Everything is getting smart these days. We’ve got smart phones, smart watches, smart homes, etc…, and now we’ve got smart bicycles thanks to products such as Yon Bike Lamp by Nastek Tecnologia, a Brazilian company, that can track and report your bicycle location for riding statistics and/or in case of theft.
There are not that many technical details, but we do know the bicycle taillight features Telit GL865-QUAD GSM/GPRS module supporting 4 GSM bands: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, compliant with eCall European directive, and that’s control using Python scripts. The chip most probably helps with location tracking thanks to m2mLOCATE service which accesses a database of over 40 million cell-IDs.
The light gets its location via GPS, and connects to the outside via GSM/GPRS and SMS. You can either login to a website or via an Android or iOS app in order to access the light statistics and location. If it also possible to send an SMS to the light, and once it wakes up from sleep mode, i.e. when the built-in accelerometer detects movement, it will reply with a link to its location. Beside the tracking features, it can also be used a a standard taillight…
There’s no mention of availability outside the Brazilian market, nor pricing. Yon Bike Lamp is not the first IoT / M2M products for smart bicycle, and others products are also available, or soon will be, such as Helios Bars, and Pegasus Skylamp 2 which has the same functionality as Yon Bike Lamp and sells for $148.
Via Embedded Star
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress
Anything over $100 is way too much. You can get some simple trackers like this for $20-$30 on aliexpress and while I’m willing to pay a premium this is just too much.
@Marius
It’s 4 time the price of the 2nd hand bike I bought, for people like me it’s not worth it. The irony is that our bikes are the most stolen, the expensive ones are easier to spot (unless you sell it to far places) and thus avoided.
I wish for a 10$ one to be installed on every bike right in the factory.
@agumonkey
Look for some GPS tracking devices on aliexpress if you want to. You should find some pretty cheap as I’ve said.
Besides even if it cost the same money as you bike did it’s still worth it IMO as you’ll get rid of one bike thief if you can track him and call the police.