Evoc has upped the safety quotient for urban cyclists with the launch of its new airbag-deploying backpack called the Commute AIR Pro 18, offering greater protection in the areas of the neck, shoulders and chest in the event of a crash.
According to Evoc, upon impact, the integrated airbag will inflate in 0.2 seconds, while the backpack also features what’s called a Liteshield Plus back protector that meets EN 1621-2, the equivalent of level 2 standards for motorcycle armor.
The airbag is a two-layer polyester design that’s said to be capable of withstanding the equivalent of a 220 pound steel plate falling from 15 feet, with a system that can operate in temperatures ranging between 32°F to 104°F.
“The integrated airbag system was developed specifically for the application in bike backpacks – for daily commutes to work, school or leisure activities. For this purpose, we teamed up with Minerva-AS GmbH, a Bavaria-based company specializing in work-safety airbags. The heart of the system is a sensor-controlled, 18-liter inflatable airbag protector that drastically reduces impact forces in the case of a crash. When the airbag is deployed, the impact force and (braking) acceleration (HIC – Head Injury Criterion) acting upon the cyclist are reduced by up to 80%,” says Evoc.
Additionally, the Commute A.I.R. Pro 18 features a USB-chargeable sensory unit equipped with six sensors that allow it to analyze the position of the backpack up to 1,100 times per second, deploying the airbag immediately when impact is detected, while battery life can last up to 32 hours.
“The triggering unit, which is fixed permanently to the airbag, includes a battery, memory chips and interfaces (USB/Bluetooth). Its overall weight, including the airbag, is approximately 800g. The mechanical deployment is implemented via the activation of an e-igniter. This builds up stagnation pressure that drives a needle through the sealing cap of the compressed-gas cylinder. Under atmospheric pressure, the liquid CO2 expands and fills the airbag within milliseconds. In order to avoid unnecessary deployment, a special algorithm developed by Minerva monitors data collection frequency, filters out spikes, eliminates faulty data or allows for angular velocity. Only secured values from the laboratory or from customers are memorised and analysed in the database. In addition, the mechanisms and triggering parameters of the algorithm are constantly controlled and optimized. After the airbag has been deployed and checked for damage, the system can simply be reused with a new cartridge. The recyclable and reusable inflator can be easily replaced as a whole. In this case, the gas container is replaced with the connector as a unit. The system controls automatically monitor whether the inflator is connected properly and displays this information via an LED,” Evoc explains in detail.
The only downside to the Commute A.I.R. Pro 18 backpack appears to be the price, which fetches a hefty $1,00.00.
Evoc
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