ROLLOE is a bicycle wheel that uses movement to actively purify air via washable filters

kristen tapping, a student at london south bank university, has created a bicycle wheel with pollution filters that uses movement to actively purify the air. dubbed ROLLOE — roll off emissions — the wheel can take the busiest, most polluted roadways, and with zero energy, except for the pedal power from the cyclist, it aims to tackle one of the most pressing problems of the modern urban age: pollution.

images by kristen tapping

‘cycling through london, I was able to see and smell the pollution coming from tires and tailpipes,’ comments kristen tapping on the motivation behind her project. ‘I thought – why not use the movement from vehicles to filter the air? if it seems the product has a future, I may try to develop it to a commercial level.’

ROLLOE was designed to fit within the front of a standard bike frame and features preliminary activated carbon and HEPA filters. as the users cycles around the polluted city, the dirty air enters through the interior cylindrical opening, then its pushed through the set of filters using centrifugal force and its then expelled out through the exterior perimeter. tapping estimates the filter should be changed once a week or every 250 kms.

ROLLOE has been envisioned first for bike sharing projects but it could eventually be for personal use too.

project info

name: ROLLOE

designer: kristen tapping

type: air purifying wheel

winner: design innovation in plastics