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Garmin Close-pass sensor

1054055
over 2 years ago

There's an open-source project called "OpenBikeSensor" (https://www.openbikesensor.org/en/) that measures vehicle passing distance while cycling. The problem is you have to build/solder/3D print the device yourself. 

With a raft of new close-passing laws in many countries, can anyone tell me why Garmin haven't manufactured something like this. It would sell like hot-cakes

It could integrate with the Varia radar and activate when a vehicle is passing. In the open-source design, the user must push a red-button to activate the sensor.

If Garmin can build a radar (Varia) to detect vehicles at 100m, surely it can detect distance (using radar/ultrasound) in the 0-2.5m range

Can someone please pass this on to Garmin's engineers. With the advent of new laws and web-portals for uploading video evidence of close-pass crimes, a device like this could be an excellent evidence gathering tool.

I'm curious if there are any thoughts from the community on why this couldn't be done?

Thanks

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    How would this benefit a cyclist? It would have to trigger a camera to show the close pass.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to cheracogoff

    I would never cycle without a camera rolling. I'm a commuter and the roads where I live are very dangerous. I have a 3rd party camera that records front and rear. I would buy a Garmin Virb360 or another Garmin camera if it could detect the speed and passing distance of passing vehicles as part of a complete ecosystem. The roads are dangerous and we need evidence gathering tools to back-up our real-world experience. All of the technology is there already. It just needs to be integrated

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 1054055

    Perhaps you are not aware of the Connect IQ app called My Bike Radar Traffic. It will provide you with the speed of approaching cars. Has other features too.