Transport policy
GOOD AND BAD
VIBRATIONS
Dr Mark Taylor
believes poor bike
paths could be
putting cyclists’
health at risk
F
or civil engineer Dr Mark Taylor,
his current research is a result of
personal experience. “I commute
12 miles by bike on a daily basis so
I’m aware how terrible some of the
surfaces are,” he says.
This has led Mark to create what he
is calling Databike – a standard bike
fitted with an HD camera, a number
of sensors and a small Raspberry
Pi computer that allows him to
measure the levels of vibration on
cycling surfaces around Edinburgh.
He says: “Some paths are fine but
the minute you get onto a poorly
maintained surface or some of our
roads, you’re getting a substantial
duration of vibration exposure
that’s being transferred up through
your arms and into your shoulders.
Continued exposure to such vibration
levels over commuter journeys may
lead to discomfort and potentially
cause harm. However, future clinical
studies will confirm this.”
He believes these surfaces have
to be maintained in the same way
as roads. One way of ensuring this
is by more efficient recording of the
conditions of cycle paths.
“I can ride along on Databike,
measuring vibrations, recording the
condition of the surface on camera
and cover large distances much
quicker. It’s the same system as the
Network Rail gauging train which
drives along all their infrastructure,
gathering data.”
Interested
in this project?
Dr Mark Taylor
School of Engineering &
the Built Environment
[email protected]
Mark now plans to recruit more
volunteers to gather vibration
data through Databike as well as
continuing to refine the technology
in collaboration with electronics
undergraduates at the University.
He is also teaming up with medical
professionals to further explore
the health implications from the
vibration exposure he has uncovered.
“I’m focusing very much on
surface and hand-arm vibration
just now – that’s the health issue.
The surface is the key driver as
I’m a civil engineer but there are lots
of spin-off opportunities to use the
data for other things. That’s the
value of Databike. You can bolt on
whatever you need to gather data.
If it’s street lights I’m interested in,
I can put a lux sensor on it. Mapping
the data is another bit of work.”
THE UK’S 470
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
SPEND AN ESTIMATED
£8 MILLION
PER YEAR
SURVEYING CYCLE PATHS
Watch our video about this project at
www.napier.ac.uk/impact
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