Esri and LSBG: Crowdsourcing for better cycle paths
In the Cross Innovation Class, a team of students worked with Esri and the LSBG to develop a solution for recording inadequate cycle paths for the Smart City.
The challenge
Hamburg wants to increase the share of cycling in total transport to 25% in the coming years. To encourage more and more people to switch to cycling, well-developed and safe cycle paths are needed above all.
In Hamburg, the State Office for Roads, Bridges and Waterways is responsible for the development and maintenance of footpaths and cycle paths. A major problem in improving cycle paths is the lack of data on the quality of individual sections in the city. If there was more data on critical sections of road, they could be improved much more efficiently.
The interdisciplinary team of students therefore asked themselves how all bicycle users could indirectly contribute to data collection.
Output
The result is a functional prototype that cyclists can use to report critical sections of cycle paths while travelling. In this way, all cyclists can actively contribute to the traffic turnaround.
The "Hamburg bike box" is attached to the bike: it has 2 buttons that are connected to a mini-computer that can be installed on or in the frame.
During the journey, the buttons can be pressed to report if something is wrong with the cycle path (e.g. potholes, non-existent cycle paths, missing markings, etc.). Each report is transmitted to the LSBG in real time via the cyclist's smartphone. Not only is the information about the road condition transmitted, but also the exact position. This allows the LSBG to visualise all reports on a city map and identify frequently reported locations (see example here). This makes it possible to visualise critical and busy locations. It is also possible to prioritise locations if a particularly large number of reports are received in one section.
At the same time, the system also registers vibrations and can thus draw conclusions about the quality of the carriageway. A light sensor also registers the brightness in order to draw conclusions about the lighting of the paths when travelling at night.
The system will initially be installed in sharing services (bicycles/scooters) as well as courier and delivery services. In the long term, the crowdsourcing system can also be extended to pedestrian paths, green spaces and street furniture.
The Esri team won the prize for the best prototype in the Cross Innovation Class 2021 with the Hamburg bicycle box.
Students: Mieke Fraatz (AMD, Interior Design), Sam Ellenrieder (AMD, Interior Design), Malte Militzer (TUHH, Logistics & Mobility), Nico Alber (HCU, Urban Planning), Simon Schröder (FH Wedel, Smart Technology), Maximilian Wendt (FH Wedel, Computer Science)
Company: Thomas Koblet (Esri), Fabian von Bechen (Esri), Theresa Westphal (LSBG), Alena Engehausen (LSBG)
"The development of the students' way of thinking impressed me enormously. At the beginning of the project, everyone would have preferred to receive a concrete order from the companies, but in the end the students surprised us with their own prototypes developed during the Cross Innovation Class!"
"Consolidating innovative thinking and digitalisation in administration is a challenge that is easier to overcome with impetus from outside. The students' perspective and approach to content was very enriching for us."
Format & method
In the Cross Innovation Class, students from three to six different universities work in interdisciplinary teams on the practical challenges of the project partners.
- The process follows the logic of design thinking: in iterative feedback loops with the partners, the teams approach a solution step by step.
- The entire process is managed by the Cross Innovation Hub team and supported by trained facilitators.
- Prototypes can be created and tested in the workshops of the partner universities.
Cross Innovation Class #3 took place in the summer semester 2021 on the topic of Urban Tech/Smart City Solutions.
Our partner: ESRI
ESRI is a software manufacturer for geoinformation systems. Specifically, ESRI combines data sets with AI analyses and presents the results clearly on interactive maps and dashboards. This makes large amounts of data easier for people to understand. ESRI's products are used in over 20 industries.
