viaCycle

Lock hardware update

Mmm… delicious.  No, that’s not the smell of your freshly-brewed morning coffee, but it is the intoxicating aroma of new viaCycle product development.  We’re proud to announce the release of our third-generation prototype for the viaCycle automated bike lock.  It introduces a number of new features, and facilitates our upgrade path as we implement more improvements in electronics and software.

Some highlights:

Form Factor

The new form factor is less blocky than our previous version, and is nicely shaped to the contours of the bike’s rear triangle.  The notification lights are placed closer to the user, in a clearly visible location.

These units will be used in our upcoming pilot projects, but we’ll still have one more hardware iteration before launching any full systems.  The production version will be even smaller to avoid any pedal interference, and all of the status lights will be clearly labeled.  They’ll also have welded attachment points to the bike, so nobody can take it off or even access it without special tools.

Security

We know security is a huge concern for all bike sharing systems, and we’re working hard to make viaCycle as robust and worry-free as possible.  In addition to always-on GPS tracking and SOS alerts, we’ve added several new features to reduce the risk of theft.

First, the lock now has a confirmation button (the green LED).  When a user sends an unlock message, they must push this button before the bike will unlock.  This prevents accidental unlocks if the user isn’t in close proximity to their chosen bike.

Also, we’ve seriously beefed up the locking cable.  The previous prototype used a normal cable lock.  While easy to use, a cable lock can only take you so far.  Most are susceptible to bolt cutters and other tools employed by nefarious bike thieves.  The new cable is still flexible to help with locking in a variety of places, but it’s much, much stronger.  The entire package is now on par with a U-lock, and we’re confident that the final version will be able to take a lot of abuse.  The cable also has a cylinder which disables the rear wheel when locked, so even if it’s cut, a would be thief can’t simply ride away.

Besides, we like to think those unblinking red and green eyes gives the lock an intimidating “Terminator” aura.  Who’s going to steal a bike when it might become self-aware at any moment?

Reliability

We’ve finished a number of upgrades to improve the lock’s reliability and robustness.  The new unit is more weatherproof, and now has a lockable cover for easy maintenance.  We’re also going to be rolling out a series of electronics upgrades that will take the lock’s performance to a whole new level, so stay tuned for news on that front.

Overall, we’re really excited for this new release, and we hope others are too.  It brings us one step closer to making effortless bicycle sharing a reality.  As always, we love to hear what people think about viaCycle, bike sharing, and clean transportation in general, so share your thoughts in the comments or shoot us a note from the contact page.