The technology that is making bicycle thieves think twice Two out of every three Europeans have either been a victim of bicycle theft or know a victim in their family or close circle of friends. An EU-funded project is tackling this problem head on with the first ever anti-theft solution. Transport and Mobility © Kissmybike Introducing the topic of bike theft, Nadya Bobova, the Kissmybike project coordinator, reports: “We estimate that approximately four million bicycles are stolen in Europe every year. That means one every seven minutes.” Of this, about 5 % of bicycles are returned, and on average only 20 % of thefts are reported to the police. Those who have had their bicycles stolen know all too well how challenging it is to recover them, with many victims choosing not to replace their bikes. However, thanks to the Kissmybike project this is about to change. “We have developed the first bicycle anti-theft solution that combines innovative proprietary tracking technology with digital owner fingerprinting and a collection of forensic data needed by the police and insurance companies,” says Bobova. How does the technology work? Once a bicycle is tampered with or moved unexpectedly, the system automatically alerts the owner. It is able to do this as it combines advanced satellite and mobile technologies (GPS, GSM and BLE) that accurately track a bicycle’s location in indoor and outdoor environments, which is extremely important in the event of theft. A key feature of the technology is that it is invisible. This is because it is installed into the bicycle’s construction, for example, in the seatpost or front fork, allowing it to be hidden from sight. Additionally, the system’s smart adaptive algorithms and energy-efficient hardware ensure that the system needs to be charged just once a year. Overcoming a lack of information One of the project’s tasks was to study the formal process of bicycle recovery in case of theft. “We had to discover how a theft victim related with law enforcement agencies in different European countries,” explains Bobova, who adds, “we were very surprised to find out that in many cases this information is not easily available.” This was found to be primarily due to two reasons. The first is a lack of information and, second, the information that is available is exclusively written in local languages. Fortunately for the project, they had exceptional advisors who helped them communicate with local police officers. As a result, the Kissmybike team were able to collect data on five European countries, and they further plan to obtain information for the rest of Europe in the near future. What does the future hold? “After having finished the project, we had a kind of revelation that what we do is not only limited to the anti-theft function or even just to bicycles. We discovered that there are many other areas where our solution might be very useful such as in the retail market,” reports Bobova. Phase 1 of the project provided members with the opportunity to view their product and company in a broader way, allowing them to plan for the future. Additionally, Kissmybike is involved in the Horizon 2020 project Synchronicity that aims to develop IoT- and AI-enabled services to improve the lives of citizens and to grow local economies. Within the project, the Kissmybike solution will be piloted in three European cities – Antwerp (Belgium), Milan (Italy) and Santander (Spain) – to optimise the fleet management of their bike sharing services and more generally to improve the transport infrastructures. “This is an ambitious project connecting many cities, start-ups and other organisations, and we are proud of being a part of it,” says Bobova. Keywords Kissmybike, bicycle, anti-theft, tracking technology, satellite and mobile technologies, smart adaptive algorithms, energy-efficient hardware
