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LucidBRAKE To Offer Latest Wireless Bicycle Brake Light

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Lucid Brake Light

When it comes to brake lights, Bicycle versions have been mostly concepts due to the need to integrate switches into the bicycle for them to work properly. Not that long ago, we covered the Maxxon wireless brake light that is said to use Nintendo Wii technology to bypass the need for wires. As one of the latest wireless bicycle brake lights, LucidBRAKE hopes to Kickstart their unique lightweight stop sign shaped design. Weighing a mere 23 grams, the light has no on/off switch and no plastic cover yet is 100% waterproof.

Sounds interesting right? Jump past the break for more.

The key to the LucidBRAKE is a 3 axis accelerometer that is able to detect braking forces relative to gravity. This allows the light to be positioned nearly anywhere with the included 3M Dual lock fasteners – like on the back of your helmet or bag. The accelerometer also acts as the on/off switch, stop moving and the circuit board puts itself to sleep until it detects motion again resulting in roughly a 2 year life span on 2 AAs. Relying on the built in accelerometer, the light allows for 2 different braking speeds with sudden stopping causing it to glow brighter than when slowing to a stop. If you have to slam on the brakes it will stay fully lit for a few seconds before going back to the random blinking mode until the next stop.

Lucid Brush

No, that’s not an unfinished prototype, that is the actual brake. When designing the light, John Craig was challenged to create a light that was not only advanced technically, but light weight as well. While the first prototype had a plastic shell, after talking with experts at Dow Corning the decision was made to use a conformal coating which embeds the circuitry making it water proof. The battery holder is the only part not coated which relies on tin plated spring clips to hold each battery in place. According to John the same embedding material is used to embed photovoltaic cells that require letting light through while not clouding due to UV rays and weathering. To clean the light after riding in the elements, a simple brush can be used to remove the dirt from the light.

Currently, with the $50 and $75 options all gone, the lowest price for you to get a light from Kickstarter is $90 – and there is only one left. Which means everyone else is going to have to cough up $100 for a LucidBrake, cleaning brush, 4 fasteners, and batteries. With only 19 days left LucidBRAKE has a long way to go with just under $7k of their $30k goal.

 

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17 Comments
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Dave
Dave
10 years ago

Interesting and useful application but Kickstarter probably isn’t going to work. They should approach Bell Sports, Planet Bike, Cat Eye or similar companies already in the business with a licensing proposal.

Gunnstein
Gunnstein
10 years ago

Interesting gadget. For the dynamo users there is already the €24 B&M Toplight Line Plus which detects braking by the sudden reduction in dynamo rotation, no extra cables needed.
http://www.starbike.com/p/Busch-M%FCller-Toplight-Line-brake-plus-BrakeTec-4778-de

Sergej
10 years ago

I like that someone is thinking about this problems for cyclists. I do like that other people behind me know when I will stop. I just have little note here. This and the previous Maxxon light which use accelerometer light up “After” you press on the brakes. That’s slightly differ from the “Intention” for braking that you have when you press the brake lever. There is a delay in this models which come from the actual way the are working. By all means I support inventions that are contributing the safety of the cyclist and those around him.

Cheers,
Sergej

David
David
10 years ago

I don’t want to brush off a light after riding. Wouldn’t an extra layer of plastic housing around the unit prevent this brushing off requirement? The brake light aspect is helpful, but I’m more interested in its blinking mode. Considering you aren’t braking for 99.9% for your ride, what options are there for the visibility blinking mode?

Sergej
10 years ago

Guys, my comment “suddenly disappeared”. I’ve read the Comments Policy and I didn’t see a reason why would my comment be removed. I hope that is just an “computer thing”.

Cheers

Ajax
Ajax
10 years ago

Ok, now this is cool! I agree with the other guy. Kickstarter isn’t going to work for these guys because lights is too much of a small niche market. They need to approach a big company for funding.

Indrek Rebane
Indrek Rebane
10 years ago

Does not beat Velodroom bike brake light. Demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvuIkIU_Q0Y More info: http://vd.ee

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

The LucidBRAKE appears to beat the pants off of Velodroom in terms of luminous power and luminous intensity, arguably the most important factors for a rear light. From the images at the Velodroom website and from the video, the Velodroom is not bright at all when no braking is happening and doesn’t come near the LucidBRAKE when braking.

Indrek Rebane (Velodroom team)

Psi, numbers tell different story. Current Velodroom prototype provides visibility at 300m (as required by the law in Denmark). It is adaptive to ambient lighting conditions to save the battery and your eyes. It has 3W LED. This baby is designed to be better seen than car taillights.

Oh, and it looks better while costing half as much.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

If it’s designed to be seen better than car taillights, then why does it appear its angle can’t be adjusted? Fall-off kills illuminance.

Gaz
Gaz
10 years ago

I doubt many people are prepared to drop $100 on a product which is just clear coated, it doesn’t look finished!

Prophacy
Prophacy
10 years ago

One thing I noticed, is that the Maxxon brake light only mounts to the bike post, same with the velodroom.
While the velodroom has some of the same features, It is not as versatile as the LucidBrake.

I think Its awesome that I can put the Lucid Brake on my backpack and it still works.

Christina
Christina
10 years ago

the LucidBrake is a great idea! I like that it is not in a type of housing and is coated so it keeps the weight off and I don’t have to worry about adding more weight to my bike. I looked at their updates on Kickstarter and they added a mode so that it wont blind the racers behind me when I ride in big groups. I was even more impressed by it when I watched the video, their mount anywhere feature allows me to add it to my childrens motorized jeep!! The fact that it can also keep my kids safe when they are playing outside is a huge selling point for me! If you havent checked it out you should!

JCC
JCC
10 years ago

Some great comments here, thanks! Getting across the engineering “whys” has been a challenge for us (I invented LucidBrake) and we’re redoing a lot of our Kickstarter content today because of comments like yours. Here are a few notes… The clear embedding material (same as used in major solar energy projects) requires no more cleaning than a plastic housing would. Our first prototype had a plastic case, we ditched it on purpose. Now LucidBrake’s mass is no more than the 2 AAA batteries that power it. Pro bikers asked for this specifically, and they like it a lot. Another huge advantage of the flat back and light weight is that LucidBrake can be mounted up higher on the body of the biker for greater visibility. The “other” brake lights are not anywhere near as bright as ours. Not even close. I’ve added 4 modes, based on mounted rotation, that change the safety “blinky” mode to suit all the requests we’ve received. We do extend the state of the art way beyond all the competition (yes, I’ve researched all the patents mentioned). For example, you can put in on a helmet, and when people look around it doesn’t signal deceleration. The “others” don’t work this way at all. Likewise, a drooping or crooked mounting angle, like rotations, is ignored. We have several other ways we extended the state of the art.

athena
10 years ago

I gotta wonder about the comment about it only comes on ‘after you press the brakes’ – look at the product again. It isn’t attached to anything. Maybe you’re slowing before you hit the brakes, this LucidBrake will come on then!

I love the versatility of it – I want one for my mom’s wheelchair. One of their comments said it would work well on it. I’d pay a whole lot more than $100 for something that would protect my mom, my kids, my husband – anyone I love.

As a precautionary device, it’d be cheap at twice the price! If you don’t want one at $100 – fine, I do!

Daniel
Daniel
10 years ago

The LucidBrake will make it safer for a bicyclist to stop at stop signs especially on multi-use and commuting trails.

Richard Gorman
Richard Gorman
6 years ago

Will it attach securely to a wire rear basket carrier. but detach easily after the ride so it can’t be stolen?

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