Yorkshire entrepreneur’s innovative Ultrabike technology showcased at London’s Science Museum

AN ultrasound sensor kit designed by a Yorkshire entrepreneur which enables people with visual impairments to ride a bicycle independently is part of a new exhibition at London’s Science Museum.

The UltraBike unit, designed and developed in Harrogate, is detachable and can be fitted onto the handlebars of any bike, and was designed by electronics engineer Dr Paul Clark.

The unit’s sensors give the rider constant directional feedback of obstacles ahead and at each side, via vibrating buttons positioned underneath each thumb. Despite their visual impairment, this technology enables cyclists who are blind or visually impaired to negotiate their way safely and independently along a controlled cycle track.

The developers of the UltraBike used the same obstacle detection capability in the award winning UltraCane, an electronic mobility aid.

The UltraCane is a used by people with sight loss all over the world to avoid hazards and injury that can result when using a standard long cane to walk around. The UltraCane mimics the echolocation abilities of bats and was featured on the BBC documentary series Miracles of Nature, fronted by Richard Hammond in 2012.

The programme makers approached Dr Clark’s company Comms Design to adapt the UltraCane technology for use on a bicycle that could be tested with a blind rider.

Since the programme, Sound Foresight Technology, also Harrogate-based, has made the kits more widely available to give groups of visually impaired riders the opportunity to try an UltraBike, most notably at a world first event run by Life Cycle UK in Bristol, on a specially constructed cycle track.

Dr Clark said: “The UltraBike is not suitable for visually impaired road cyclists because road drivers assume a cyclist can see, so this is clearly too hazardous. It is designed for use in a supervised and controlled environment and has great potential for use in sport and velodrome settings in particular.

“We are now looking at specific enhancements to the technology for this purpose.”

Sound Foresight Technology is currently working with sports organisations around the country to run UltraBike events and is encouraged by the interest shown in the technology by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and the organisers of the Commonwealth Games, due to take place in Glasgow in 2014.