The MIT Media Lab is working on modernization bicycles with the aim of improving its rental system on the streets of cities. Its main mission is to facilitate accessibility to passersby who are far from the rental point through its autonomous mode.
In the cities of several countries, bicycle rental points have been set up, however many of them are in very central areas and this is very complex for those who want to rent one but live on the outskirts of the city.
MIT Autonomous Bicycle project will allow users to rent the bike closest to their location using an app. Thanks to the GPS and the sensors that it has, two rear wheels are enabled, forming a kind of tricycle so that the bike reaches the bike autonomously to the person who requested it.
In the MIT prototype, an electric bicycle with two rear wheels and equipped with two engines, one activates the operation of the front wheel and the other is in charge of directing the turns of the bicycle to reach its destination.
When the bicycle reaches its destination the rear wheels automatically fold in such a way that only one remains and the user can drive it with the steering engines deactivated. When finished using it, the bicycle returns autonomously to the nearest charging station until another user requires it.
The prototype of this innovative project has already been tested on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).