Latt Helps Engineering Students Keep Cyclists Safe

Tucson is regularly listed as one of the best cities for cycling in the country. But more cyclists means more potential for accidents. An engineering capstone team is working to keep cyclists safe by developing a device that detects when a vehicle passes too closely to a cyclist. The "Cyclesafe" device, connected to a bike's handlebars, flashes an LED light to alert the car and photographs the license plate of the dangerously close car. It can even send information to the authorities when a car enters the three-foot passing radius required by Arizona law.

“While Arizona Revised Statute 28-735 gives cyclists the right to have three feet of space, this law is meaningless unless there is a mechanism to enforce it. That is where Cyclesafe comes in,” said project advisor and BME associate professor Daniel Latt. 

While an Interdisciplinary Capstone team started the project in 2019, current Team 23047 is aiming to develop a production-ready device while adding features for usability and functionality. The engineering team is 3D printing the device housing, testing security clamps, and using more powerful microcontrollers that are one-third the typical size, yet include both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.