FlameTube
David Betz
Posts: 14,511
This looks very cool! Is someone here doing this?
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flametube-interactive-lamp-for-positive-thinking-light
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flametube-interactive-lamp-for-positive-thinking-light
Comments
Hold your lighter or match nearby and it would turn on. Blow on it and it would turn off. With a bit of flickering whilst it's on. All done with a couple of 555 timer chips and sensors I imagined.
Didn't figure on the phone app mind you.
Might be fun for five minutes as a Christmas dinner table ornament. Then it will go in the junk draw.
Besides, if you really want one isn't it a challenge to make your own?
"FlameTube CPU supports C/C++, Assembler and easy to use CPU-specific interpreted language."
Not conclusive though. Why can't they just come out and say it. What processor are they using?
It also shows some hacking going on in Python. How do they get Python running on the Prop.
I do like Alexey's promotion of the Propeller : "And the best thing is that's easy, and you don't need to use interrupts!"
But whoa, that 67 euro for backing it is 25% off the expected retail price, that would make it 89 euro. And that appears to be without the " FlameTube IoT Battery" which you need to communicate with the thing. I don't see it flying at that price.
Edit: Looks like it is double sided. It says "LIGHTING SOURCE / DISPLAY: dual-sided matrix of 192 warm-white LEDs, 256 brightness levels of each."
However, I also notice that the glass tube is actually plastic. Oh well...
Looks like Alexey just signed up as a new member. "FlameTube"
I'm Alexey Boychenko, the creator of FlameTube and the project owner. I'm very happy to meet you!
Here are answers to your questions:
1. Yes, FlameTube is based on P8X32A.
2. The LED matrix is dual-sided.
3. The device contain the Prop, 3-axis accelerometer, two digital mics with wind cameras, and quite expensive 192 lighting-class warm-white LEDs.
4. Currently, manufacturing cost is enough high. 42 euro is the price for first few units, sponsored by me.
5. Yes, in real life glass-like bulb looks great, and the flame looks and reacts very natural.
6. Yes, it took 3 years. First engineering prototype (incl. simple software prototype) was ready within 2 or 3 weeks, all other time was spent to huge amount of work to convert the idea to real-life premium-class consumer product. I had to solve uncountable amount of problems to do that.
7. The worldwide delivery is quite expensive, but for those, who live in the USA, I can create multiple-unit pack and send to Parallax. It might be cheaper. For example, at this time, it's possible to order Family Pack (3 sets together).
Dear developers and hobbyists! I would be very happy to collaborate with you in creation of great apps and accessories. I believe, that together we could make very cool products.
I have an idea to make a special perk for you - FlameTube Developer Kit. It will contain the following:
- FlameTube;
- developer Board with USB3 connector for FlameTube, FTDI chip, pins, connected to all FlameTube I/Os, and free space for maketing;
- instructions.
Let's calculate, how many people would like to get the kit.
Please write your ideas and suggestions here.
If you would like to join FlameTube DevTeam, please drop me a line!
Kind regards, Alexey
Interesting. I must admit it looks pretty cool.
You have no mention of accelerometer, mics, propeller or much technical info on the campaign page.
Also it's not clear what communications ability comes without the "FlameTube IoT Battery"
Perhaps more information like that, up front, on the campaign page would get things moving faster.
I've never seen the point of an OS on the Propeller. Just write your code and load the Prop. As you said it's easy because there are no interrupts or tasks to manage.
BUT, this implies that the user can pull ready made objects into their project very easily. What it needs is a "package manager". Like npm for node.js.
Imagine a web based IDE. When I start my project I could search for useful objects with it. Hit the "import" button and boom I have a serial port driver or whatever available in my code.
I imagine something like the Espruino web IDE: http://www.espruino.com/Web+IDE
We have already demonstrated that it is quite doable to compile Spin in the browser using the open source Spin compiler transcribed to Javascript.
So the tube is made of glass? I thought I read something in the description that said it was "optical-grade polycarbonate".
Glass-like means that it looks like a glass. It's optical-grade policarbonate that looks like a glass.
But in comparison to glass, it's safe. I used glass in first prototypes, and the PC is much better.
1. The technical info presents on infographics at the bottom of the campaign page, above FAQ.
2. IoT battery contains ARM SoC with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities. So, with appropriate software support, it's possible to connect it to a smartphone (for example, as a notification point), to the internet, install apps from the web or a smartphone, to use FlameTube as a user interface to control networked devices, etc.
3. Normal user of consumer electronics is not a programmer. He don't use any IDE. If you want to sale your apps to millions of normal users, you have to provide an easy way of the installation, like Apple App Store. We need OS to provide easy to use APIs for programmers and let users to install apps in one click. We have to keep compatibility of apps even in case of hardware changes, so it's not possible to let application developers to work with the hardware directly. Any FlameTube app should work on any FlameTube model.
Kind regards, Alexey
It's possible to use Gorilla Glass, but in this case, it's extremely expensive. Now, the PC is better choice.
The lamp is quite small, and there is no space for a battery inside. It's good to use an ordinary USB powerbank in the form of cylinder, or FlameTube PowerBank, or FlameTube IoT Battery. With a small 2500 mAh powerbank, it works about 24 hours in "flame" mode, or about a month in sleep mode (with active sensors) from a single charge.
You are welcome! Order your FlameTube on Indiegogo!
Kind regards, Alexey
Ah yes, there is a bit of technical description, way down the bottom.
Am I right in saying the "IoT battery" is not part of the basic offering?
I appreciate your point that "Any FlameTube app should work on any FlameTube model"
But now I'm confused again. Where are these apps running? On the Propeller in the FlameTube or on the ARM SoC.
I'm guessing the latter. In which case we need the "IoT battery" and it's ARM SoC right.
Or am I hopelessly confused.
Edit: Actually, it looks like I invested a hackaday.io project with Antti Lukats for his Soft Propeller board and never received anything in return. However, IndiGoGo is a similar model.
and send a free one to play to @Peter Jakacki ;-)
he will immediately load Tachyon Forth OS onto it ...
with his IoT5500 LAN connection is possible ...