Ex-Tesla and NASA Engineers Make a Light Bulb That’s Smarter Than You

[omgwtfbyobbq]

I really like the idea, but $75/bulb is muy expensive. Hopefully they'll sell individual receptacles/modules a la X10 (without the terrible ads/going bankrupt part) and provide enough info so that people can roll their own home automation set-ups.

 

[bonnie]

That kit price included the zigbee router - only one needed, since zigbee will allow a mesh network without dead zones. And no special receptacles required. The Alba bulb screws into existing receptacles.

 

[rolosrevenge]

Well,,,,, I rule that TEG and Audobonb are a tie!

Each of you PM me your snail Mail address and I will send you a connector protector as promised!!

Man, and I was going to chime in:
"How many engineers does it take to screw in a smart light bulb?"
"None, they (we) have the technician do that after a laborious design process"

 

[bonnie]

Man, and I was going to chime in:
"How many engineers does it take to screw in a smart light bulb?"
"None, they (we) have the technician do that after a laborious design process"

You win extra bbq at Picnic Creek next year.

 

[AudubonB]

Well,,,,, I rule that TEG and Audobonb are a tie!

Each of you PM me your snail Mail address and I will send you a connector protector as promised!!

1. Can I break the tie if I promise to write a limerick using "connector protector"?
2. Can I break the tie if I promise NOT to write a limerick using "connector protector"?

 

[ggr]

1. Can I break the tie if I promise to write a limerick using "connector protector"?
2. Can I break the tie if I promise NOT to write a limerick using "connector protector"?

First, they ran an operation which they dubbed "the Operation" [...] (MPFC, Piranha Brothers, Doug and Dinsdale... hmmm...)

 

[Tempus]

wow, this thread got to limericks awfully quick

anyway - just wanted to chime in on the original point and say that this really does seem incredibly cool, and thanks for posting it here and bringing attention.

I tend to agree that the energy savings is pretty irrelevant compared to the other potential functionality. I'm very interested in seeing how the different color lighting would work in practice - would be nice to have something with a calming effect in the evenings to help with that "getting ready for bed" time. Especially difficult for the kids, but we have a lot of insomnia in our family - would be pretty incredible if something as simple as a lightbulb could help with things like that.

 

[Lump]

Full disclosure: I'm one of the original investors also.

@bonnie, Is this the video they thought of using a Tesla in?

 

[bonnie]

@Bonnie, Is this the video they thought of using a Tesla in?

Yep!

 

[jerry33]

So will the cats or dogs turn the lights on?

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

That kit price included the zigbee router - only one needed, since zigbee will allow a mesh network without dead zones. And no special receptacles required. The Alba bulb screws into existing receptacles.

Not having a modular design is what I dislike about this product. Well, plenty of products really. The idea of discarding a good "base" (the light sensor, wireless transceiver, etc...) if the LED goes out isn't very appealing. I'd like something I can screw any old bulb into. With that said, the $20/bulb 2015 pre-order price seems competitive since it's only ~2x-3x the cost of a DIY wired system, which wouldn't have any color changes either. The $60/bulb 2014 price, not so much...

 

[brianman]

... I'd like something I can screw any old bulb into. With that said, the $20/bulb 2015 pre-order price seems competitive since it's only ~2x-3x the cost of a DIY wired system, which wouldn't have any color changes either. The $60/bulb 2014 price, not so much...

Agreed on all 3.

 

[NigelM]

The idea of discarding a good "base" (the light sensor, wireless transceiver, etc...) if the LED goes out isn't very appealing. I'd like something I can screw any old bulb into.

Seeing as I had already invested in converting our house to all LED I feel some empathy for your POV. In reality there are several problems in making it a modular design in the way you suggest: a unit that goes between your existing light fitting and "any old bulb" changes the dimension of your lighting set up (probably wouldn't look too smart having bulbs protruding from their cans), changing all your fittings would be even more expensive of course and that will deter many residential users, existing bulbs wouldn't work anyway as incandescents and halogen get too hot, the curly things really aren't dimmable and none of them have the ability to change the light color temperature.

 

[woof]

As someone heavily invested in LED bulbs and the Insteon brand of controls, this product annoys me. I'm quite familiar with individually controlled switches and bulbs (like this one: INSTEON LED Bulb, 8 Watt (60W)), which use wireline/RF control protocols and sensors and switches that all communicate with each other, and one can (and I have) written computer code to control the lot.

No, what annoys me is how I didn't foresee combining that all into a single unit: sensor, light source and controller, and having each bulb be intelligent enough to control itself...yet still be network meshed. And that is my problem...I'm jealous I didn't think of that! Is this like the PC revolution over the mainframe all over again? Possibly.

My other annoyance is that it's on ZigBee which is a different method of networking, and now I'll have to consider changing.

The other very interesting angle here is iBeacon and the focus on sensor analytics for business...that's the kind of thing that could cause a real jump in scale and drive down the prices for we home users (even if it is spying on us...hopefully the reporting can be disabled). The energy savings part is just icing on the cake.

 

[bonnie]

You're awesome, woof. Nailed it. And that ^^ is why I invested. Plus I knew some of the players.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Seeing as I had already invested in converting our house to all LED I feel some empathy for your POV. In reality there are several problems in making it a modular design in the way you suggest: a unit that goes between your existing light fitting and "any old bulb" changes the dimension of your lighting set up (probably wouldn't look too smart having bulbs protruding from their cans), changing all your fittings would be even more expensive of course and that will deter many residential users, existing bulbs wouldn't work anyway as incandescents and halogen get too hot, the curly things really aren't dimmable and none of them have the ability to change the light color temperature.

All true, but these bulbs are still pretty expensive, and IMO color changes probably aren't worth the premium. I'm not 100% sure about this, but since the 2015 pre-orders for the can kit mentions fixtures instead of bulbs for some bulb types, I think even the better 2015 prices may be up to $55/bulb/fixture, which is pretty pricey. Even though the router is only $30, at the price the 6 cans in my kitchen would cost almost $400!

My WAG is that I can do something similar with a mix of CFLs/LEDs/power line devices/1-wire IR & Photo sensors/old computer for a fraction of the cost and have local control. If I were to do this via stacklighting, it would be relatively uniform, but I'm guessing I would need ~$2000 to cover the house/garage, assuming those prices materialize, and I wouldn't have local control unless they released an API. It's neat, but I can think of a bunch of better uses for that ~$1500 premium. With that said, I'm not going to knock someone who has the cash and drops it on this. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[bonnie]

I guess if all you want is color changes, it's not the way to go.

 

[bsd]

Does anybody know why they are selling fixture kits? Do the fixtures embed their technology, so that I could use off-the-shelf bulbs instead?

 

[jerry33]

I guess if all you want is color changes, it's not the way to go.

Mostly I want lights that will turn off when not needed.

 

[dsm363]

Does anybody know why they are selling fixture kits? Do the fixtures embed their technology, so that I could use off-the-shelf bulbs instead?

I believe the technology is in the bulb.