THE RIDERLESS BIKE

TitleTHE RIDERLESS BIKE
BrandTHE STEVE WAUGH FOUNDATION
Product / ServiceBICYCLE FOR THE CAPTAIN'S RIDE
CategoryA02. Applied Innovation
EntrantFINCH Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation HAVAS AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
PR RED AGENCY Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production FINCH Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Kelvin Saik/Vicky Saik Freelance Director
Amy Dymond FINCH Producer
Corey Esse FINCH Executive Producer
Emad Tahtouh FINCH Director of Applied Technology
Patrick Barnes FINCH Senior Applied Technologist
Albert Woffenden/Hamish Pain FINCH Applied Technologist
Hazel Gibson FINCH Producer
Cara Szabo FINCH Production Assistant
Stu Turner/Seamus Higgins Havas Executive Creative Director
Gustavo Vampre Havas Digital Creative Director
Zac Pritchard/Damien Galvin Havas Creative
Bohdi Lewis Havas Digital Strategy Director
Lawrence Pretty Havas Senior Account Manager
Carly Pelham Havas Account Director
Harriet Tahtouh Havas Broadcast Producer
Angelica Scott Havas Digital Producer
Nic Adamovich Havas Senior Designer
Darren Cole Havas Head of Design
Client Crothers Havas Digital Design Director
Adam Shutler Havas UX & Design Director
Peter Segerer Havas Digital Executive Producer
Dena Mohamed Havas Social Media Producer
Grace Eyre The Editors Offline Editor
James Wright Red Agency CEO
Nick Day Red Agency Senior Account Manager
Peter Lochead Red Agency Senior Account Executive
Brenna Baeyens Red Agency Account Coordinator
Richard Kettle Red Agency Account Director
Kandiese Villella Havas Junior Strategist

The Campaign

Every year, The Steve Waugh Foundation runs an event called “The Captain’s Ride”, where 60 volunteers ride 700km from Bowral to Mount Koziosko in rural New South Wales, Australia. It aims to raise money and awareness for Children who suffer from Rare Diseases. This year, the charity wanted to find a way to bring the children closer to the event. For most of the children making the journey to the riders is not possible. So we decided to build an autonomous children’s bicycle which could ride with the riders. It’s a breakthrough innovation that generated a lot of attention and media prior to the event. It acted as a vehicle for the children to ride along side their heroes (via a live streaming 360 camera) and it was a constant reminder to the volunteers on the ride, of why they were there.

Creative Execution

A Pixy Infrared Camera connected to a Raspberry Pi is monitoring the road in front, looking for a custom built Infrared tracking beacon. The beacon has been placed on the last rider in the bike ride. Once it sees the beacon, it locks on and calculates the speed and distance, interpolating that information so that it can control the steering, braking and acceleration mechanisms. The 1000w in hub motor was custom built, as was the Lithium ion battery cells, which were built seamlessly in to the frame. The braking system was built on a dual redundant Arduino system, with an emergency shutoff connected to the flag on the rear of the bike (pull the flag to apply brakes and cut power to the motor) and was also completely operable via a remote control, up to 150m from the bicycle. It ran under complete supervision the entire time.

The bike ride raised a record $850,000 for the charity, largely due to the attention and media generated from the Riderless bike press coverage leading up to the ride. The bicycle will now tour every year for the charity with the hope to continue to raise awareness for the charity. The practicalities of a commercial option are limited, as there is not a huge demand for unmanned children's bicycles. However, that was never the intention of this campaign. It is an innovation with a real purpose, built to a budget and specification for which it succeeded on all fronts.

The Riderless Bike represents true innovation in our industry. It uses the latest technology available and newly created technology to solve a real challenge. The Bike was built to help raise money and awareness for the Steve Waugh Foundation, Captain's Ride. A 700km bike ride which ultimately raised over $850,000. The bike is there because the children with Rare diseases can't be. It is riderless and autonomous. It's a reminder to the bike riders why they are there, and a vehicle for the Children with Rare Diseases at home to participate in the ride.

Links

Website URL