"Q." LostVideos-AT-hotmail.com wrote in message
...
"Adrian" wrote in message
om...
I am an A-level product design student, for my my major project i have
decided to design and make indicators to put on a bicycle. My initial
idea is to put a device with indicators and a brake light on the back
of the bicycle connected to the seat post so people travvelling behind
the cyclist can see what the cyclist intends to do and then put a tube
with a amber light on the end fixed onto either end of the handlebars
so people aproaching from the front can see if the cyclist intends to
turn. If anyone has any ideas on this please post a reply .... it can
be possitive ... negative ... doesnt matter all replys will be useful

Brake lights have been done already. Nashbar has one:
http://tinyurl.com/3aft7 There are also brake pads with brake lights
built
into them: http://tinyurl.com/uo7m

Turn signals have been done as well, I had them on a bike as a child.
They're quite common on mopeds and if I was going to put some onto a
bicycle
I would just use the same system as a moped or scooter. It would be just
as
important to have turn signals that are visible from the front as well as
the back. I don't know about where you live, but around here people in
cars
do not use their turn signals, so I doubt signals on a bicycle would do
anything ... people don't even use lights on their bikes at night.


I've seen signals on mopeds, but if your bikeframe is like mine, it has
panniers, an underseat bag (tools), and, at times, a front bag. All of this
would make it difficult to find space on the frame for locating such devices
so that they would be visible. Also, I think they'd need to be fairly high
up, perhaps integrated into the seat (or vertically from it, in some manner)
to be visible enough for use. It might also be possible to design something
into clothing that might work, though this might take some kinky tinkering
to find materials that would work. I've taken to mounting lights on the
headset, seat post (when I'm not using the seat bag), back of the pannier
rack, and even my helmet, so I think it is possible to do something pretty
creative with lights. The lights aren't the issue, making a mounting system
and human interface that works universally is.

Good luck,

Rick