Ford recently teamed with Trek, Shimano, and nine other leading bike makers to develop a bike-to-vehicle or B2V communications platform that will build on an artificial intelligence platform to help improve safety.
Software company Tome is also part of the mix, and actually started working on the communications protocol last year by developing mapping and infrastructure identification programs. A key goal of the B2V team will be creating a universal standard that all auto manufacturers and bike makers can implement.
The system focuses on driver alerts to help reduce bicycle-vehicle collisions. The AI comes into play by introducing algorithms that can identify the potential for accidents based on time, locations, and environmental variables. The system uses these data points to alert B2V-connected drivers and cyclists.
For their part, bike manufacturers will be tasked with building B2V sensors and transceivers into new bikes. This means non-electric bikes will need power sources like batteries or, potentially, rider-powered rim dynamometers. Jim Holland, Ford Motor Company vice president of vehicle components and systems engineering, recently told Digital Trends that, “In the City of Tomorrow, a mobility system will see all modes of transportation speaking a common language and working together.”
The Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything or C-V2X protocol is the system vehicle manufacturers are developing for connected cars. B2V will look to co-exist within C-V2X.