airHEAD - Inflatable Bicycle Helmet

空气质量、碳排放、健康、福祉和道路拥堵是英国社会和积极出行面临的严重问题，即步行和骑自行车是英国交通部改善这些问题的关键战略。法定的骑行和步行投资战略已经获得了12亿GB的资金，并承诺在两年内再获得12亿GB的资金，用于基础设施和积极的旅行项目，雄心勃勃地希望到2025年将短途自行车出行增加一倍。共享单车计划的其他倡议，例如事实证明，伦敦的“鲍里斯自行车”在拥堵的城市很受欢迎。新冠肺炎疫情增加了政府对骑自行车通勤的财政支持，以促进尽可能“绿色”的复苏；自行车出行量增长5%意味着汽车出行减少800万人次，火车出行减少900万人次，公共汽车出行减少1300万人次。骑自行车对任何人开放，不分性别、年龄、种族和各种能力。尽管骑自行车被证明对健康有好处，但骑自行车的人在自己或与其他道路使用者发生事故时很容易受到伤害，尽管众所周知自行车头盔可以减少严重的头部和面部创伤，但在英国，头盔的使用率通常为60%，在其他欧洲国家，头盔的使用率可能在15%到50%之间。在强制佩戴头盔的地方，自行车使用的次数显著减少。不戴头盔的一个常见原因是旅行之间的携带和储存，特别是在通勤时，显然需要一种可以折叠并在使用之间紧凑存储的自行车安全头盔。我们的解决方案是Airhead，这是一种自行车头盔，不仅重量轻，而且折叠时占用的体积很小，是整个单元大小的1/10。我们已经制造了一个概念验证原型，在BSI的测试表明，它达到或超过了冲击测试标准，达到了一个特殊的水平。这个项目的目的是在商业化之前开发一个生产原型。该头盔提供了4种尺寸，可调整，并设计为包括所有自行车社区的成员。

Air quality, carbon emissions, health, wellbeing, and road congestion are serious issues facing British society and active travel i.e. walking and cycling is a key DfT strategy to improve them all. The statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy has already received £1.2bn and a further £1.2bn over 2 years is pledged for infrastructure and active travel projects with the ambition to double cycling for short journeys by 2025\. Other initiatives for shared bicycle schemes e.g. "Boris bike" in London have proved popular in congested cities.The COVID-19 pandemic has seen increased government financial support for cycling for commuting to promote as "green as possible" recovery; a 5% growth in cycling means 8m fewer car journeys, 9 million less rail journeys and 13 million less bus journeys. Cycling is open to anyone irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, and a wide range of abilities. Although cycling has proven health benefits, cyclists are vulnerable when involved in accidents either by themselves or with other road users and even though cycle helmets are known to reduce serious head and facial trauma, helmet use in the UK is typically 60% and in other European countries can range from 15% to 50%. Where helmet wearing has been made compulsory, there is a notable reduction in cycle usage.One reason commonly cited for not wearing helmets is carriage and storage between journeys particularly when commuting and clearly there's a need for a cycling safety helmet that can be folded and stored compactly between use. Our solution is airHEAD, a cycle helmet which is not only lightweight but when folded occupies a small volume, 1/10 the size of the full unit. We've manufactured a proof of concept prototype and testing at BSI shows that it meets or exceeds impact test standards to an exceptional level. The purpose of this project is to develop a production prototype prior to commercialisation. The helmet is offered in 4 sizes which are adjustable and designed to be inclusive for all members of the cycling community.