Commsignia wheels out vehicle-to-everything for bicycles

Noting that accidents and road deaths among cyclists are rising at an alarming rate, transport communications firm Commsignia has unveiled the OBU Lite vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device for electric bicycles and micro-mobility, which it says can improve the visibility and safety of vulnerable road users.

The device is designed to make comms technology-enabled vehicles and other road users aware of each other without being in each other’s line of sight, meaning drivers, riders and pedestrians can make better decisions and avoid injuries from risky or unexpected situations.

Putting the launch of the OBU Lite system into perspective, Commsignia cited an IIHS study showing that the erroneous judgement of drivers represented 40 of incidents, while errors in perception and detection alone accounted for 23%. In addition, a recent Commsignia poll in the US found that over half of people would like to have V2X technology in their vehicle, while over 78% of respondents expressed worry about bicyclists and e-scooter riders unexpectedly riding into traffic as they are driving.

Commsignia already provides road safety applications specifically built for providing secure and robust connection between bicycles and motorised vehicles to prevent the most common crashes. The tech firm believes it can now offer solutions for the complete V2X-based digital transport ecosystem and that OBU Lite joins a global V2X ecosystem of cars, buses, trucks and other vehicles, along with a growing digital roadside infrastructure, to help prevent collisions through real-time alerts.

Building on automotive and smart city knowledge and its experience working with e-bike component manufacturers, Commsignia said it has equipped the OBU Lite with its automotive-grade, state-of-the-art V2X software stack, with security that is already used by car manufacturers. V2X applications include intersection movement assist, left turn assist, right turn assist, backward collision warning, slow-moving vehicle ahead, lane change assist and reversed blindspot warning.

OBU Lite comes in a lightweight form factor optimised for bicycles, primarily aimed at manufacturing partners. It can be integrated or connected to bicycle and micro-mobility platforms. It broadcasts messages about the cyclist’s position and direction to other road users, and receives messages from other vehicles so the rider can be alerted to potential hazards by visual, audio or haptic notification.

Commsignia is working with partners in the bicycle industry to integrate the technology and expects mass-market roll-out in the coming years.

“With the addition of the OBU Lite to our portfolio, our offering is now completely covering the whole ecosystem. Bicycles are becoming an increasingly important part of transport, but as the popularity of micro-mobility solutions grows, the number of collisions involving injury or death is also on the rise,” commented Commsignia CEO Szabi Patay.

“We are very happy to see that bicycle OEMs and component manufacturers are interested in our V2X-based solutions because together we can solve traffic problems once and for all.”