Spoke, a mobility platform for safety and connectivity has announced plans to bring connected technology to vulnerable road users (VRUs), including cyclists and scooter riders, using Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) solutions from Qualcomm Technologies.
A first-of-its-kind, the Spoke hardware and software systems, which features the C-V2X solutions, is designed to be the industry’s first reliable, robust connected system to offer secure, direct communication for contextual awareness and alerts between drivers and riders, enhancing safety for VRUs.
Engineered previously for the automotive sector, Spoke’s new solution is intended to provide direct communication between road users, vehicles and roadside infrastructure without the need for a cellular network, delivering the level of dependable real-time information critical for safety applications.
This capability provides critical augmentation to other Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) sensors, such as cameras, radar, and Light Detection and Radar (LIDAR).
“This is game-changing connectivity for both safety and for the mobility experience overall,” said Jarrett Wendt, Spoke CEO. “For the first time, Spoke will provide dedicated hardware and software, what we refer to as vulnerable road user-to-everything (VRU2X), to unlock V2X communication to the most vulnerable users. VRU2X unlocks location accuracy through direct digital communication that connects all users anonymously to each other and to the infrastructure.” C-V2X is uniquely designed to offer highly reliable, low-latency direct communication between VRUs, vehicles and roadside infrastructure in the 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum without reliance on cellular networks.
C-V2X can provide highly reliable, low-latency broadcast to support advanced safety use cases and enhanced vehicle automation. C-V2X is also globally compatible with 5G networks and cloud-based APIs, enabling numerous capabilities with artificial intelligence/machine learning to enhance safety features. C V2X direct communication is an essential technology for safety and mobility applications, helping to reduce crashes and incident-related congestion for more efficient traffic flow.
Spoke is working with a number of stakeholders, including Qualcomm Technologies and vehicle, bicycle, scooter and motorcycle OEMs, for maximum scale, adoption and safety impact. Spoke’s portfolio, which will also include modem-based communications, will be launching with their OEM bicycle, motorcycle and scooter partners in 2022.
