GPS Tracking for Bicycles

Eugene LiEliot Sun

Henry HsueJustin Woo

Team #3IEOR 190G

Patent EngineeringSpring 2010

Introduction

• Consumer pain:o Bike thefto Desire to track progress

• Solution:o GPS locator inside of bike handles for personal

tracking and security

Title of Invention

GPS Tracking for Bicycles

Field of Invention

• The GPS locator device for bikes works similarly to the LoJack system found commonly in cars

• Hidden securely inside the handlebars, the device works as a homing device in case the bike is stolen

• In the event the bike moves several away from its locked location, the owner of the bike will be notified on his smartphone through a preinstalled application

Field of Invention

• Security featureso Several beeps will announce that possible theft

or tampering has been involved, and the owner is automatically shown a continuously updated position indicator of the bike on Google Maps, making it much easier to recover the bike

o An optional feature that may be installed is an 120 decibal alarm that sounds off when the bike is moved more than 3 feet from it's locked location.

Field of Invention

• Navigation featureso During normal rides, the GPS system will also

function as a mapping device that sends information to the user’s cell phone app.

o Such information includes, but is not limited to the path taken, elevation, distance, time traveled, etc.

What is the problem?

• Consumer Pain:o Bike Theft

It is incredibly difficult to track down a back once it has been stolen

o Progress tracking People like to keep track of where they’re biking, how

long they’ve been biking, and how far they’ve biked

Disadvantage of Existing Solutions

• No technical solutions exist for the efficient recovery of a stolen bicycleo Existing solutions:

Bicycle locks (with and without alarms) Once broken and the bike is stolen, there is no way of

tracking the bicycle Prevention technique, but does not aid recovery

Bike registration Registration number can be scratched off Thief keeps bike off the market for a long period of time

Disadvantage of Existing Solutions

• GPS navigation systems for bikeso Large and bulky

Display paths and current location, but are inaccurate for guidance in tight areas or tree-covered pathways

o Expensiveo Do not help recover stolen bicycles

Having an expensive GPS system on the bike actually increases the likelihood of having the bike stolen

Are only used for navigation, not recovery

Prior Art

Existing Patents and Solutions

US Patent 5955965

• US Patent 5955965o Title: Bicycle Locating Systemo Date of Patent: September 21st, 1999o Anti-theft focus

Uses very general descriptions “Locating system comprises a transponder, power supply,

and electrical connection” “Transponder responds to call signal from call station by

transmitting a locator signal to a locator station” No mention of GPS system

US Patent 5815069

• US Patent 5815069o Title: Bicycle theft prevention systemo Date of Patent: September 19, 1997o A bicycle theft prevention system 10 for use with

bicycles 100 including an alarm unit 11 and a tracking unit 12 disposed within the framework 101 of the bicycle 100 and a time delayed marking unit 14 and temporary physical immobilizing unit 15 disposed on the exterior of the bicycle 100. A hand held tracker unit 19 may be employed to establish the location of the stolen bicycle 100.

Bicycle GPS Navigators

Bicycle GPS Navigators

• General Features:o Navigation Recording to track bike riding routeso Data recording

Speed, heart rateo Data comparison

Flow diagrams

Device on Bicycle

GPS Satellite

Cell Tower

Cell Phone

Electricity provided by pedaling on

bike

or

Owner of bicycle

Computer

Device lives in bicycle’s handles

Bike GPS Design

Possible GPS Locations in Handlebar

GPS Device

Insertion of GPS into Handlebars

GPS Device

COMMENTS

Add comments below

Chen, Der Yu (Dorian)

Are you sure you the GPS device can be accurate underneath the metal?  And there is still a possibility the theft will take the GPS off.  How do you solve the problem under tree-tight area?  And how is your product cheaper?

David PastewkaI like the "powered by the pedaling" feature. I'd like to see more of how that would attach/work on the bike. However, this may be a problem with trying to prevent bike theft for two reasons: 1. the thief will have to pedal it for it to send the signal 2. a device attached to a bicycle that draws power from pedaling would signal to a thief that there is a GPS device built in (could deter theft if device is built in properly but also could alert thief to the presence of the device)