3 ms·

This is a surprisingly simple solution to the problem: Make the working "device" (3D printed object) do as little work as possible - just enough to be detectab

by vog 9y ago

This is a surprisingly simple solution to the problem: Make the working "device" (3D printed object) do as little work as possible - just enough to be detectable by the surrounding devices that are "real" computers anyway.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago
It's a bit like it sending out an audio signal (which would be another option I think) that can be interpreted by a receiver.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  An example: having your IoT base listen for frequencies made by your kettle's whistle, or your washing machine's beeper.
  - sitkack 9y ago
    Patent prior art right there.
  - myfonj 9y ago
    Or your voice calling _"we are running low on soap"_.
- jpindar 9y ago
  This has been done - there are modules that detect and decode audio (which sounds a bit like R2D2). The manufacturer provides clips of this audio, which you could play from an app, allowing a phone to control something without it having to be on a network. Unfortunately, AFAIK the technology doesn't have a searchable name, so I can't find anything about it now. Of course, being able to listen for an arbitrary audio signal would be even more useful.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    Here's a stupid idea I have (I'm pretty sure it's patented 'till kingdom come, but if not, then this is prior art and I want this to be public domain): (side view) +-------------+ +---+ BUTTON +--------------------------------+ | | | | | +-------------+ | -+ <-- valve | | +-------- -------------------------------------+ | | flute x x x x x x x x x x <-- sounds comes | +-----------------------------------------------+ out here +--------------------------------------------------+ x - a hole with an externally accessible lever that can be used to open or close it Basically, you press the button, which pushes air through a flute, thus making a sound. The sound is configurable through pluggable holes (marked with x). In the diagram above there are 10 of them, giving you 1024 possible sound frequency combinations to listen for with your central IoT device. Pros: - No electricity needed. - Fully configurable, open source. - 3D-printable maybe? Still, can be entirely plastic, so even more dirt-cheap to manufacture than the backscatter thingie. - Less chance of interference - it's easier to keep the sound contained within your apartment than it is to keep radio waves.
    - logfromblammo 9y ago
      That's not quite how flutes work. Two open tone holes in the same air column do not produce two distinct tones. They combine to change the effective length of the air column, which then provides a resonance for one tone, the frequency of which is determined by the length and the speed of sound, which in turn is mostly determined by temperature, and partly by the humidity. You still need a reed to produce the initial vibration. I think what you are aiming for is more on the order of a disk siren. The rotation speed could be adjusted to produce a different base frequency, and one siren disk can support tone production from several air streams, each aimed at a different radius of the disk. Blocking off or opening the individual air streams can produce different chords based on the base tone. If you have twelve speeds and six air streams, you can make 767 different chords. The same rotor can turn the siren disk and a fan to move the air. You press the button, the disk spins, and a pre-programmed chord plays.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
    In-band signalling? I used to do the same thing with DTMF tones back in the 90's. The SSI202 was the hot DTMF to binary decoder chip.
    - jpindar 9y ago
      Same concept, but the standard - I think it's a standard - I was thinking of encodes more data in a short time (using higher pitched sounds), as well as being more pleasant to my ears.
- tzs 9y ago
  Audio signals were how the first wireless TV remotes worked [1]: > In 1956, Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote. It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this sound. The invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic remotes that contained a piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs. The receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, and some people could hear the piercing ultrasonic signals. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Television_remote_controls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Television_remo...

by vog 9y ago

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

It's a bit like it sending out an audio signal (which would be another option I think) that can be interpreted by a receiver.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
An example: having your IoT base listen for frequencies made by your kettle's whistle, or your washing machine's beeper.
- sitkack 9y ago
  Patent prior art right there.
- myfonj 9y ago
  Or your voice calling _"we are running low on soap"_.
jpindar 9y ago
This has been done - there are modules that detect and decode audio (which sounds a bit like R2D2). The manufacturer provides clips of this audio, which you could play from an app, allowing a phone to control something without it having to be on a network. Unfortunately, AFAIK the technology doesn't have a searchable name, so I can't find anything about it now. Of course, being able to listen for an arbitrary audio signal would be even more useful.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  Here's a stupid idea I have (I'm pretty sure it's patented 'till kingdom come, but if not, then this is prior art and I want this to be public domain): (side view) +-------------+ +---+ BUTTON +--------------------------------+ | | | | | +-------------+ | -+ <-- valve | | +-------- -------------------------------------+ | | flute x x x x x x x x x x <-- sounds comes | +-----------------------------------------------+ out here +--------------------------------------------------+ x - a hole with an externally accessible lever that can be used to open or close it Basically, you press the button, which pushes air through a flute, thus making a sound. The sound is configurable through pluggable holes (marked with x). In the diagram above there are 10 of them, giving you 1024 possible sound frequency combinations to listen for with your central IoT device. Pros: - No electricity needed. - Fully configurable, open source. - 3D-printable maybe? Still, can be entirely plastic, so even more dirt-cheap to manufacture than the backscatter thingie. - Less chance of interference - it's easier to keep the sound contained within your apartment than it is to keep radio waves.
  - logfromblammo 9y ago
    That's not quite how flutes work. Two open tone holes in the same air column do not produce two distinct tones. They combine to change the effective length of the air column, which then provides a resonance for one tone, the frequency of which is determined by the length and the speed of sound, which in turn is mostly determined by temperature, and partly by the humidity. You still need a reed to produce the initial vibration. I think what you are aiming for is more on the order of a disk siren. The rotation speed could be adjusted to produce a different base frequency, and one siren disk can support tone production from several air streams, each aimed at a different radius of the disk. Blocking off or opening the individual air streams can produce different chords based on the base tone. If you have twelve speeds and six air streams, you can make 767 different chords. The same rotor can turn the siren disk and a fan to move the air. You press the button, the disk spins, and a pre-programmed chord plays.
- HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
  In-band signalling? I used to do the same thing with DTMF tones back in the 90's. The SSI202 was the hot DTMF to binary decoder chip.
  - jpindar 9y ago
    Same concept, but the standard - I think it's a standard - I was thinking of encodes more data in a short time (using higher pitched sounds), as well as being more pleasant to my ears.
tzs 9y ago
Audio signals were how the first wireless TV remotes worked [1]: > In 1956, Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote. It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this sound. The invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic remotes that contained a piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs. The receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, and some people could hear the piercing ultrasonic signals. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Television_remote_controls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_control#Television_remo...