NEW LOUD SOUND 

96dB in Orp as a continuous blast. 

Please note this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce.

96dB in Orp as a user actuated "BeepBeep".

Please note this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce.

WHAT WE'VE HEARD ABOUT ORP:

Here's a small sample:

"I ring my bell all the time, but it's not loud enough! I sometimes want a real horn, especially around cars. The Orp looks really promising and could help level the playing-field out on the roads."

-Jonathan Maus, BikePortland.org Editor and Publisher

ORP Smart Horn brings bike light and horn together as one-

"Simple and genius!"

-Troy Turner, Yanko Design

"A bike light that does it all – swaps easily from bike to bike, charges via USB for people on the go, and makes an alert sound in varying degrees of intensity. It sounds too good to be true." 

-Ayleen, ORbike.com

ORP -This is a little animated jingle that an Orp enthusiast made. It is completely unsolicited. Click on the links and check it out.

Danielle Hayes and team, WMAJ

"Of a more compact design in the ORP Smart Horn being developed by Tory Orzeck. This two tone, 96db horn mounts on your handlebars and also conveniently doubles as a headlight so your dash doesn't get all cluttered up with additional gadgets."

 -Byron Kidd, TokyoByBike.com

"It got him thinking about safety. Horns and lighting devices existed but not, that he knew of, as a single product -- one that could possibly make a difference on a loud, busy street filled with cars."

-D.K.Row,The Oregonian -should be The Orpegonian

"The product is called the Orp and is a pretty ingenious little device; it contains a very powerful light and an very loud horn."

Dave Bank, Wired's Geek Dad

"On top of  the sound[s] it plays, the Orp works as a strobe lamp, using LEDs to pump out 87 lumens. The hope is to make cyclists visible and audible to drivers who might otherwise strike them accidentally."

Alex Davies, Business Insider

"While I know that Frodo and Bilbo will never have to fight the evil Smorn in their travels towards Mordor, it is nice to know that Strider would be able to find them if they pulled the Wail Tail in a time of need."

John Biggs, Tech Crunch

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CONNECT WITH ORP

You know Orp is all over the web but  we know you need more.  Help spread the word and follow Orp on Facebook and Twitter!

ORP PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATING LIGHT AND SOUND

ORP IS THE SMALLEST, LOUDEST BIKE HORN EVER.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

FIRST, THE PROBLEM:  bikes are almost invisible to cars and trucks

High gas prices, global warming, and increasing waistlines have encouraged many of us to ditch our cars and get on our bikes.

We live here in Portland, Oregon, considered one of the most bike friendly  places in the world. There are bike paths, bike lanes and designated bike friendly roads throughout the city. But no matter what, our rides mean sharing the road with cars.

Having said that, bicycle versus vehicle accidents  have steadily increased in Portland as more people take to the road on their bikes.

Our project was prompted  by both this phenomena as well as a few particularly well documented accidents in Portland involving cyclists and commercial trucks. The problem was that the cyclist was neither seen nor heard. Both were Right Hooks:

THE IDEA: Make bikers more visible and /or more "hearable".

THE SOLUTION: A combination dual tone, high decibel bike horn and front beacon light.

ORP ANATOMY

It's super small. It's super bright. It's super LOUD.

The current bike bells on the market work reasonably well on bike paths and quiet streets. However, in louder, traffic clogged streets, the bell just doesn't have the decibels to pierce through the ambient traffic noise let alone a highly insulated modern car.

Friendly sound - 76dB in Orp

Please Note  this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce.

Loud Sound - 96dB in Orp

Please note this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce.

NEW LOUD SOUND - 96dB in Orp Continuous Blast

Please note this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce.

NEW LOUD SOUND - 96dB in Orp as a user actuated "Beep Beep"

Please note this sound is not as loud as what Orp will produce

This sound is closer to a typical vehicle horn and is very similar to a Vespa scooter  horn in real life.

Really long story short, we developed this super loud, dual decibel horn. Only after that did we discover the Piezo speaker and its circuitry  barely taxed the battery  to drive the sound. Sitting right there in front of us, we had everything we needed to add LEDs. So, we ended up combining two products: a beacon light and a horn into one small and (we think) beautiful product.

While by no means can Orp claim to prevent traffic accidents, Orp's goal is to make cyclists visible and audible.

ORP'S AMAZING FEATURES

1.  A Dual Decibel Horn and Wail Tail

Orp's Horn has 2 modes: soft and WAY loud

The Wail Tail is the ergonomic and intuitive switch controlling the  horn.

When you need to alert other cyclists or pedestrians, a small displacement {up or down} of Orp's Wail Tail produces a friendly chirp at 76 decibels.

When you're in traffic, and you need to let cars know where you are, then just push a little harder {up or down} and Orp's "HERE I AM!" sound emits an ear blistering 96 decibels.  This is FAR louder than the most popular bike bells.

2.  A High Power Multi-Mode LED Beacon Light

Orp has two high power Nichia LEDs putting out 87 lumens with 4 modes:

Slow Strobe

Fast Strobe

Constant On

And, when the loud 96dB horn is activated, Orp fires both LEDs into a fast strobe and we up the amperage to deliver 92 lumens making  Orp even more visible {and "hearable"}.

3. Smart Power on and off modes

To Power Up Orp, you have to  press the power button for 3 seconds. At this point the Horn is ready to be activated. You can then hit the button again to  activate the different lighting modes. To Power Down Orp, you again press on the top button for 3 seconds  to fully deactivate your Orp. This way there's less chance of Orp 's horn or lights  going off when it's not on your bike.

4. A High Power Rechargeable Lithium Ion Power Cell

We wanted to be super small and as green as we could. No more buying and throwing away expensive batteries.

Orp easily recharges with the Orp Power Pack (yeah, it's just a USB cable with a micro USB plug).

In our tests, the lithium ion power cell lasts 6 hours with the LEDs in the Constant-On Mode and up to 12 hours in the Slow-Strobing Mode. Actual battery life is dependent on usage and environmental conditions, so your results may vary.

5. LED Battery Status Monitor

A green light or red light will flash momentarily as you change between beacon light modes to indicate if your battery is good to go (green) or near dead (red).

6. Small Dimension and Light Weight

Orp is really small and underweight, in a good way. See specs below.

7. Easily Removable for Recharging and Theft Protection

Orp's skin grows into a functional tail strap appendage. It's lugged to grip your handlebars year-round but easily detaches to go with you after your ride.

SPECIFICATIONS

THE ORP DEVELOPMENT TEAM

I'm a former GE Plastics and Nike industrial designer. In addition to developing Orp, I also run my own boutique (that's a nice word for small) industrial design firm, FUSE.

For the last 16 years, FUSE has created great products for big and small companies.  Our projects have run the gamut from athletic shoes, sporting gear, office furniture, high tech electronics packaging and building and construction products.  We've even won a few awards along the way (check us out at fuseid.com).

The Orp team is comprised of myself, another  industrial designer, a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer and a sound designer. Before Orp, our history has included taking  many client products from the concept stage all the way through production in a timely and fiscally responsible fashion.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

We have a working prototype that has been tested in the field {see below}. We call it an engineering mule as it's bigger than the production-ready Orp.It's bigger because it uses the hand soldered Printed Circuit Board.

OUR LATEST PROTOTYPES:

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

A utility patent has been filed and Orp's unique sounds have been protected.We've added an additional IP protection as we've  developed more unique innovations as  we've developed product.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

We've conservatively priced out all components at low, Kickstarter quantities and received quotes from our electronics vendor and molder.

We've planned a realistic picture of costs and timing to account for the inevitable production hiccups.

We've been talking to our key vendors all along the way and have gotten quotes for tooling, production parts and the electronics for both domestic and Asian manufacturing.  Being this is a relatively  low priced consumer product {compared to a computer or medical device}, production will likely happen in China.

Once were funded we'll execute the surface mount board prototypes  here in Oregon. Our 3D prototypes on this page are ready to receive these boards.We'll test and optimize the final design as needed and then head to the factory for commercialization.

We'll ship from Orp headquarters in Portland, Orpegon. I mean, Oregon.

WHY WE NEED KICKSTARTER

We need Kickstarter pre-orders to fund production tooling:

- Injection molding

- Silicone molding

- Surface mount fabrication for the electronics:  This is where the production circuit boards are optimized to be as tiny as possible and machine assembled.  That means an Orp that's  super small, bright and loud!

-Lastly, FCC certification

ORP COLORS AND MODELS AVAILABLE AS REWARDS

REWARDS

ORP AS A HOLIDAY GIFT

What a good idea! If you pre-order an Orp  Smart Horn  during this holiday season we'll make sure to email you this Happy Hornidays Holiday image above by December 23rd, 2012 whether we're funded or not. Hopefully we'll be funded and  you or your intended recipient will get an Orp next summer.

A SPECIAL ORP FOR THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE

We at Orp  have formulated a special Orp in honor of Valentines Day. Now's your chance to say "I Orp You" and really mean it by pledging for this limited edition Carbon Black and Burning Love Aorta Red Orp. If you pledge for this special "I Orp You" Orp, We'll send this card to you via a special link by February 9th 2013 and you can present this promissory Orp to your Valentine.  This Orp is also great if you have a thing for Red and Black and/or VW GTI's. This Orp will be delivered by September 2013.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS GALLERY

THANKS!

With Kickstarter and your Orp pre-orders, we have the amazing opportunity to design and build a product without compromise. It's a product we think is needed and we hope you'll love.  We thank you in advance for your support. Finally, we hope you'll tell your bike riding friends and turn them into Orp wanters as well.

CREDITS

A big thanks to the Orp development team:

Ivan Epling, Industrial Designer

Cory Pearman, Mechanical Engineer (and co-repairman)

Vince O'Malley, Electrical Engineer

Jason Wells, Sound Designer

Tim Ploeger, Awesome ID Intern

Dan Sweet, Web Designer

EXTRA CREDIT

The Orp video above was  done by Jelani Memory.  That's his real name and he is  amazing.

Special thanks  to:

Derek Johnson of 3D Systems in South Carolina

Brian Zeck  and Jay Debender of River City Bicycles Portland, Oregon

Brad Johnson and Julie Beeler who have been listening to me about this for two years.

Patrick Calderon and Johanna Calderon for all their guidance.