Wanting to know how we performed on a motorcycle is ingrained in anyone who’s ridden a bike, but anything short of the most expensive motorcycles available today doesn’t have the technology to detect and record telemetric info. Well, unless you add this little box to your bike.
The BRAIN One system, while only a Kickstarter currently and still being tested, appears to be an incredibly interesting unit for several reasons. For one, unlike the systems that come on current bikes, it wouldn’t have to be wired into the ECU of the bike to provide information on engine speeds and gear position. Secondly, because it wouldn’t need to be wired to the bike, it could be swapped from one vehicle to the next faster than you can put your helmet on.
The BRAIN One would connect to your vehicle/board/preferred method of adrenaline creating by snapping into a GoPro-like mount. The design is equipped with GPS, a nine-axis IMU (accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope), and a thermometer and barometer to help give it as much information as possible about the bike’s movements and position.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/63893…
It also gets a microphone, which BRAIN One claims is how they can measure engine speed and gear changes. No, I have zero idea how the hell it knows the difference between the sounds made my a 450 cc single cylinder motor in a dirtbike and 1,000 cc inline-four in a superbike, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to believe it!
It features four gigabytes of internal storage, as well as wifi and bluetooth connectivity so you could pair it to your phone and computer. BRAIN One claims it will last all day on a single charge, though they’re completely ambiguous as to whether that actually means 24 hours of data acquisition or a day’s worth of sessions on a track.
The BRAIN One also has an open API, which means developers could be able to use all of its crazy sensors for even more applications. For instance, BRAIN One claims it can detect a crash based on telemetric data that could at some point alert emergency services.
Now, I’m as skeptical of the next guy of these crowdfunding campaigns. Skully raised a shit ton of money, invited me to come check out their helmet, and then went dark for way too long and still isn’t answering emails. But I also think there’s a balance in managing our own skepticism and optimism.
While we can’t take their claims as gospel, because nothing has been tested, we can be excited about the possibilities they’re trying to achieve and can root for them to achieve it. I won’t be putting any of my money up until I see proof that these things work, but I also won’t dissuade anyone from making the gamble or for hoping it all pans out.
A tool like this, if it worked, would be incredible for anyone trying to improve their riding skills. As I learned from my experience at the Simraceway driving school, the ability to look at data and diagnose where you can carry more speed, brake harder, or get on the gas earlier can help tremendously when looking to fine tune your skills.
Because, as the G.I. Joe’s say, knowing is half the battle.
The earliest bird pricing, which reduced the price from $330 to $219 is all gone, but you can still get a unit at a discount if you go to their Kickstarter now.