Product Inspiration

In our continuing coverage of the evolution of the smart home, First Alert has just come out with some smoke alarms which communicate with each other and tell you where the fire is. It seems like a great step in the right direction, but its still missing a few features I’d like to see:

1. Does not mesh with existing wireless internet. Lots of us have wireless connections in our houses, why can’t we just add these guys to the network?

2. Will not tell me if my house is on fire when I’m away. Conventional smoke alarms are very loud, and I’ll probably hear them if I’m anywhere inside my house. What would be REALLY useful is if they would call / text / email me when my house is on fire so I could send over a neighbor to grab a few valuables / use an extinguisher.

3. Does not mesh with other home automation products (as far as I can tell). Granted, there’s no one single standard yet for connecting electronic household gadgets together, but it does not make sense long term to have a different wireless system for rain gauges, fire alarms, and lights. Hopefully, this will be sorted out soon.

At any rate, its another example of a dumb device getting smarter. Lets hope it keeps on learning.

http://www.gizmag.com/onelink-wireless-talking-networked-smoke-alarm/8 900/

This new gadget could add another tool in the modern day police officer’s toolbox for going after drunk drivers. While its about as simple of a product as it gets - a conventional flashlight was upgraded to include an ambient alcohol detector, it could be extremely useful in telling the difference between drunken late night revelers out for a spin and some students on the way back from IHOP.

Invention fairs are full of wacky, impractical gadgets that combine two functions into one device (the toothbrush pen comes to mind), but this is a great example of how such combinations can really be a good thing.

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5711382&versi on=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

In contrast with the last entry, which was focused on a completely new method of sensing materials in a fluid, this new technology simply shrinks down a conventional method to a much smaller package. Initially, this seemed like an incremental improvement to the conventional GC-MS (gas chromatography and mass spectrometry) systems, until I read how much it really improved on the technology: The size was reduced from computer-size to matchbox-size, analysis time dropped from 15 minutes to 4 seconds, and energy consumption went from 10,000 joules to 4 joules!

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/micro-analyzer-0110.html

Technorati : MEMS, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, nano, sensor

There’s been a few new sensors over the last few years which use a cantilever design to detect materials. In essence, the cantilever is like a diving board which is vibrating at certain a certain, known frequency. When something binds or gets attached to the end of the cantilever, the change in weight causes a change in the vibration of the cantilever. Best of all, the accuracy and resolution of this method is good enough to identify a molecule by its weight alone!

Technologies like this are a great example of what MEMS technology does for us. We simply take an effect well known on the macro scale, and shrink it down for improved performance, accuracy, and price. This new and upcoming class of sensors is extremely accurate, and through the use of specialized coatings and materials, are also selective in which chemicals they sense.

http://www.physorg.com/news109264658.html

Technorati : cantilever sensor

This new system is able to tell the location of a plane by measuring small fluctuations in Earth’s magnetic filed, caused by the large, moving metal object. The system is actually very accurate (within 7.5 meters), and only requires an array of small, cheap magnetic field sensors. The immediate benefits include better airplane tracking, especially when visibility is poor.

While the effects of an object on our planet’s magnetic field is very small, this could still be a way to sense and locate all kinds of other objects in the future.

http://www.physorg.com/news120407030.html

Electronic noses are devices which can identify particular molecules and elements in air (or in some cases, in liquids), allowing for the digital measurement of air (and breath) quality. This is a pretty new technology, with a lot of potential benefits down the road, but not a whole lot of practical applications today due to price and lack of developmental maturity. Once it is fully developed, we will be able to monitor and control air quality with an insanely high degree of accuracy, sense bombs and explosives from a long way away, and generally have the use of a highly accurate digital bloodhound to sniff out any airborne agent with remarkable accuracy and sensitivity.

One practical application is the diagnosis of diseases. The presence of certain organic molecules in your breath could indicate a bacterial infection, or certain antibodies could signify a cancerous growth.

While its still a bit early to see much from the electronic nose, lets keep an eye out for new developments which bring this technology closer to mass commercialization. For now, as the article below states, we can look forward to improved early diagnosis of some particular disorders and diseases.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=electronic-noses-could-make-diseas es-something-to-sniff-at

Controlling a computer with your brain has been the stuff of science fiction for years. It has also been achieved with some limited success in laboratories around the world. Neurosky is one of the first companies who seem to have made a functional and useful product using a brain interface. You wear their headband around your head, and are able to control video games by your thoughts alone.

While the technology has a long way to go before we can throw away our keyboard and mouse, its nice to see that someone’s gotten this technology far enough to sell an actual product based on it.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/hands-on-or-bra.html

Almost in time for the recent droughts that plagued the East coast, this system optimizes the watering of your lawn by using an integrated system of sprinklers and soil moisture sensors. As you can probably guess, the moisture sensors record how wet or dry the soil is, and the central controller uses this information to determine when and how much water to distribute to keep the grass green without wasting any water.

On one side, this seems a little trivial- many places have water in abundance, and most people aren’t lawn fanatics who care passionately about the health of their lawns. On the other side, global predictions for our planet show that fresh water will become an increasingly precious and scarce resource over the next few decades.

With this in mind, systems such as this one may become as widespread as catalytic converters on our cars, to the point that they could mandatory, and a lack of one produces the scorn of your neighbors and/or fines. On top of the regulatory issues, the increasing water prices will make these tools very cost effective in the long run, much like the smaller and more efficient hot water heaters that are going into so many new houses today.

http://www.gizmag.com/water-svaing-soil-moisture-monitoring/8459/

Technorati : smart home, sprinkler

GPS tracking is becoming more and more widespread each day. In the last 6 months or so, a plethora of consumer tracking gadgets have come out for people such as concerned parents to keep tabs on their children. This new upcoming gadget fits inside an envelope, and tracks the movement of the envelope through the postal system.

It will be very nice once the GPS tracking function shrinks in cost and size enough to be stuck into practically anything- think about how great it would be to find your lost keys, phone, or wallet by logging onto the internet and checking its location. Actually, applications are already out for GPS-equipped phones to do exactly this, but there are some serious drawbacks (drains your cell battery, and does not work much of the time).

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/21/gps-letter-logger-promises-to-keep- tabs-on-mail/

Technorati : gps tracking, mail

Redesigning the mouse trap has been a mainstay of inventors for quite a long time. This most recent advancement has quite a few cool tricks up its sleeve to get rid of your rodent problem. Once a mouse is lured inside the case of the trap by the smell of food, the trap doors close, and carbon dioxide is pumped into the chamber, suffocating the mouse. As a last technological touch, the trap sends you a text message that it has caught something.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20071008/rentokil-radar-the-humane-hite ch-killing-machine/