SmartSwitch prototype makes work out of the simplest of things
By Laura June 
posted March 9th 2009 1:16PM
posted March 9th 2009 1:16PM
Conserving energy is one of those things that you may want to do, but you've never gotten around to it, and you're not exactly sure how to start -- because, well, thinking about stuff is hard. The SmartSwitch prototype -- designed by Peter Russo and Brendan Wypich at Stanford University -- works on just that idea: turning lights on and off is a reflexive action that you barely think about... unless you get some resistance. The modded light switch is equipped with a network connection and a brake pad, and each time you try to turn on a light in your home, it makes a judgment about the overall current electricity levels being used, and gives resistance, making the switch harder to turn on, if the network determines the levels of usage to be high. Check out a video of how the whole thing works after the break.
[Via Hacked Gadgets]
[Via Hacked Gadgets]
this idea makes sense...
a digital readout would work at some level, but it would require one to consciously think about power consumption every time they turn on a light, this way people will notice that there is a high amount of power being consumed when it's harder to turn on the switch, and then decide if they want to do something about it.
i can't see this being cost effective, or something people would actually buy, but i do think the concept is somewhat solid
A digital readout would be perfect if it showed you what your current monthly (and maybe even year-to-date total) electric bill was sitting at, and by how much it would increase if you turned on the light or some other device. People could care less about kWh, but throw in a $ or two and you suddenly have their attention.
I wonder how much energy was wasted just coming up with this switch?
The next version comes with a tazer.
i meant taser lol
Be sure to install this one at the top of the basement stairs.
Now I'm not a Mechanical Engineer, (oh wait a second, I am) but it seems like using a contact brake would make it harder to shut off too. Wouldn't it make more sense to back-drive a DC motor and dump the current across a digital potentiometer and a diode? Then you can digitally vary the resistance of the pot and current would flow freely backwards across the diode (well not quite freely).
That was the dumbest invention I ever seen...
A switch that need very low pressure (type 10% of the normal annoying pressure of today) and glow in the dark (so you don't have to make the walls dirty, trying to find it) would really be smart ;-)
Why don't they just make a limit on the power your house can consume. Let you set up a few items that will always have power (fridge, mother's respirator, etc...) then for the rest of the items every time you reach your limit and try to turn on another item it will correspondingly turn down or turn off power to an item that is already on.
For a second I thought you were suggesting putting one of these switched on your mother's respirator. That would be an excellent idea.
Now your mother-in-law's respirator, that's a different story. I wouldn't want any centralized server telling me I shouldn't be pulling the plug on that one.
This looks like the kind of device Russia would use with a smartgrid to stong-arm its neighbors.
Introducing the Rube Goldberg light switch.
YOU LEFT SPANSION TO DO THAT!!!!!!????!?!!!
After the video ends the "Recommended Videos" slide in. The first of is titled "Sexy Young Striptease". Very tech related.
Why?