April 26

The 1st Semi-finalists Start:up 2014: Motorcyclists safer on roads

The incorrect usage of indicators is one of the most frequent reasons for road accidents amongst motorcyclists, who are very exposed and vulnerable traffic participants. Motorcyclists often forget to turn off the indicator or they don’t turn it on in the first place, because they are afraid they will forget to turn it off again. This is due to the fact that motorcycles don’t yet have automatic (or smart) systems for turning off the indicator.
 

The team of the start-up company ABCS system ltd. (from left to right: Andraž Kontarček, Anže Zaletel, Rok Upelj, Miha Kovač) developed a device that automatically turns off the motorcycle’s indicator. 


The team of the start-up company ABCS sistem ltd., that is Miha Kovač, Rok Upelj, Andraž Kontarček and Anže Zaletel, have decided to solve this problem. They developed and patented an efficient and safe device that automatically turns off the indicator after the turn has been completed. For the user, the device is very simple to use – the motorcyclist turns on the indicator and after the completed turn, the indicator turns off automatically. The device continuously monitors the movement of the motorcycle and, with help of an algorithm, analyses the received data and thus reliably turns off the indicator when the driver returns to the pre-turn position.
 
ABCS sistem ltd. is a competitor to a handful of technological companies, but according to them these companies have an inferior product, since they offer solutions that turn off based on time, velocity sensors or gear changes, which isn’t completely reliable. The young start-up is especially trying to reach the North American and European market with their product, starting with online sales. They will strongly promote it on motorcycle forums and motorcycle societies’ websites, where they have already received excellent responses. The manufacture of the product for some of the motorcycle types that are most frequently sold on the market can be expected until the end of the year 2014. The team is currently looking for a capital investment that would allow them a strong web advertising campaign and quicker development. 

Author: Anja Kodra