Mobility by E-Bike Study

[mebikestudy]

Hello Bosch e-bike users!
My name is Mike, and I'm a graduate student researcher at Portland State University, Portland, OR. Pleased to be here!

A fellow forum user and study participant thought it might be helpful to share this with you all, and I also reached out to Mitch H. for permission before posting here.

We are conducting a large-scale e-bike usage study with support from the National Science Foundation (USA). We are calling this effort the "Mobility by E-Bike" study, or "ME-Bike" for short.

The study is open to users who meet the following criteria:

• Over 18
• Live and ride in the United States
• Use a Bosch Intuvia or Kiox onboard computer
• Use an iPhone as their primary mobile device
• Use their e-bike for some utilitarian purposes (commuting, visiting friends/family, shopping, etc.) in addition to recreational purposes

The study consists of an initial survey, a follow up survey, and data collection. During the data collection phase (several months), participants passively share with us information regarding the route choice, duration, trip purpose, and mode replacement for their e-bike trips. This is done through the use of a small, lightweight dongle that we send to the participant that plugs into their Intuvia or Kiox control unit. An iOS app that we provide communicates with the dongle, and sends the shared trip information to our secure online system for further analysis by the research team.

We hope to be able to use what we learn from this study of typical e-bike use to better inform knowledge surrounding the potential of e-bikes to replace trips of other modes (car, transit, ride sharing, etc.) With this information, we can better understand the ability of e-bikes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We look forward to receiving your application to participate in the study!

Click here to visit the study's website and apply to participate.

Best regards, and happy riding!
-Mike
ME-Bike Study Research Team

 

[Serialnerd]

View attachment 53433

Hello Bosch e-bike users!
My name is Mike, and I'm a graduate student researcher at Portland State University, Portland, OR. Pleased to be here!

A fellow forum user and study participant thought it might be helpful to share this with you all, and I also reached out to Mitch H. for permission before posting here.

We are conducting a large-scale e-bike usage study with support from the National Science Foundation (USA). We are calling this effort the "Mobility by E-Bike" study, or "ME-Bike" for short.

The study is open to users who meet the following criteria:

• Over 18
• Live and ride in the United States
• Use a Bosch Intuvia or Kiox onboard computer
• Use an iPhone as their primary mobile device
• Use their e-bike for some utilitarian purposes (commuting, visiting friends/family, shopping, etc.) in addition to recreational purposes

The study consists of an initial survey, a follow up survey, and data collection. During the data collection phase (several months), participants passively share with us information regarding the route choice, duration, trip purpose, and mode replacement for their e-bike trips. This is done through the use of a small, lightweight dongle that we send to the participant that plugs into their Intuvia or Kiox control unit. An iOS app that we provide communicates with the dongle, and sends the shared trip information to our secure online system for further analysis by the research team.

We hope to be able to use what we learn from this study of typical e-bike use to better inform knowledge surrounding the potential of e-bikes to replace trips of other modes (car, transit, ride sharing, etc.) With this information, we can better understand the ability of e-bikes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We look forward to receiving your application to participate in the study!

Click here to visit the study's website and apply to participate.

Best regards, and happy riding!
-Mike
ME-Bike Study Research Team

Interesting study. But you are really limitinging your population sample by requiring "Use an iPhone as their primary mobile device".

Bill H.

 

[mebikestudy]

Interesting study. But you are really limitinging your population sample by requiring "Use an iPhone as their primary mobile device".

Bill H.

Thanks for the response Bill! We're excited about the study too. We are limited by our resources as a small research group, and thus we only have an iOS developer on board for the time being. More info on our FAQ page.

 

[JayEmTee]

Interesting study. But you are really limitinging your population sample by requiring "Use an iPhone as their primary mobile device".

Bill H.

Bill I'm guessing the app he's using to work with the survey is iPhone compatible only?

 

[Serialnerd]

Bill I'm guessing the app he's using to work with the survey is iPhone compatible only?

Yes, I would think that would be the case. Buy his sample size is already going to be small as it is as I see it by limiting it to a certain device OS.

 

[Serialnerd]

Thanks for the response Bill! We're excited about the study too. We are limited by our resources as a small research group, and thus we only have an iOS developer on board for the time being. More info on our FAQ page.

This sounds like an interesting survey and I'd like to participate, but alas I have a REAL cell phone not an IoFail device
Would it be posiable to manualy send you the data you are looking for?

Bill H.

 

[mebikestudy]

This sounds like an interesting survey and I'd like to participate, but alas I have a REAL cell phone not an IoFail device
Would it be posiable to manualy send you the data you are looking for?

Bill H.

Hi Bill,
"iOfail" device! Love it!

One of the main aspects of the study is to eliminate the "human error" aspect as much as possible when it comes to collecting data. That's why we've developed an app that doesn't require any buttons to be pressed when you start your e-bike ride so that we don't rely on participants' memory. The thinking is that this will improve the quality of the data. As a result, currently there's no way to manually collect the data by design.

So sorry for the inconvenience!

 

[webcurl]

Does Bosch get a copy of all data collected and how much of a sponsor is Bosch?

 

[fooferdoggie]

Hi Bill,
"iOfail" device! Love it!

One of the main aspects of the study is to eliminate the "human error" aspect as much as possible when it comes to collecting data. That's why we've developed an app that doesn't require any buttons to be pressed when you start your e-bike ride so that we don't rely on participants' memory. The thinking is that this will improve the quality of the data. As a result, currently there's no way to manually collect the data by design.

So sorry for the inconvenience!

I think you still need to open the app. and when done you need to open it to mark what kind of ride it was.

 

[mebikestudy]

Does Bosch get a copy of all data collected and how much of a sponsor is Bosch?

Good question. Bosch does not get the data and they are not providing any funding. They are only helping us to advertise the study. We picked Bosch devices because they are among the more ubiquitous motors and their onboard system allows us to interface with it (see photo above shared by a study participant).

 

[fooferdoggie]

Good question. Bosch does not get the data and they are not providing any funding. They are only helping us to advertise the study. We picked Bosch devices because they are among the more ubiquitous motors and their onboard system allows us to interface with it (see photo above shared by a study participant).

so di I have to open the software before and at the end of each ride?

 

[mebikestudy]

so di I have to open the software before and at the end of each ride?

Hi there,
In order to help us understand mode purpose and trip replacement, you can label your trips after you take them in the app. We will be using machine learning to infer these things on common trips that you take frequently (such as your commute, etc.), so it is not necessary to label all trips, especially if they are similar in route, purpose, and mode replacement.

That being said, you do not have to open the app before you start your trip.