Completed Hampton STEM Competition Winner

Indicating Bike Helmet

LED turn signals for improved cyclist safety

Engineering / Electronics / Safety

LED signalling Electronics Control logic Physical prototyping

Indicating bike helmet with LED signals — Working helmet prototype in use, showing the LED turn indicators active and the handheld control used to trigger them.

Project Story

This project started on a dark ride home. I signalled with my arm, but it felt like the driver barely saw me. I wanted to make a cyclist signal as obvious as a car indicator, so I built LED turn signals into a helmet and controlled them from the handlebars.

Why I Built It

The challenge was reliability. If a safety device works only sometimes, it can be worse than not having it. My first version exposed exactly that problem when rain and weak solder joints made the electronics unreliable.

What I Built

I rebuilt the wiring, improved the waterproofing, adjusted the LED placement, and kept testing whether the signal was visible from different angles. The final prototype used handlebar controls to trigger left, right, and hazard-style LED patterns on the helmet.

What I Did

Full concept-to-prototype design and build
Electronics circuit design and soldering
Physical integration into helmet form factor
Iterated the waterproofing, LED placement, and switch usability after outdoor tests
Competition presentation and documentation

How I Built It

Build Flow

Handlebar input -> microcontroller -> directional LED activation -> visual output on helmet.

How It Works

Handlebar-mounted buttons send signals to a microcontroller that activates left, right, or hazard LED patterns embedded in the helmet shell. The prototype routed LEDs around the rear and sides of the helmet so drivers could read the signal even from oblique angles.

Hardware

LED strips
Microcontroller
Handlebar switches
Battery pack

Software

Control logic firmware

What Was Hard

Integrating electronics without compromising helmet safety or comfort
Weatherproofing connections after rain exposed weak solder joints and unprotected electronics
Ensuring signal visibility from multiple angles without glare
Making the controls usable while riding, including with gloves

Circuit diagram — Build Reference

Prototype wiring and LED layout showing how the signal strips were physically integrated into the helmet.

Click to inspect

Demos and Build Notes

Product Demos

Short prototype demo showing the helmet indicators lighting up from the handheld control during the Hampton STEM Competition presentation.

Photos and Notes

Indicating bike helmet with LED strips and controls — Close view of the finished helmet prototype with directional LED strips mounted on the shell and wiring routed around the helmet.

Bike used for the indicating helmet project — Bike context for the safety concept: the helmet was designed around cyclist visibility and signalling while riding.

Hampton STEM Competition winning recognition — Hampton STEM Competition recognition for the indicating bike helmet project.

Results & Impact

1st Prize - Hampton STEM Competition
Working prototype with reliable LED indication
Refined from a fragile first version into a more weather-conscious and rideable prototype
Demonstrated practical safety engineering approach

What I Learned

Safety products require testing against weather, vibration, visibility, and user error
Simple, intuitive controls beat complex feature sets
Electronics integration into wearables demands careful ergonomics and honest failure analysis

Next Steps

Improve battery life and wireless control options
Explore accelerometer-based automatic turn detection
Refine industrial design for manufacturing feasibility

Back to all projects