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Electronics are incredibly cheap and an electronic version would be smaller, lighter and more reliable. I definitely appreciate the effort and am very interest

Electronics are incredibly cheap and an electronic version would be smaller, lighter and more reliable. I definitely appreciate the effort and am very interested in similar approaches, but for commercial use, electronics based systems are very cost effective, especially if engineered for a specific project and optimized.

dmos62 6y ago
This is meant for third-world countries where you need easily maintainable and accessible components. Plus, using electronics implies an infrastructure that we take for granted: it's more complicated in rural third-world.
- kumarvvr 6y ago
  You see that reflector, gears, evaporating liquid stuff in the solution, yeah that will not last 3 months in a rural area. For a rural area, this is a complex setup. In 1 week, you would either have bird shit all over the control mechanism light reflector, probably have a bird build a nest in it, or perhaps have a flying piece of plastic tangle in the mechanism. Electronics does not imply an infrastructure we take for granted. Just look at mobile phone usage in African countries. No one thought mobile phones are a bad idea because they don't have the infrastructure to repair them. A motor controller with a motor attached is cheap, can be made to work for years, sealed off in a water proof and dust proof container, and still be configured with bluetooth. And, the infrastructure problem you talk about, that will only be solved with consumers in the first place. No one in Africa built a mobile repair business without the phones being their first. Sorry, your perspective is negative and counter productive.
  - dmos62 6y ago
    Look, you could be right. I don't really know what the supply dynamics are anywhere in the third world. The author does travel the third world for humanitarian purposes, so I'm making guesses based on that. This project, that was posted ~9 years ago, is the most complicated project he posted. His newer projects are mostly simpler and he did create electric wind and hydro turbines. So I'd guess electricity is a problem at least some places and electronics are accessible enough to consider these projects.
redis_mlc 6y ago
High-humidity areas will destroy any electronics. For example, you can literally watch mold grow on a wall in the Bali interior.

dmos62 6y ago

This is meant for third-world countries where you need easily maintainable and accessible components. Plus, using electronics implies an infrastructure that we take for granted: it's more complicated in rural third-world.

kumarvvr 6y ago
You see that reflector, gears, evaporating liquid stuff in the solution, yeah that will not last 3 months in a rural area. For a rural area, this is a complex setup. In 1 week, you would either have bird shit all over the control mechanism light reflector, probably have a bird build a nest in it, or perhaps have a flying piece of plastic tangle in the mechanism. Electronics does not imply an infrastructure we take for granted. Just look at mobile phone usage in African countries. No one thought mobile phones are a bad idea because they don't have the infrastructure to repair them. A motor controller with a motor attached is cheap, can be made to work for years, sealed off in a water proof and dust proof container, and still be configured with bluetooth. And, the infrastructure problem you talk about, that will only be solved with consumers in the first place. No one in Africa built a mobile repair business without the phones being their first. Sorry, your perspective is negative and counter productive.
- dmos62 6y ago
  Look, you could be right. I don't really know what the supply dynamics are anywhere in the third world. The author does travel the third world for humanitarian purposes, so I'm making guesses based on that. This project, that was posted ~9 years ago, is the most complicated project he posted. His newer projects are mostly simpler and he did create electric wind and hydro turbines. So I'd guess electricity is a problem at least some places and electronics are accessible enough to consider these projects.

redis_mlc 6y ago

High-humidity areas will destroy any electronics. For example, you can literally watch mold grow on a wall in the Bali interior.