

Ask HN: hardware startups, where to begin? - bokbar

Every once in a while I get an idea for a cool little gadget paired with a web service. I'm pretty good at web services but have no idea how to approach the task of building a hardware prototype on the cheap... Any blogs/sites you guys can recommend?
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dbro
You will get much better advice if you can be more specific about your ideas.
Some examples would be helpful.

I've built a few gadgets that collect data, analyze it, and then send it to a
data store on the web. Think carefully about your needs for each of those 3
steps, as well as your readiness to get into low-level technical details. And
then tell us more about what you're trying to do.

In the mean time, here is some general advice:

In my experience, the connection to the web is the most challenging part of
the project, and the one that has the most impact on the total cost of parts.
Most of the microcontroller kits that appeal to casual developers (such as me)
do not include ethernet or wifi connectivity. They assume you will be
connecting via USB to a PC. Adding wifi or ethernet to an arduino
significantly increases the cost and complexity. For stationary (non-mobile,
non-battery-powered) gadgets that need to communicate with the web, I can
recommend using a wifi router as a development platform. Many of these can run
the OpenWRT version of linux, and collect information from a USB port. Here is
a good description of working with linux and USB peripherals on a wifi router:
[http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/10/building-a-wifi-radio-
part...](http://mightyohm.com/blog/2008/10/building-a-wifi-radio-
part-1-introduction/) As to cost, the router used in this blog post costs
about $30
([http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320023)).

Another thing to consider is the analysis step. Some devices will have no need
for fancy data analysis, but for gadgets that need to work with data in
complex ways (learning/compressing/transforming) you may run out of processing
power and/or memory on some of the microcontroller platforms. Again, a wifi
router is quite capable here - as long as you stick to fixed-point operations.

Once you have an idea of a suitable hardware platform, then it's off to the
races. There are many great places to see examples of hardware projects, as
mentioned by fragmede. And you may want to consider working with a hackerspace
(NYCresistor, noisebridge, etc) - I've found that having an oscilloscope is
very helpful for troubleshooting my gadget project.

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ablerman
Checkout the arduino. It's currently the most popular prototyping platform out
there. It's pretty cheap and easy to use. <http://arduino.cc/>

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mahmud
I am investigating the possibility of a tiny tablet the size of iPod Touch,
with 3G and Android. Either touch-screen or a folding keyboard; all that
matters is it has to be pocket sized.

Any ideas where to start investigating.

~~~
dbro
What is the goal for the project?

There are many platforms that might be appropriate. Why not start by writing
code for an iPod Touch and then see how it goes from there? You will probably
refine your ideas during prototyping, so starting with a flexible (if
expensive) platform that is easier to program can be helpful.

Another example of a small device that could be interesting is the "IM-ME",
which sells for about $15 retail, and is pink! see
[http://hackaday.com/2010/01/06/update-more-pink-wireless-
ter...](http://hackaday.com/2010/01/06/update-more-pink-wireless-terminal-
hacking/) and [http://hackaday.com/2009/11/30/pink-wireless-terminal-of-
won...](http://hackaday.com/2009/11/30/pink-wireless-terminal-of-wonder/)

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fragmede
Depending on the level of gadget, hackaday.com, makezine.com,
instructables.com would all touch upon the sub-culture. Get familiar with C
because that's the language you'll use. \-- How 'little' a gadget? What's its
connectivity? What's your imagined price point? Any thoughts on a business
model? Sell devices outright? Razor + Blade model? Give away the device but
sell a service?

HW startups have bit more front-loading, couple grand to produce an MVP, 10-20
grand for a small production run.

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epynonymous
i'm based in shanghai, china, there are lots of factories in china that can
produce a prototype for sophisticated hardware on the cheap, i mean, they have
all the machinery and processes in place to assemble all sorts of today's most
sophisticated products (ipad, iphone, android phones, etc). all it takes is
some negotiation to get the price down, but you can accomplish this by selling
them on the potential of creating a large order or if you have some
connections. only danger is they could take your designs and run, but we all
know you need a marketing machine to crank these things out, so at the end of
the day, it's more worth it for them to just manufacture.

~~~
IgorCarron
it looks like there is indeed some potential:

[http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/07/the-manufacturing-
future.ht...](http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/07/the-manufacturing-future.html)

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aik
On this note, any blogs/learning sites/videos that teach working with
hardware? Computer and Electrical engineering basics...

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wfjackson3
There are a few EE's lurking around here, myself included. Can you elaborate
on what you are trying to build?

~~~
schwonder
My latest thought was to make a bluetooth transmitter which would help me
locate my cat using my Android. :)

~~~
dbro
A few questions: Is this a hobby project or are you hoping to build and sell
many units? If it's a hobby project, are you doing it primarily to learn about
building hardware? Or do you want this information so much that you'd be
willing to buy some product that would do it for you? (eg
[http://www.surprisinggift.com/GPS-Tracker-Locator-
Portable-G...](http://www.surprisinggift.com/GPS-Tracker-Locator-Portable-GPS-
Tracker-Locator/c205_203/index.html))

Can you constrain the problem? Can you assume the cat is inside your house and
you want to know which room it's in? Or is this lowjack for lost pets that
wander away from their homes?

Getting a fix on the pet's position is probably the most challenging part.
Transmitting information from pet to the web is easier.

You may want to look at the snif tag as an example of pet activity monitoring.
It is like fitbit for dogs (or cats). <http://www.sniftag.com/>

------
Kliment
Talk to the guys at sparkfun. They do that sort of thing all the time.

------
alnayyir
Pick an embedded platform (SDK) suited to your problem (in terms of price
versus computational power needed), and learn how to think about code and
write C in terms of the limitations of an embedded environment. (HAHA
filesystems. what's that?)

Prototype, make it efficient, make it cheap (fewer components), make the spec,
find someone who can do a test-market batch, and if it catches...SCALE.

