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Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

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Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#681

Post by samstave »

varjag wrote: post #98
samstave wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

uhm, I need to introduce you to someone, who has developed this into a patented delivery via a baseball cap (hat) bill with directional indicators via LED to give you wayfinding HUD without a screen....

There's been lots of such ideas floating (and patented). But no evacuation method that relies on a motorist having any device or app on them is feasible.

No - this is to integrate into the fire fighters helmets. Telling them routes, supply caches, other team members... and they turn their head and get wayfinding directionals based on color RGBs in hat...

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#682

Post by rossover »

blitz_skull wrote: post #678
pinkmuffinere wrote: post #117

We make stingray resistant booties! Stingray stings are painful and can be dangerous, and the fear of getting stung can take the enjoyment out of the beach. We’ve mainly targeted surfers so far, but they could be useful for any beach-goer. Definitely been dealing with the fact that “hardware is hard”. We had a design we were fairly happy with about two years ago, but have been struggling to get it manufactured since…

Where does one need to live to have this problem? I’ve been to the Gulf of Mexico countless times and I’ve literally never seen a stingray. I’m guessing they’re not native there?

I live in Gulf Breeze FL on the Gulf of Mexico and see stingrays daily.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#683

Post by RecycledEle »

Firmwarrior wrote: post #313
wanderingmoose wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you tell me the difference between your product on the types of prescription cgm + insulin pump combos like dexcom/tandem which offer some level insulin control? I'm just curious. I run an xDrip set up and I've played around with a couple of the "DIY" closed loop setups.

Hey, my wife has diabetes, and she's had really awful luck with automated blood sugar monitors. Somehow their readings are always off by insane amounts vs a finger poke Have you done much research into that area? Do you know if there's a brand we should check out or any common gotchas? (I can't find much reasonable info on this online due to my poor Google skills and all the bad info out there..)

Wait until your wife's blood sugar is stable to apply a new sensor.

Calibrate it several times when her blood sugar is stable. (Stable means not changing. I want to see a line on the CGM like this "-------------" not one that is going up or down.)

Make sure your test strips and CGM sensors are in date and have been stored at reasonably indoors temperatures.

Source: My wife and I both use CGMs. Our common medical issues were something we had in common.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#684

Post by digdugdirk »

paperfiber wrote: post #501
digdugdirk wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very cool. Are these investment casts? Or are they reusable?

Investment castings, we break the mold off and recycle the ceramic. That way you don't need draft angles or other limitations.

How does the ceramic recycling process work? I'm guessing just crushing and heating the ceramic does a decent job of separation, but there has to be some level of impurity leftover. Is there enough pressure in the casting process that you'd be worried about localized weakness in the tool?

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#685

Post by LoganDark »

fts_newnorm wrote: post #665
LoganDark wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cushions look like they have pretty sharp edges. In general, I'm really sensitive to that sort of thing and have to use very specific over-ear headphones; ones that actually go over the ear and don't squeeze around or against it. (I am not sure if yours do) I'm pretty astonished by the price, my current headphones are studio monitors that costed $50, and according to your website, the retail price of your system…

Quick disclaimer: we're still figuring things out, so it really helps if we can get more of these pieces of critical feedback! I hear you regarding the earpads. In the prototypes that we have built recently, the earpads are way rounder than this, so we will fix the renders to reflect this shortly. The headphones are really comfortable overall, we spent and will continue to spend a lot of time working on clamping forc…

So "$800 value" doesn't mean that you're going to sell the final product for $800, but just that assembling the same sort of system today would cost that much?

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#686

Post by daredoes »

konschubert wrote: post #598
3np wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the idea would be to be support a way to set that HTTP URL via an API, not requiring use of an iOS/Android app? I imagine this might be a case of documentation and support as supposedly the app is already using the API endpoints we'd like to have.

Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean. How would you physically connect to this API without an app and without a backend?

Do you use an ESP32? Could you? You could use ESPHome https://esphome.io/

Ideally the device can create a wifi hotspot when it isn't setup that I can join and setup all the needed config settings. WLED does this as well https://kno.wled.ge/

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#687

Post by paledot »

vasco wrote: post #591
unwind wrote: post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When buying used car seats, remember to check the "use before" date that is marked on it. They only claim to achieve the designed strength/protection for a number of years. At least in Europe.

What is that based on other than them wanting to sell more seats? I'd imagine the materials don't erode, otherwise how safe can it even be in the first place?

Nothing. It's a marketing gimmick to depress the used market. The only way they "expire" is if the regulations change, which does not happen often.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#688

Post by ijustlovemath »

mindentropy wrote: post #535
ijustlovemath wrote: post #159

We're building a closed loop artificial pancreas (think dialysis but for blood sugar) for hospital use -- the first of its kind in the US. There's a massive unmet need; all critical care patients, and all people with diabetes in the hospital could benefit. Studies have shown you can achieve a 30% reduction in mortality, and 25% reduction in length of stay, in addition to the hours per day you save nurses from managin…

I was working in medical devices for sometime. I remember Medtronic doing artificial Pancreas. How is yours different?

Theirs is ambulatory, i.e. for people to wear in their daily lives (mostly T1 and insulin-dependent T2). We're targeting a market that currently doesn't exist -- hospitalized patients, specifically people in critical care and people with diabetes on the general care floors. Similar terminology but very different markets!

Their latest AID (automated insulin delivery) system is killer, btw, some of the best results I've ever seen for ambulatory!

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#689

Post by franckl »

cornholio wrote: post #622
barelyauser wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the COP of a heat pump operating against this temperature gradient?

At 1000℉ (811K) the maximum achievable COP against an ambiental (300K) source is about 1.6, limited by the second principle of thermodynamics. And that's the absolute theoretical maximum, you would be happy to breakeven in practice. Unless you have access to waste turbine exhaust, geothermal water, solar collectors or something along those lines, I don't see any practical application where the marginal energy savings…

You are correct, even though your last sentence wasnt necessary...

Please consider a use case where an industrial user install a thermal storage like this one https://www.kyotogroup.no/technology

They may need CO2 free process heat at 400 ℉, and use a thermal storage at 800 or 1000℉.

Our heat engine can pump more heat than resistive heating (heat pump mode) during charge. During discharge, it can convert heat to electricity from 1000F to 400F, and use that electricity to power a heat pump (and produce more heat). We can "magnify" the storage both ways.

We don't need to go to 1000F soon, there are so many applications we can decarbonize along the way. We could lower the temperature and do cooling+heating at the same time for example.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#690

Post by franckl »

papaver-somnamb wrote: post #594
franckl wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We started in 2016 with just an idea, and we probably encountered every problem you can think of ! - hard to raise funds for large deeptech projects (thank you YC and Wefunder for unlocking that one!) - a corrosion issue in 2019 that nearly killed us (we found a way around it after months of brainstorming and completely got rid of corrosion issues) - we had to build our own physics algorithm for very specific problem…

How did you get into conversation with DENSO? Channels through YCombinator or investors?

at a mathematical conference :)
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