We build downhole electronics. High temperature (175C/350F operation) devices. Multiple circuit boards, sensors, analog and digital, tons of firmware.
Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
451–460 of 726 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#452We make the world's best baby car seats. https://www.kioma.us Fatherly Magazine calls it "The Car Seat of the Future". It's been crash tested, flight inversion tested, flammability tested and mom tested. It is full of patented innovations to make kids safer and parenting more enjoyable. It required lots of material science, production techniques, supply chain adjustments, and a surprising amount of software (to model…
One big problem with all car seats is that after 3-4 you have to dump an expensive and still usable seat. And I mean dump, since they cannot be donated AFAIK. It would be great if the seat can be disassembled to be used for another purpose.
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#453Earlier quoted context omitted.
The strap is a single point of failure. Each mount should be attached to the seat brackets individually. Those brackets need to be braced and not just bolted through plywood. Having patents on innovations is necessary, but if you have innovations that will save kids lives, you should find a way to make those broadly usable by all. https://patents.google.com/patent/US10967762B2/en?oq=1096776... This this TOS usual for…
if you have innovations that will save kids lives, you should find a way to make those broadly usable by all. One way would be for you to buy or license the tech and give it away. Is that something you're considering?
We're happy to license out tech.
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#454We make the world's best baby car seats. https://www.kioma.us Fatherly Magazine calls it "The Car Seat of the Future". It's been crash tested, flight inversion tested, flammability tested and mom tested. It is full of patented innovations to make kids safer and parenting more enjoyable. It required lots of material science, production techniques, supply chain adjustments, and a surprising amount of software (to model…
Just gonna throw this out there - your pitch is awesome, and “mom tested” put me off. Maybe I’m just a Californian but “parent tested” is a bit more 2023
Great feedback. Thank you! I'll pass it on to the marketing team.
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#455We 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…
Is there any interest in your company on making the same thing for pets, or at least dogs? My pops takes his dog surfing most days, and there are lots and lots of urchins around. The extra safety would be nice.
We have a few ideas for follow-on products, but haven’t been able to put much time into them yet. I’ll add this to the list though, and we’ll look into it eventually!
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#456Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assume you are worried about off-gassing, and direct ingestion of harmful chemicals. TLDR: We stack up really well. 1) No flame retardants are used in the upholstery. We worked really hard to meet the flammability requirements with materials that aren't doped in endocrine-disrupting flame retardants. So that was a big win, because that is the largest chemical exposure in legacy car seats (in my opinion) and it is o…
I'm not in the market for a car seat, but just want to say that I think you've done an awesome job responding, and I'd be looking at your car seat for sure after reading these :)
Thank you! Encouragement is always welcome.
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#457We are building the world's highest temperature heat pump. It can reach 1000℉, when other commercial heat pumps usually reach a maximum of 320 ℉. It is a big deal because factories have to rely on polluting natural gas to produce their process heat. We estimate that it represents 3% of the world’s annual CO2 emissions and a $10B+ annual market opportunity. We are currently building a 5kW prototype at 480℉/250C to coo…
This sounds very cool. Wait, no, hot.
In a factory setting, there is a bunch of heat wasted in other processes, e.g. waste heat from machines. Is this heat collected and fed into the air source?
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#458We make the world's best baby car seats. https://www.kioma.us Fatherly Magazine calls it "The Car Seat of the Future". It's been crash tested, flight inversion tested, flammability tested and mom tested. It is full of patented innovations to make kids safer and parenting more enjoyable. It required lots of material science, production techniques, supply chain adjustments, and a surprising amount of software (to model…
"Mom tested" might not be the best thing to say if you want moms to buy your product
Someone further down the thread had a similar negative response to that phrase and suggested maybe "parent tested" as a substitute? Thanks for the feedback!
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#459Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> why drive kids in a car at all if this concerns them this much? Because they have to Genuinely confused what stance you're taking here
>>Genuinely confused what stance you're taking here That a car is going to expose your child to an order of magnitude more "chemicals" than a baby seat ever could - it's like asking how much sugar is in your coleslaw that you're having on the side of a large five guys milkshake. Probably some, but if you're concerned about sugar you have much bigger things to worry about.
if you are having a large milkshake, I would advise against adding more sugar to your meal. I'm not wrong, I'm giving healthy advice. To follow my advice, you simply need to ask if there is sugar in the other things you order, it's a simple, meaningful question.
Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?
#460Hand-blown titanium crystal glassware for whisk(e)y and spirits. Produced in Europe by a glass factory that has been operating since the late 1700's. PG's mantra "do things that don't scale" has been a great inspiration. I wanted something comparable to high-end wine stemware and it shockingly did not exist, so I designed it during COVID. This is my first physical goods venture and my goodness, it comes with a lot of…
These look great. I went to order a pair of the tumblers, but the hacker discount code didn't work:
> HACKER discount code isn’t valid for the items in your cart