71–80 of 89 posts
Ask yourself why you need a dryer that needs wi-fi.
So I could control the dryer remotely. So I can get a notification when the dryer is finished. So I could be alerted if some goes wrong with the dryer or if it needs a service.
This sucks. Why connect random ownable devices to your network, especially for the low low benefit of ... knowing when the clothes' drier is done ?!? Connected firmware updatable white goods allow appliance manufacturers to do even less QA because they can always fix it later, which wasn't possible before. If you're the paranoid who won't connect random crap to the net, this is bad news, as you'll get lower quality a…
Home automation seems to mainly achieve "low low benefits". Like turning on a light from your phone instead of using a light switch. These things make some minor conveniences possible, but don't come close to being essential. It doesn't seem worth it for the privacy, security, management overhead, cost, etc.
Nothing is really essential in our life. Do you really need washing machine? You can do laundry by hand. It saves time and more convenient to use a machine. The problem with a lot of automation schemes is that it takes more time and less convenient because of poor design.
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In the future SIMs are probably going to be some kind of signed data blob instead of a physical card. But I guess breaking off antennas will always be a thing if you have the skill set to identify it.
Luckily we only need one person with the right skill set to identify the antenna or other offending component to be removed and document it online, with pictures and instructions :-)
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So I could control the dryer remotely. So I can get a notification when the dryer is finished. So I could be alerted if some goes wrong with the dryer or if it needs a service.
Can you put in clothes remotely? Or take them out remotely? No? Then IOT is pretty much useless in this case.
What worries me is that soon we won't be able to monitor this anymore because these devices won't be dependent on a customer-supplied internet connection anymore. Instead, they'll all have cellular connectivity and we'll have no idea what is being sent, to whom and why. And I fear that there will be no device manufacturers in the same price range left that don't include this feature. Similar to how Smart TV's are che…
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There is very little going on in any appliance that couldn't be run by a mechanical timer of yore. If there's ever a popular movement to remove the surveillance antifeatures from modern appliances (and I sure hope there will be!), it'll be as simple as popping in a different control board. BTW does anybody know of any pointers to community projects that are making hardware for this type of thing? I've got it on my lo…
A generic washer control board sounds like something there would be a market for today. I could imagine a little microcontroller and say 10 relays that can control the pump, motor, valves, etc. Then you sell it together with instructions which specify how to program in which output does which function. You could sell it to people who want to "IoT" their machines for cheap, to people who have a dead control board, and…
I don't know if you'd even 10 relays. Most appliances have been cost-reduced into like two motors, a heater, and one or two actuators. Perhaps newer models with steam cleaning etc have reversed that trend.
Control side, I'm thinking of an AVR + ESP32. The AVR for reliably controlling the motors with the sensors, eg if the water is full, turn the water off. True safety stuff like overheat switches obviously stays inline though.
One of the more complex details is newer appliances have moved to brushless motors for efficiency. A three phase motor driver is straightforward, but figuring out what design parameters will be reasonably generic to serve the most appliances is some research.
The least generic parts seem to be fitting in with the existing user-input buttons, and managing the complexity of programming many different models for non-engineer users. The kind of people that are comfortable taking apart appliances generally have less patience for programming computers.
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A generic washer control board sounds like something there would be a market for today. I could imagine a little microcontroller and say 10 relays that can control the pump, motor, valves, etc. Then you sell it together with instructions which specify how to program in which output does which function. You could sell it to people who want to "IoT" their machines for cheap, to people who have a dead control board, and…
Yeah, exactly. It's so apparent to me that I figure something like this has to exist, if I dug into it. I don't know if you'd even 10 relays. Most appliances have been cost-reduced into like two motors, a heater, and one or two actuators. Perhaps newer models with steam cleaning etc have reversed that trend. Control side, I'm thinking of an AVR + ESP32. The AVR for reliably controlling the motors with the sensors, eg…
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Yeah, exactly. It's so apparent to me that I figure something like this has to exist, if I dug into it. I don't know if you'd even 10 relays. Most appliances have been cost-reduced into like two motors, a heater, and one or two actuators. Perhaps newer models with steam cleaning etc have reversed that trend. Control side, I'm thinking of an AVR + ESP32. The AVR for reliably controlling the motors with the sensors, eg…
Ignore the existing buttons, and simply add a new touchscreen. Make it sticky so you can glue it to the outside of the machine.
Of course if any specific model became popular enough someone could fab a dedicated control board that fit in the right spot, or at least had matching aesthetics.
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I feel exactly the same way. Non-geek friends are always shocked that I do not typically want additional new tech-stuff in my life unless the payoff is very high. Novel and interesting are not sufficient on their own. I am immersed in layers of technology (and poorly-thought-out Authentication schemes) everyday for 10-12 hours and it presents a noticeable amount of frustration. I rarely am looking for more of it. I a…
I've run into the same reactions from friends and colleagues. They're surprised that someone with a career in IT and tech doesn't want smart speakers or home assistants or any kind of IoT. In their perception, I should be all over every new little gadget and interconnected doodad, but those sorts of devices just drive me up the wall. There is always some annoying issue or limitation, a lot of them don't even perform…
You have articulated the situation really really well. Thank you for that.
What worries me is that soon we won't be able to monitor this anymore because these devices won't be dependent on a customer-supplied internet connection anymore. Instead, they'll all have cellular connectivity and we'll have no idea what is being sent, to whom and why. And I fear that there will be no device manufacturers in the same price range left that don't include this feature. Similar to how Smart TV's are che…
Cellular providers aren't giving LG a cellular modem for free, esp. 1Gbyte/day. Unless there is going to be something that causes cellular providers to give away data, it's going to be a significant cost. The only sustainable ways for this to work is: A) for the data for LG to collect to be worth what it has to pay to the providers. Aside from hopefully unlikely things like LG collecting audio and visual from hidden…
The contract they negociate with the carrier will probably be closer to $3/drier/year.