A cycling safety jacket with embedded light-emitting diodes (LED) which was tested around London has won a prestigious James Dyson international design award at an event in New York.
UK-based designer Michael Chen developed the Reactiv cycle jacket with LEDs that illuminate and change colour in response to the cyclists behaviour, turning red when brakes are applied, flashing green with acceleration and lighting up in amber to indicate a turn.
Mr Chen, originally from Hawaii, used an accelerometer to sense movement and control the LEDs on the back of the jacket colour changes from red to green.
He used a simple tilt switch to activate amber leds in the jackets sleeves whenever the rider lifts his arm to warn cars of an upcoming turn.
James Dyson, designer of the iconic vacuum cleaner said: "Michael took a very real problem for cyclists - visibility - and has engineered a solution.
"Reactiv is a brilliant safety device, especially when cyclists can be so vulnerable.
"The use of arm movements to operate the tilt switches and LEDs is especially clever."
Rapid Electronics are one of the UKs leading suppliers of electronic components, electrical products, and industrial supplies to the Assembly Manufacturer sector.
