Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. Outdoors
  4. News

This 19th-century ‘dandy horse’ throwback bike is a hipster’s dream come true

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

Disconcerted by the fact that mustache wax and beard oil is now for sale in strip malls? Saddened that Mason jar cocktails can be ordered alongside Budweiser in your nearest chain restaurant? Fearful that the Walkman you carry around is no longer clearly ironically retro enough?

If you are a 2017 hipster in search of the ultimate vintage, nonconformist statement, you could do a lot worse than checking out the vehicle created by a team of computer scientists at Germany’s Saarland University. Combining a two-wheeled mode of transportation that precedes the bicycle with the latest Arduino tech, they have built a modern version of the draisine or “dandy horse.”

Recommended Videos

“What we have developed is a symbiosis of old and new,” Ph.D. student Gereon Fox told Digital Trends. “We took the invention that Karl Drais made in 1817: A wooden means of transportation that is propelled by pushing with your feet — and combined it with today’s electric motor support bike technology. The result is a bike that looks a bit like we stole it from a museum, but if you examine it carefully, you see all the wires and sensors, the motor, the battery, and the Raspberry Pi computer that controls the whole vehicle.”

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The wooden bike uses its sensors to detect when the user pushes with his feet, in order to amplify these pushes with the motor. In terms of smart tech, it packs a 200-watt rear hub motor, a battery mounted on the frame, an accelerometer, a Raspberry Pi microcomputer, and an RPM-measuring magnetic sensor in the rear wheel.

“We built this prototype because we, as computer scientists, needed to learn how to actually program a bike,” Fox continued. “Now that we have gained some understanding of this, the next step is to evaluate the current verification technology in order to identify its weaknesses and shortcomings when it comes to applying it to a system of this complexity. We do not really aim for commercialization of a wooden Draisine because, although it has a motor, it’s still a bit harder to ride than one with proper pedals.”

In other words, you will not be able to buy it on Amazon anytime soon. But wouldn’t it kind of ruin the high-tech hipster ethos if you could?

Luke Dormehl
Luke Dormehl
Former Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Topics
Anti-surveillance clothing is getting cheaper, but don’t expect an invisibility cloak
Affordable shirts now claim to confuse facial recognition, although their protection depends heavily on the camera and software watching you
Chart, Plot, Adult

Anti-surveillance clothing is starting to look less like an art-school experiment and more like something you could actually wear outside. Shirts designed to confuse facial recognition systems now cost about as much as ordinary streetwear, although buying one won’t make you disappear.

The Guardian reports that designers are using face-like prints, unusual cuts and infrared lights to interfere with computer vision. These techniques target specific weaknesses, so their success depends on what happens to be watching you.

Read more
This spinning drone hides in plain sight using a visual illusion
This drone doesn't turn invisible. It tricks your brain into thinking it has.
Phantom Twist

For decades, engineers have chased the dream of an invisible drone. The usual approaches have involved transparent materials, camouflage coatings, or complex optical systems that bend light around an object. Researchers at Northwestern University decided to take a completely different route. Instead of hiding the drone itself, they chose to fool the human eye.

The result is Phantom Twist, an experimental drone that spins so rapidly it almost disappears into the background. It's not technically invisible, but to anyone watching, it looks more like a faint blur than a flying machine.

Read more
This smart knitted fabric can flip switches, count your steps, and even change shape
Grandma's knitting just entered its Iron Man era
Representative Image

For most of us, knitting brings to mind sweaters, scarves, and perhaps an ambitious grandmother determined to make winter more fashionable. Researchers at Harvard University, however, have a far more futuristic vision. They've transformed ordinary knitted fabric into a programmable material capable of changing shape, acting as an electrical switch, sensing movement, and potentially forming the foundation of tomorrow's wearable technology.

The research, published in Advanced Functional Materials by scientists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), demonstrates how machine-knitted textiles can "snap" between multiple stable shapes without relying on motors or rigid mechanical parts.

Read more