Jul

22

An Update on tod and Interesting Tidbits

Posted by : Don M | On : July 22, 2012

Category: Electronics, tod Smart Beacon

Tags:, ,

It’s been a lot longer than I wanted since I’ve updated the blog, so I thought it was more than high time.

We haven’t updated for lack of things to update, but a lack of time. We’ve been super busy getting things handled. I wanted to do a lot more “live updates” and live blog about much more of the process, it’s just been hard finding the time. I expect to get many of the pics, videos and details from the last few weeks shared on the blog soon.

In the last few weeks since our successful Kickstarter Project we’ve finalized the PCB design to 4 layer, added components for advance power management, ordered all of the parts, received nearly all the parts, started the PCB fab and started prepping for Assembly.

When we initially spec’d out the pricing for our project we felt like we did excellent due diligence as we obtained a lot of quotes from a lot of places. For parts, PCB manufacturing and Assembly. Quotes from a variety of companies, overseas, US, In State and even in town. We double checked most things and triple checked others. However, a few things have come out of the woodwork as gotchas.  Things that in my opinion seem ridiculous, but are apparently understood and expected.  The biggest has been quote creep.

Most of these quotes turned out to be something other than “full quotes” as in many of the cases there are setup fees, and other necessities that aren’t discussed up front. Things like the fact that full reals of parts are required. For example we may only need 2300 caps, but in order to get full reels have to buy 5000. Or, another one is a 5% expected part loss. For some of the smaller parts that’s not a big deal, but for an $9 – $12 part like the BLE-112a that can add up really quickly.

As we looked at some of these things that have popped up, we took a look at bringing more of the processes in house. This would allow us to control more of the process, be setup for the future as a company, and allow us to keep more funds focused on extending initial inventory. This is this was something I was very excited about.  The PCB Design, Enclosure Design, API and Software Development was already largely in house so it made sense to expand what we were doing if it made sense cost wise. The only things that we were really “outsourcing” were PCB Fab and Assembly, which other than parts was the most expensive.

We quickly realized that PCB fabrication was out. Since our design is 4 layer it is a little more complex than your average Instructable or Make project and the necessary equipment didn’t make sense at the scale we are at.  So we looked at Assembly. With some basic needs like a Stainless Steel Solder Stencil ($150), Reflow Oven($50), Oven Controller(90) and some basic tools and equipment I felt like we could get setup pretty inexpensively. Definitely for less than the $1.80 per board we were looking at from our quotes, quotes that initially had been $1.00 per board. After a little more research we’ve added a vacuum part placement tool($25) and Component Reel Storage. This was something that I was confident that I could do quite easily.

So we’ve took the jump, purchased the equipment and have used it to put together a handful of our First Articles boards.
It is very cool to have a PCB Assembly Line setup for our tod Smart Beacon
Coming soon…

“From Toaster to Reflow”
“Reflow Oven Controller How To”
“Vacuum Part Placement on the Cheap”

Jun

20

Soon Labs Will Be Mobile Thanks To LabStrip

Posted by : Don M | On : June 20, 2012

Category: Bluetooth 4, tod Smart Beacon

Tags:, , , , , ,

A few weeks ago I connected with the guys from Anywhere Science, Inc. through our Kickstarter project.  After a few emails and a phone call with both Cas Hoefman the Lead Engineer and Brian Noland the CEO I am excited to hear that they are putting the finishing touches on a system called LabStrip Mobile.

This cloud based platform is essentially a modified iPhone case combined with an app that will turn any iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S into your own personalized mobile laboratory. The LabStrip system leverages the built-in capabilities of today’s smartphones, augmenting them in a way that is both powerful and affordable. How affordable? They told me that they are targeting the $25 range for a starter kit for their upcoming Kickstarter campaign.

Now, using a simple and inexpensive attachment for your iPhone, you can use the LabStrip Mobile App to read standard litmus-type test strips in order to test a whole host of things such as the pH of your garden soil or the chlorine levels in your pool. Their proprietary calibration methodologies dramatically improve the accuracy of these kinds of tests. Gone are the days of manually comparing a test strip against a little color chart to see if the pH is roughly 5 or 6. Instead, LabStrip Mobile will tell you it’s 5.25! Things get really interesting when multiple tests are combined as a panel on a single strip.

Cas recently indicated that shortly after they launch their LabStrip-pH product, they plan to launch a pool and spa test that combines pH, chlorine, alkalinity, and stabilizer all measured instantly with one cheap strip. They said that beyond pH and pools they have ideas for new products on this platform which should keep them pretty busy for a couple more years.

In addition to their test strip attachment and native iPhone sensors, their LabStrip Mobile App will also support Bluetooth Smart devices like our own tod Smart Beacons . This gives you the option to add almost any kind of sensor reading to your LabStrip Mobile laboratory and capture the data for viewing in a common interface. You can now become just as powerful as the average university field science lab for less money than it costs to buy the average college textbook!

Now you might say “It is nice to have all that data on my iPhone but then what?” Well the guys at Anywhere Science thought the same thing and created LabStrip Cloud, a Web App where you can access all your test data for review and further analysis. They also have made an open API to access LabStrip Cloud, which gives you the option to Create, Read, Update or Delete data from any other system too. Do you want to measure the temperature of your pool water, compare it to the air temperature and track it over the course of the whole summer? Doing so could be as simple as tossing a water resistant tod Smart Beacon with an added Temperature Sensor your pool and having it update the temperature wirelessly and automatically to the LabStrip Mobile iPhone app. In addition, LabStrip will automatically add relevant environmental data for your specific GPS coordinates such as air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, sun exposure, etc. and automatically send it to your LabStrip Cloud project. The aggregate of all that combined data is instantly available on LabStrip Cloud.

If your like me and don’t like that your kids are swimming in all those chemicals in your pool, or want to save a little on pool maintenance? Imagine being able to combine all that environmental data with the chemistry measurements you have made and automatically stored with the LabStrip-Pool & Spa strip mentioned above.

The guys at Anywhere Science tell me that it is possible to calculate all kinds of potentially useful information from this data like evaporation rates, out-gassing rates for CO2 and chlorine, and their effects on how much of each chemical to add. You don’t have to understand all of that stuff, but they do, and they can provide useful feedback to you in order to make sense out of your data. Using triggers, you can even share all, or a subsets, of your data with your friends on Facebook or Twitter so they can see when it’s warm enough to come swim in your pool, did I say POOL PARTY?!?

It’s so cool to see great innovations like this coming to mobile devices, all thanks to the power of innovation and Bluetooth 4. It seems like the Internet of Things is expanding and will soon help take the lab out in the field thanks to LabStrip.

May

17

New Backer Reward, What Say You?

Posted by : Don M | On : May 17, 2012

Category: Feedback, Smart Beacon

Tags:, , ,

We are thinking about offering another reward and wanted to get some opinions. There are three choices to this poll.

1.  XL KNOT – Get 15 tōd Smart Beacons, Plus High Five and Platinum Level Mention for $405

2. EXPANDED DEVELOPER – Get the DEVELOPER Reward Plus 9 more tōd Smart Beacons, High Five, Platinum Level Mention for $405

3. One that I put in the comments below.

For a reward in the comments to win it must get more thumbs up. So if you want your reward to be added share the poll with friends.  We’re just about funded and so now we wanted to get some feedback from our supporters, or anyone for that matter.

Cast your vote to the right under the heading “Let Your Voice Be Heard”.

This poll closes Sunday at 10pm so we can release the new reward first thing Monday morning.

Thanks,
Team tōd

May

12

Create Your Internet of Everything

Posted by : Candice M | On : May 12, 2012

Category: Smart Beacon

Tags:, , , , ,

The three core events are the foundation of the tōd Proximity Interaction System that give rise to a set of rich, customization and configurable interactions.  These interactions are the framework to create your own Internet of Everything.  Internet of Everything you say, but what exactly does that mean? Well it’s interconnection at it’s finest. There are a lot of buzz words flying around these days, Internet of Things, Web of Things, Internet of Everything, Internet of Actions, but they are all getting at the same thing;  Connecting people, places, things, and actions to the web.  Whether you’re looking to track, interact or trigger on someone, something or some action,  you can do it all and more with the super fast, low power Bluetooth 4 driven  tōd Smart Beacon and any Smart Ready Device.

By connecting a tōd Smart Beacon to any Smart Ready Device you can quickly and easily setup you own Internet of Everything to connect your life to the functionality of your device and the web.  Building on the 3 core events you can create rich, web driven interactions with the  singular tōd App. The out-of-the-box functionality built into the  tōd App comes to life in the 10 Default Interaction Templates titled Perimeter, Locate, My Social, Notify, Let’s Play, Engage, In Crowd, Mingle, Feedback and Build.  With names that echo their core functionality the team at tōd has made it easy to create your Internet of Everything with just a few simple clicks.

To create your own Internet of Everything simply place a tōd Smart Beacons where, with whom or on what you would like to interact with and then configure the Interaction Template to control the results of a core event. Whether you mobile device comes in range or out range with a  tōd Smart Beacon or vice versa the power and functionality of your device and the web is at your finger tips, instantly, automatically and with an adjustable range of 3-500 feet.

With the 10 Default App Interactions you can leverage device functionality like emails, texts, and alerts, GPS information, Social Media integration, contact list, and any device configurations that have been exposed for control by apps. If you have a wireless signal or WiFi on your Smart Ready Device you can extend Interaction functionality to the cloud to connect to information, files, web addresses, video’s, exclusive content, ratings, surveys or anything else you can imagine and deliver from the cloud. With an internet connection you can also interact with  tōd Smart Beacons that belong to others based on permissions.  tōd Smart Beacon and their interactions can be set to public, private or group and a Smart Ready Device can support connections to an infinite number of  tōd Smart Beacon.

With the  tōd Smart Beacon and App personal connectivity and an Internet of Everything is easy,  customizable and affordable. With Pre-Order sales on Kickstarter you can save even more during our push into full production.   Get yours today and see what  tōd can do for you!

 

May

09

A Digital Leash for Children

Posted by : Candice M | On : May 9, 2012

Category: Connect Your Life

Tags:, , , , , ,

Your child is old enough to play in the yard at home, but they are not quite old enough to understand that they need to stay close. Kids are easily distracted and they often wander which is very scary for parents. Child predators, construction areas, cars,  and getting lost are all realities in our world. Not every home I have lived in has had a fenced yard and it made it difficult for me to keep a good eye on my child unless I was right next to her the whole time.

This left me worried to let my child play in my own yard without constantly checking, using a monitor or simply playing with them. This doesn’t always work well, dinner might be cooking and need to be checked on while my child plays, the phone might ring and momentarily distract me. For my family the biggest problem seemed to be my child wandering off to play with friends without asking, which would result in me frantically searching the neighborhood only to find them playing at friends house.

However, some of this outside time anxiety can be put to rest with the Perimeter Interaction in the tōd App. I can program my tōd Smart Beacon, attach it to my daughter and the tōd App will to let me know when she has gone out of range.  As with all the tōd App 10 Default Interaction Templates the range for Perimeter can be set from 3 feet up to 500 feet; 500 feet is equivalent to about one and a half football fields. So, in this case, that might be too far so I will set it to let me know when she has gone to the edge of our yard, which is about 75 feet from the kitchen in my home.

The trick is making sure I have my mobile device turned on, turned up, and nearby so that I can hear the notification. I can now rest at ease in letting her play by herself for a few minutes knowing I’ll get an alert the second she goes out of range thanks to the tōd App Perimeter Interaction and tōd Smart Beacon.

This safety Perimeter can be used anywhere and the range for different places can be named and saved to make it quick and easy to use when I’m out an about.  You can Pre-Order your tōd Smart Beacon now and save at Kickstarter.com
For me Perimeter comes in handy most at home. Where would you rest at ease knowing your child, or anyone for that matter, is in your Safety Perimeter?

 

May

08

The 3 Core Events Foundation

Posted by : David | On : May 8, 2012

Category: Smart Beacon

Tags:, , , , , ,

At the very heart of the tōd Ecosystem are 3 core events: In Range, Out of Range and Scheduled.  These three core events allow you to extend your mobile device and web functionality into the world around you. By building on the 3 core events you can connect your actions and things to a wide range of digital interactions with the tōd Smart Beacon and App using your mobile devices.

Mobile devices that can connect using Bluetooth 4 are said to be Smart Ready Devices.  Since the Bluetooth 4 standard was made official in Jan 2012 the current list of Smart Ready devices is short, but includes many of the top selling devices such as the iPhone 4s, iPad 3, Droid Razr Family, Samsung Galaxy S3, and HTC One Family. However, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the non profit behind the Bluetooth standard is indicating that nearly all phones will offer Bluetooth 4 moving forward.  That puts the tōd Smart Beacon on the bleeding edge of this new standard with the most flexible, configurable and affordable Bluetooth Accessory available to date.

The Core Events

In Range refers to your mobile device coming in range of the tōd Smart Beacon or a tōd Smart Beacon coming in range of a Bluetooth Smart Ready Device.

Out of Range refers to your mobile device going out of range of a tōd Smart Beacon or a tōd Smart Beacon going out of range of a Bluetooth Smart Ready device.

Scheduled refers to a previously setup date and time where an In Range or Out of Range event was expected to occur.

With these core events you can automate and trigger a wide range of device and web functionality.  Now simple actions like getting in the car, home from school, walking into a particular room or building can automatically connect to your digital world. With the 10 Default App Interaction templates the tōd Team has covered the most common and useful interactions that we saw. However with the Build App Interaction and the tōd Smart Beacons Open Development Protocol we’ve truly put the power into your hands to connect or trigger anything you can dream of.  With options for sensors and add-ons to extend the functionality of the tōd Smart Beacon we think it should come with a cape to match it’s super power possibilities.

Since the tōd Smart Beacon is built on Bluetooth 4 it’s a low power and super fast accessory with an adjustable range.  You can set the range from 3 feet to 500 feet with a default range being set when using any of the 10 Default App Interaction Templates that come with the tōd App. Since it is a transmission the range settings can vary due to the environment and should be verified for applications where safety may be a concern, such as tracking your things, children or pets.

The personal connectivity of the tōd Ecosystem can also be extended to a home or business network with Bluetooth 4 laptops, desktops, notebooks and ultra books, as well as  backwards compatibility available with a USB Bluetooth 4 dongle and driver.

You can pre-order your tōd Smart Beacon and App on Kickstarter at a discount before June 3.

Any thoughts on how you could leverage tōd’s three core events to Connect Your Life to a World of Interactions?

May

08

Connect With Like Minded People At Your Favorite Watering Hole

Posted by : Candice M | On : May 8, 2012

Category: Connect Your Life

Tags:, , , ,

Many people know that meeting people in a bar or dance club is not a good way to find lasting romance. But not everyone who goes out to party is looking for a one night stand. Some people are just there to have a good time and might actually be potential long term relationship or friends. There are also a number of people who want to find someone cool to hang out or just have a decent conversation. No matter what your intentions are, meeting like minded people can be hard in a bar type scene. What if you could frequent your local watering hole and automatically meet up with like minded individuals?

If you and your favorite bar are tōd Enabled, now you can!.  With the Smart Beacon App interactions, you have freedom to “Mingle” anytime.  With the tōd App Mingle interaction you can set up a social profile that has only the information you want to share with those around you. Then sit back and let the tōd App and Smart Beacon connect you with anyone else who’s  interested in Mingle-ing.

Imagine using your online dating profile live, and with people around you, well with tōd you can. For example, you could be looking to find someone to talk about the newest blockbuster that hit theaters that weekend, or are looking for another couple to meet and have a double date with, or perhaps you’re looking for a date yourself. When profiles and interests match the tōd App will setup a Mingle and if both parties are interested you can send messages or simply connect in real time. You can also enable your profile to be browse-able for quick connections.

With the tōd App you can easily Mingle anywhere that’s tōd Enabled. The tōd Smart Beacon can automatically turn any crowd into a place to connect.

May

08

Notify Instead of Leaving Sticky Notes

Posted by : Candice M | On : May 8, 2012

Category: Connect Your Life

Tags:, , , ,

It’s 2 a.m. and you just realized you didn’t tell your spouse to take out the trash before they leave for work the next morning. They are sleeping so obviously waking them isn’t the best option. You could leave a note somewhere but would have to make sure to put it where they were sure to see it. Then you suddenly remember that you are a new tōd Smart Beacon user and have one located near the front door of your home. Instead of searching for pen and paper, you simply pick up your phone, open your tōd App and use the Notify Interaction program your Smart Beacon to alert your spouse, when they come within range of the beacon, to take out the trash. You can even throw in an “I love you” for good measure.

Perhaps you want to have someone in your home turn on/off the crock pot at a certain time since you won’t be there to do it yourself. Use the Notify to let your roomies know that if they want a home cooked meal, they need to handle the crock pot effectively so you can all get your eat on that night.

The kinds of notifications you can leave are endless; these are just a couple of examples of how people can use them to make their lives just that much easier. Notify can be an Interactive Family Bulletin Board when your family is tōd Enabled. Sounds interesting? Visit Kickstarter.com for more details and to pre-order yours.

How would you trade your yellow pads for tōd Smart Beacons?

 

May

07

Making Moms Life Easier with Notify

Posted by : Candice M | On : May 7, 2012

Category: Connect Your Life

Tags:, , , , ,

Every parent knows that children often forget their duties and chores, whether by default or choice. Either way, it can be aggravating. For instance, my son has braces and needs to do speech therapy exercises to train his tongue to have the correct posture, which will then help his teeth stay where they are supposed to. He has several exercises to do every day and it helps if we break them up a little. With tōd Smart Beacon App, I can make a scheduled event to notify him when it is time to do his therapy; usually before school and before bedtime. As long as he is within range of the appropriately programmed Smart Beacon, the app on his phone or other device, will notify him with the message, “Do your exercises right now dear. Or suffer mom’s wrath!” This way, I don’t have to try and remember to call or text him, with the tōd Smart Beacon, I can set it and forget it!

This works well for reminding young ones to do their homework, or clean their rooms. And as a loving mother, I can also leave a sweet note to brighten their day or tell them a joke I know they will enjoy.

To get your tōd Smart Beacon visit Kickstarter.com

What are some of the ways you would like tōd notify to make your life easier?

May

07

Connect Your Life

Posted by : David | On : May 7, 2012

Category: Connect Your Life

Tags:, ,

In our “Connect Your Life” series we will expand on the variety of things that tōd can do for you.  We’ll explore many of the ways that you can create your own Internet of Actions & Things with the tōd Smart Beacon and App.

The singular tōd App is launching with 10 Default Interaction Templates titled Perimeter, Locate, My Social, Notify, Let’s Play, Engage, In Crowd, Mingle, Feedback and Build.  With names that echo their core functionality there is a wide variety of highly customizable everyday uses. However the flexibility of the tōd Smart Beacons can be further extended with sensors and add-on modules. We’ll cover all of this and more and of course see what you think about all this and give opportunities to share your visions for your network of tōd Smart Beacons

This little Bluetooth 4 Accessory is a powerful foundation that allows you to Connect Your Life to Your Digital World to create a World of Interactions.

For more information on this powerful little accessory visit http://todhq.com