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Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

notifon.net

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Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#41

Post by mkesper »

clement87 wrote: post #21
swamp40 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We use a wifi module in a battery operated environment (we kill power to the module when it isn't in use). It uses about 225mA @ 3.2V. The connection/handshaking take about 5-7 seconds to talk to a local server, plus the time for whatever data you are sending. When talking to an internet based server, the connection time can extend out to 20+ seconds. So you can see wifi isn't the greatest choice for low power/batter…

Exactly, for Notifon the transmit time is 40ms. That's why it can run on a small and sexy coin battery (CR2032).

I much prefer standard mignon types. They are an ubiquity.

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#42

Post by abcd_f »

Congrats, this is an interesting project and props for doing it all on your own! I thought our kind has gone all but extinct these days :)

That said, here's a problem from just watching the video - all the focus on the design of the device assumes that it should be on a display. That's the domain of the home automation market for passionate amateurs - "Look, look, I automated my door!" A proper installation is always discrete and does not clash with existing interior design of the space. It would be something that blends in easily and, ideally, paintable over. Definitely not a computer-mouse like puck that just screams "look at me!". Your whole point of this being "technology that is not worth hiding" is way off for practical applications. I realize that you probably trying to pull Nest here, but this is an utilitarian non-interactive device, it has no business being visible in my space. I would strongly suggest adding an "OEM" model that is just a flat white box.

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#43

Post by clement87 »

zapt02 wrote: post #35
clement87 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the reply. This kind of price can be reach using Bluetooth Low Energy. Those chips are really cheap but as you might know, the range is too low.

BLE doesn't sound too bad? 100 meters according to WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy#Technical_... This can of course be far from the effective distance, but since the data being communicated is so small it should be possible to keep sending the data until you can acknowledge that it has been received. Also, you could look into creating a mesh network between all Notifons, so you could exte…

You can't build a mesh network with sensors on idle mode.

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#45

Post by clement87 »

motyar wrote: post #44

I really need to understand and learn how it works on such less power. Kudos.

Simple, when you open your door, the Node wakes up during 40ms, transmits at 40mA to the Hub and goes back to sleep consuming less than 1uA. You can calculate the battery life yourself: http://oregonembedded.com/batterycalc.htm

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#46

Post by exodust »

How do you know the garage door is "open"? If you receive an identical notification whenever the sensor is triggered, the door could be open or closed.

With something like a garage door, knowing its state is very important, perhaps more important than knowing when the sensor has been triggered. When someone leaves the garage door open (kids), this is what we need to be notified about. Is the Notifon up to this task?

Also, range might be a real issue when the nodes are placed outside or in the letterbox.

One more thing, and this is just a personal preference in response to the idea that I "won't want to hide the device". I don't understand why people think white plastic is the best choice of color. So many cheap kitchen appliances are white plastic. If you have floorboards and warm living areas with warm tones everywhere, shiny white plastic objects are an eyesore. IMHO.

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#47

Post by clement87 »

exodust wrote: post #46

How do you know the garage door is "open"? If you receive an identical notification whenever the sensor is triggered, the door could be open or closed. With something like a garage door, knowing its state is very important, perhaps more important than knowing when the sensor has been triggered. When someone leaves the garage door open (kids), this is what we need to be notified about. Is the Notifon up to this task?…

Of course the Node can trigger two states. So you know when it's open or closed. You can set a different message for each state.

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#48

Post by johnm1019 »

thechut wrote: post #40

You've made some interesting choices here. Lots of people here are questioning using a gateway, but I think this is a great choice for what you are doing, and required to get decent battery life. However, I think using ZigBee will end up pricing you our of most markets in the long run. Especially if you elected to go with the very pricing Xbee modules from Digi. These are developer friendly, but way to expensive. If…

As an outsider to the space, your comment makes it sound like ZigBee is never a good option. Is this so? Is there a 'target market' for ZigBee?

Re: Show HN: I built this notifying device – electronics, code, design, marketing

#49

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

This is brilliant!

I'm right now looking into building something similar but for industrial/agricultural applications in unattended machine monitoring. I'm planning to prototype using a similiar Digi device: the 900 series with 1 mile range.

I would never have thought of a consumer version. Fantastic idea.

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