5 ms·

I let lasers power my smart home – and I don't want to go back

26 points by FrankChalmers 1y ago

mortar 1y ago
https://archive.is/3SeUf https://archive.is/3SeUf
AngryData 1y ago
People go through so much trouble just to avoid using a wire despite 95% of their "smart home" devices home being static. It seems like such a colossal waste of time and effort in my opinion. Wires are not complicated, and if you put in even 1/10th the effort into using wire as they use in avoiding wires you can make them look nice. Don't like the look of bare kinked wires? A $5 piece of decorative conduit or mounting tape or a new wall socket will do what an extra $100+ in less reliable specialty tech can accomplish. For people who are suppose to be all about tech you would think something as simple as a bit of wiring wouldn't be so out of their depth.
- maxerickson 1y ago
  I expect a lot of it is that manufacturers want to sell easy to install devices. Batteries are a lot simpler than wires. For something like a door lock, having everything on the lock also makes the integration really easy. Solenoid type electrified levers more or less don't exist as residential products, even though that seems to be the way to end up with a nice looking installation.
- protocolture 1y ago
  I agree very much with your statement but renters do often need to make their setup portable and not modify the premises.
- Brajeshwar 1y ago
  I have said this a few times when people starts talking about this wireless, that wireless, mesh, etc. “Behind every good wireless network is an excellent wired backbone infrastructure.”
- Incipient 1y ago
  Tracing walls go install cable is incredibly expensive, and installing faceplates on walls can look very ugly. I can imagine a single base IR unit with direct LOS to say 10 low power devices (nightlights, wifi motion sensors, IoT devices, etc) could have great utility.
Cordiali 1y ago
> One morning last month, I walked into my kitchen to get a glass of water, but my smart faucet was out of battery. Not sure what on Earth that is, but it doesn't sound too smart to me.
- zeroping 1y ago
  Especially when mamy US homes have AC power available under the sink. So strange that a smart faucet product wouldn't use that.
  - IAmBroom 1y ago
    Where? I've never seen that, and given that it's an area routinely transited by lots of running water, it seems stupid. Leaks happen.
    - Dork_Sider 1y ago
      It's for the garbage disposal
- alwa 1y ago
  Oh! I have a relative who just installed one of those. It’s hands-down the most infuriating thing in the house. The gimmick is that touching anywhere on the faucet body or its handle toggles some kind of solenoid to cut or resume the flow. You still use its physical handle to set the flow and temperature—but the act of touching that handle registers as a “cut off water” capacitive touch. So any time you try to turn on the water, it spits for a fraction of a second then cuts off the flow. Then locks out your subsequent touches as some kind of demented debounce kind of thing. Same thing if you try to pull out its retractable head to wash down the basin. I couldn’t wish a dead battery on it fast enough…
  - kirtakat 1y ago
    I have one that I actually like, but it works a bit differently - instead of being capacitive on the faucet - which is infuriating, there is a sensor in the toe kick area under the sink, so if you wave your foot there it turns the water on/off.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
owenversteeg 1y ago
Huh, interesting to see this technology get closer to mainstream. This is basically an IR laser plus a solar cell. Efficiency isn't great (5W base station laser -> 100mW receiver) but that doesn't matter much for low power devices. The company claims to have some sort of unique patent involving retroreflectors in the receiver ensuring that if something disturbs the path, the laser beam is destroyed. I haven't been able to find any other technical details and of course search engines are mostly useless, so if anyone manages to dig deeper into how this works I'd be very curious to hear it.
OptionOfT 1y ago
It would be cool if the gimbal could power multiple devices, and auto-rotate between each of them. Ensure the lock is always at 80%. Once that's done charge the cat-feeder. Once that's done charge the CO2 sensor. Etc etc.
- rurban 1y ago
  It can. See one of the attached screenshots. It cycles between the Alfred door lock and a toothbrush.
  - OptionOfT 1y ago
    No, he has 2: > one for the Alfred lock on my back door and the higher-power R1HP model in the ceiling of my bathroom, powering an electric toothbrush charger. Would be weird otherwise, having a doorlock made to be opened from the outside in the bathroom. Or having your toothbrush near your house entrance.

26 points by FrankChalmers 1y ago

https://archive.is/3SeUf https://archive.is/3SeUf

People go through so much trouble just to avoid using a wire despite 95% of their "smart home" devices home being static. It seems like such a colossal waste of time and effort in my opinion. Wires are not complicated, and if you put in even 1/10th the effort into using wire as they use in avoiding wires you can make them look nice. Don't like the look of bare kinked wires? A $5 piece of decorative conduit or mounting tape or a new wall socket will do what an extra $100+ in less reliable specialty tech can accomplish. For people who are suppose to be all about tech you would think something as simple as a bit of wiring wouldn't be so out of their depth.

maxerickson 1y ago
I expect a lot of it is that manufacturers want to sell easy to install devices. Batteries are a lot simpler than wires. For something like a door lock, having everything on the lock also makes the integration really easy. Solenoid type electrified levers more or less don't exist as residential products, even though that seems to be the way to end up with a nice looking installation.
protocolture 1y ago
I agree very much with your statement but renters do often need to make their setup portable and not modify the premises.
Brajeshwar 1y ago
I have said this a few times when people starts talking about this wireless, that wireless, mesh, etc. “Behind every good wireless network is an excellent wired backbone infrastructure.”
Incipient 1y ago
Tracing walls go install cable is incredibly expensive, and installing faceplates on walls can look very ugly. I can imagine a single base IR unit with direct LOS to say 10 low power devices (nightlights, wifi motion sensors, IoT devices, etc) could have great utility.

Cordiali 1y ago

> One morning last month, I walked into my kitchen to get a glass of water, but my smart faucet was out of battery. Not sure what on Earth that is, but it doesn't sound too smart to me.

zeroping 1y ago
Especially when mamy US homes have AC power available under the sink. So strange that a smart faucet product wouldn't use that.
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  Where? I've never seen that, and given that it's an area routinely transited by lots of running water, it seems stupid. Leaks happen.
  - Dork_Sider 1y ago
    It's for the garbage disposal
alwa 1y ago
Oh! I have a relative who just installed one of those. It’s hands-down the most infuriating thing in the house. The gimmick is that touching anywhere on the faucet body or its handle toggles some kind of solenoid to cut or resume the flow. You still use its physical handle to set the flow and temperature—but the act of touching that handle registers as a “cut off water” capacitive touch. So any time you try to turn on the water, it spits for a fraction of a second then cuts off the flow. Then locks out your subsequent touches as some kind of demented debounce kind of thing. Same thing if you try to pull out its retractable head to wash down the basin. I couldn’t wish a dead battery on it fast enough…
- kirtakat 1y ago
  I have one that I actually like, but it works a bit differently - instead of being capacitive on the faucet - which is infuriating, there is a sensor in the toe kick area under the sink, so if you wave your foot there it turns the water on/off.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

owenversteeg 1y ago

Huh, interesting to see this technology get closer to mainstream. This is basically an IR laser plus a solar cell. Efficiency isn't great (5W base station laser -> 100mW receiver) but that doesn't matter much for low power devices. The company claims to have some sort of unique patent involving retroreflectors in the receiver ensuring that if something disturbs the path, the laser beam is destroyed. I haven't been able to find any other technical details and of course search engines are mostly useless, so if anyone manages to dig deeper into how this works I'd be very curious to hear it.

OptionOfT 1y ago

It would be cool if the gimbal could power multiple devices, and auto-rotate between each of them. Ensure the lock is always at 80%. Once that's done charge the cat-feeder. Once that's done charge the CO2 sensor. Etc etc.

rurban 1y ago
It can. See one of the attached screenshots. It cycles between the Alfred door lock and a toothbrush.
- OptionOfT 1y ago
  No, he has 2: > one for the Alfred lock on my back door and the higher-power R1HP model in the ceiling of my bathroom, powering an electric toothbrush charger. Would be weird otherwise, having a doorlock made to be opened from the outside in the bathroom. Or having your toothbrush near your house entrance.