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Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

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Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#11
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Camera's don't have lasers (at least in smartphones). You could use infrared with two cameras to do depth measurement like the Kinect and the Leap Motion, but I'm unaware of any smartphones currently doing this.

How does the autofocus work?

1. Algorithm to evaluate how blurred an image is. 2. Adjust the focus a little bit, is it getting less blurred? Keep going. More blurred? Other direction. 3. Keep adjusting until you find the point where adjusting either way means more blur.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#12
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Camera's don't have lasers (at least in smartphones). You could use infrared with two cameras to do depth measurement like the Kinect and the Leap Motion, but I'm unaware of any smartphones currently doing this.

How does the autofocus work?

its a passive system where the camera sensor collects image data before the picture is taken and analyzes the image, then activates the focus motor to adjust the focus. No emitter required.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#13
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Camera's don't have lasers (at least in smartphones). You could use infrared with two cameras to do depth measurement like the Kinect and the Leap Motion, but I'm unaware of any smartphones currently doing this.

How does the autofocus work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofocus

Passive: Measurement of light

Active: Infrared or ultrasound

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#15
This project is interesting, and I preordered one because the last time I had to transcribe measurements of a room into modeling software, I was quite frustrated at the time and complexity of the task.

One thing I'm not happy about is that I did not see any information about software currently in compatibility testing or plans to support specific software.

I won't be satisfied if the device is delivered and I can't actually use it for anything other than a simple measurement that my current laser distance meter can perform.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#16
I'm going to preface this by saying this meter looks great and I realize that it's much easier to critique than encourage.

Overall, I think it's an interesting implementation, but I felt the tone of the video did not match the nature of the product. The video feels produced towards something with more breadth and importance than essentially a contractor tool. Not that I'm downplaying what Senic built, but the presentation gives off "toddler in a business suit" aesthetic.

Having said that, the implementation looks great.

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#17
post #9

I know YC typically gives small investments which works well enough for web startups, but do they give more to hardware companies like Senic that need things like materials, machines and parts?

Nope, all companies receive the same funding (as in base amount + x per founder up to 3)

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#18
post #17
post #9

I know YC typically gives small investments which works well enough for web startups, but do they give more to hardware companies like Senic that need things like materials, machines and parts?

Nope, all companies receive the same funding (as in base amount + x per founder up to 3)

I'd love to hear about a hardware team's experience in the YC program. Senic, how's it going?

Re: Senic (YC S13) builds a laser distance meter for smartphones

#19
Laser distance meters have been available to contractors for years. The major difference Senic adds, over Ryobi, Bosch & Fluke, is bluetooth & cloud syncing.

I have always wondered how these devices actually calculate distances. I have experimented with Arduino & Parallax, and I've seen how the resolution of an ultrasonic distance sensor is directly affected by the processor speed -- the processor is merely counting the fractions of a second between sending the ping pulse, and receiving its echo. But a 1 MHz processor can only just count milliseconds. A 16 MHz processor can count only slightly faster. At the room-temperature speed of sound, this gives you a resolution of about 1/29th of an inch, or 1/74th of a centimeter.

In theory, the same should be possible with light -- send a light pulse then count the fractions of a second for it to return. Thinking back to Grace Hopper's Nanosecond [1], a 1mhz processor would have a resolution of hundreds of feet. So these must be using a very small, simple, multi-GHz processor to get a resolution of about 2/15 of an inch.

Unless these devices do their measurement in a completely different way...

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEpsKnWZrJ8

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