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AWS IoT Button

aws.amazon.com

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Re: AWS IoT Button

#131

Post by dmritard96 »

ecaron wrote: post #92
dmritard96 wrote: post #43

Our Puck ( https://flair.co/products/puck ) is sorta like this but with a small display. Instead of a generic button its a bit like a generic knob. So far positioned more as a heating and cooling device but I know I am excited to open it up to developers.

Do you have a mailing list where we can sign up to know when you open it up? I almost immediately bought this, but thought "I should read up on the API first..." Reading the FAQ [ https://flair.co/pages/faq ] I see: "Can I write apps for Puck? Not yet. But soon." I'll buy it the moment it lets me program it to suit my needs. It looks incredibly awesome and off the bat I can think of 4 places I'd love to use it (but n…

I wish I saw this sooner (HN news needs notifications!). You can sign up for our email list to start and you can also start a thread on our forum (https://forum.flair.co). Excited to hear all the cool things that you want to use it for fyi :)

Re: AWS IoT Button

#132

Post by dmritard96 »

feedjoelpie wrote: post #93
dmritard96 wrote: post #43

Our Puck ( https://flair.co/products/puck ) is sorta like this but with a small display. Instead of a generic button its a bit like a generic knob. So far positioned more as a heating and cooling device but I know I am excited to open it up to developers.

Is there at least one button in addition to the knob? How do I get my hands on a dev kit? I have been casually looking for an internet-connected dial + button + display for a long time. I have lots of different productivity uses I want to try out. Badly. Edit: I see now that it does indeed have "click" listed in the specs.

Yes - there is a click and rotate. No dev kits just yet - we are getting close to shipping the first set of preorders and pretty heads down on that but it has a nice bootloader so you will be able to reprogram it over the air as well as via some exposed pads on the back. Would love to hear some of the things you are looking to use it for!

Re: AWS IoT Button

#133

Post by dmritard96 »

bambax wrote: post #76
dmritard96 wrote: post #43

Our Puck ( https://flair.co/products/puck ) is sorta like this but with a small display. Instead of a generic button its a bit like a generic knob. So far positioned more as a heating and cooling device but I know I am excited to open it up to developers.

This looks fantastic! > So far positioned more as a heating and cooling device Indeed, the website and esp. the pre-ordering process lets one think it's really dedicated to that use... Why not have another page with a more general positioning, this could be used for anything!

Yeah - tell that to our investors :p (j/k I love them but they felt it important to keep focused on the marketing for a while longer).

Definitely need to add some marketing pages though, one for 'generic knob' examples, and then I actually think it would be best to split up the minisplit/window ac bits from central heating and cooling.

Re: AWS IoT Button

#134

Post by dmritard96 »

reitanqild wrote: post #63
dmritard96 wrote: post #43

Our Puck ( https://flair.co/products/puck ) is sorta like this but with a small display. Instead of a generic button its a bit like a generic knob. So far positioned more as a heating and cooling device but I know I am excited to open it up to developers.

That was one really nifty device. Your site mentions device to device comms. Is this user programmable? Also display only shows temp. Are there other options?

You will be able to reflash all three radios on the device (although you will need to keep the wifi's bootloader for the foreseeable future). Otherwise use should be able to swap out the bluetooth image and the subgigahertz stack.

The UI is reprogrammable without touching code also with 'microapps'. You could think of them as super lightweight shortcuts for adjusting things. You can see some examples on our twitter feed: https://twitter.com/flair_co

Re: AWS IoT Button

#135

Post by Bogdan91 »

somethingsimple wrote: post #46

I really hope they haven't patented this. It doesn't seem hard to compete against it or build your own - an ESP8266 module costs about $6 and makes it super easy to hack your own "IoT button".

ESP8266 is around 2$ (even cheaper if you buy only the chip) and an nodemcu/wemos devkit around 4$.

Re: AWS IoT Button

#136

Post by bschwindHN »

x2398dh1 wrote: post #115
bschwindHN wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Amazon official page ( https://aws.amazon.com/iot/button/ ): How long will the battery last? The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery. How can you sell a button that has only 1000 presses in it for $20 with a straight face? Looks like overcomplicated, overpriced garbage to me.

> no way to recharge or replace the battery. No way at all in the entire universe not even with hand tools and a soldering iron?

I think what they mean is no reasonable way. Who wants to spend $20 on a button they will have to tear apart and desolder?

Re: AWS IoT Button

#137

Post by qq66 »

braum wrote: post #2

Have they updated the branded ones so you can't reuse them? otherwise why waste $20 when you can get one of the original branded versions for $5.

My network is administered by the building, both at home and at work, so I wouldn't be able to change router config.

Re: AWS IoT Button

#139

Post by fuzzygroove »

ecaron wrote: post #24

I hacked one of these to power the nightlight in my kid's bedroom ( https://github.com/ecaron/hue-website-nightlights ). The downside is that the button barely lasts for 1000 presses = 90 days (all kids like pushing buttons). And it is heart breaking because its just a AAA battery that they decided to solder in place... I'm excited that this button launched. But $20 is too much for something without a swappable batte…

You can replace the battery with a rechargable LiPo using a $2 security driver, spudger and a little elbow grease.

Re: AWS IoT Button

#140

Post by fuzzygroove »

tdicola wrote: post #53
libria wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is desoldering an option?

It's tricky, metal tabs are soldered right to the battery terminals. It's a lithium battery so you don't want to heat it too much so desoldering will be annoying and potentially dangerous. What you can do instead is cut both tabs to remove the battery then solder wires to the tabs on the board and connect a proper battery holder. Might need to move the battery outside it since the holder + battery won't fit.

For folks who use words like "desolder" it's not tricky at all.

This (and the Dash) come in a glued shell with a 1.5v Energizer Li AAA solder-welded to the back. Getting inside without completely destroying the curb-appeal takes a hex bit, some scraping, and a little patience.

Once you get to the board, the battery is easily replaced with a LiPo. The MCU is 3.3v, but Amazon Prime has you covered on cheap LDO/buck converters (like, "a buck" converters).

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