve urban problems through intersectoral collaboration, providing linkages, training, innovation challenges, pre-incubation, technological services and entrepreneurship, with a strong focus on the development of innovative ecosystems.

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