Smart Helmet uses Cooling System and Bluetooth technology to Protect Motorcyclists
An innovative new motorcycle helmet from ThermaHelm uses a revolutionary cooling system to immediately begin cooling a motorcyclist's head and brain after a serious crash. Bluetooth technology in the helmet makes sure emergency workers arrive quickly.
Head injuries occur in 80 percent of all motorcyclist fatalities, according to ThermaHelm Limited, a Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom–based developer of motorcycle helmets. The company also points out that traumatic brain injury is a major cause of death and severe disability throughout the world, with at least 1 million cases admitted to hospitals per year across Europe alone.
A key factor in these injuries is brain swelling inside the helmet. Traditional motorcycle helmets can actually contribute to swelling because they act as insulators, potentially allowing dangerous heat to build up as a rider lies unconscious. That's why inventor Jullian J. Preston-Powers developed ThermaHelm, a unique helmet technology that automatically begins cooling the brain upon impact.
A Cool Idea
Preston-Powers got the idea for ThermaHelm when he accidentally elbowed a fellow player's head during a game of basketball. The ice pack he was using on his elbow fell into the other guy's nearby helmet. The relief experienced by the other player when he put on the helmet was one of those "eureka moments," Preston-Powers explains.
Due to launch in November, the next-generation ThermaHelm is a super-tough carbon-fiber shell with a special helmet lining that creates an endothermic chemical reaction at the moment of impact; the helmet immediately cools the motorcyclist's head, even before the emergency services have been called. Built-in Bluetooth technology sends an emergency signal via the rider's mobile phone, alerting medical personnel that an accident has occurred and providing the rider's GPS coordinates.
Technology Inside the Helmet
Still in the final stages of development, the device is designed to work with Nokia handsets combined with an EMTAC MINI S3 GPS unit, while the associated headset is likely to be made by Motorola, according to Identysol, ThermaHelm's Bluetooth technology implementation partner. Software will be developed using Java (J2ME), with Java midlets running on the handset and communicating via Bluetooth technology to GPS modules and other peripherals like a hydrosensor inside the helmet.
In the future, Bluetooth technology may also be used to communicate between the helmet and other riders or devices, such as bike-mounted cameras or sensors that could give audio/visual indicators to the biker or send messages to warn other motorists in the event of an accident.
"Bluetooth offers the ideal comms link for this application and solves most wireless, security, low-level protocol and power (issues)," says Identysol's Sid Malani. "It allows us the capability to add more devices, so it really is ideally suited for this app."
For ThermaHelm, Bluetooth technology was the only practical choice. "We see Bluetooth as a proven, reliable and prevalent system that offers us many advantages other wireless protocols just don't," says Preston-Powers, the inventor.
A Better Brain Bucket
Preston-Powers expects great interest from the motorcyclist community when ThermaHelm debuts in November 2010 at the United Kingdom's largest motorcycle trade show, the National Exhibition Centre's Carole Nash Motorcycle Live show.
"Motorbike helmet technology hasn't advanced in 50 years," he says. "ThermaHelm is a huge step forward in terms of both basic life-saving safety and the application of great communications technology."
By Gary Flood
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