Jetpacks

We work in the world’s greatest cycling city. So, we’ve built a nifty piece of hardware to turn our bikes into full-blown Internet of Things objects and explore the future of urban cycling from a data-driven and technology focussed perspective.

How it all began
When Devhouse Spindle was launched, we were promised jetpacks as a means of transport to get to work. In Groningen, where the Spindle HQ is located, the best way to travel is by bike.

Take a normal bike…
On a quest to find perfect bikes for our team, we found cool VanMoofs, all black with a matte finish and put our logo on it. When you’re working with a lot of tech-savvy, gadget-crazy people, it doesn’t take long before wild plans are being made. Within a few hours a new side-project was born, called the Jetpacks.

…and make it sexy
As our core business at Spindle is building smart communication software, it was a quite logical step to make our bikes talk to us, each other, the road, and the internet. The goal: to build a nifty piece of hardware that turns our bikes into full-blown Internet of Things objects.

However, building hardware isn’t something we do every day. That’s when Herman Kopinga came into the story, a lifehacking coach and ‘maker of things that make you happy’. He made the first prototype on our way to an internet-connected platform.

At the moment, the Jetpacks project is dormant, however you never know when a side-project like this will come back to live!