As a Systems Engineer, I'm always analyzing or designing something and usually have several things in various stages of development or implementation. Several such ideas lead me to a chicken/egg conundrum - Do I "build it and they will come"? Try marketing a product that doesn't really exist yet, ala crowd-funding/pre-sales?
So this post is a sort of 'market survey' to determine which, if any, of such current projects is worth putting effort into as a product. If it's something that only I have an interest in or use for [IOW, it has little to no potential of generating income anytime soon]; then I can relegate it to the things to do in my spare time list.
First there's ArrCay.com
The social media platform you see here which is more like Fecesbook than X (and similar microblog types), but better; i.e. without all the crap. It's fully functioning, I just have to finish the server setup for arrcay.com and decide on what types of automation/billing/eye-candy/user-friendliness features to implement/develop.
The two primary options of ArrCay as a product are:
- Providing accounts on arrcay.com like any other platform does, but without using the bigtech ad-revenue/sell-your-data "free" model.
IOW, a tiered subscription similar to X Premium with free accounts having very limited resources (eg. cloud storage space and other features). - Hosting independent instances of ArrCay for anyone that wants to run their very own social media platform by their own rules.
An account on any instance can connect with accounts on any other (plus dozens of other platforms used by millions), so it doesn't matter if there are millions of accounts, just friends/family, or only one person on any single instance of ArrCay. No more than basic web-interface type admin/hosting skills are required. In this case I just provide the hosting resources with back-end server management and technical details support as required.
I have a few ideas for developing and integrating additional features and "apps" into ArrCay - details not important for this post.
More on ArrCay can be found at:https://arrcay.7t4.us/help/site/ArrCay_IntroNext - On the topic of hosting...
As I've expounded upon here, I think everyone should be self-hosting most of the online services they use rather than feeding bigtechmegacorp xyx, abc, etc.
For those unable to host their own servers/online-services, I can setup practically any 'cloud' or online type service for anyone that would rather use their own private server but lack the technical resources/knowledge.
Whether it's some app like
Grocy, a full e-commerce site, just basic web hosting, hosting a VPS or a full dedicated server (on-site or remote).
I actually had a web/vps hosting system running for a long time that just sat unused [some of the front-end pages are still on my website]. It's a saturated market and most people just use whatever bigtech polished crap service with a huge marketing budget that appeals to them. So unless some company/group/individual specifically asks for web/vps hosting, it's not really worth setting up a server just to idle and hope to get a handful of customers (that may just cover costs) out of the marketing efforts on a non-existant budget which might reach a few hundred, maybe a few thousand, potentials.
And now for something slightly different.... electronic devices.
Most of my projects/ideas here are for an onboard (or off-grid) IoT/ home (boat) automation system. Basically, various devices typically used in marine navigation, off-grid (primarily solar/battery/DC), and for home automation designed to be part of one system; rather than a dozen standalone things that require individual attention/focus. For example, being able to automatically change 12/24v fridge motor controller settings based on solar input/battery status/etc.
Think of a Chartplotter/MFD (Multi-Function Device) system. Typically the most costly hardware component in a chartplotter/MFD is the actual display screen. It's also the most common part of the unit to go bad. The PCB/electronics generally last much longer, particularly when installed in a more protected space below deck as opposed to an open helm. So my solution is to make the display essentially just a display/touchscreen - the standard being daylight readable, weather-proof/IP-rated for exposed helm use. With auxillary displays available for "dashboards", "instruments", nav station, etc.
Making the "brain" of the system an independent "black-box" unit means it could be accessed from multiple displays - even a laptop, tablet, phone... All working off the same chartplotter/data. When the helm mounted display dies from exposure, just replace the display unit (with an even larger one) at a fraction of what it costs to have the display in an MFD replaced (which is typically pretty close to just buying a whole new unit anyway). A more capable system with larger (and multiple) displays could be done for about half the price of the current generation of MFD/Chartplotters (possibly even less).
Without further ado, here's the list of devices I have in various states of development:
- ~40amp MPPT solar charge controller
- GPS/IMU/Compass (may include dead reckoning and automatic anchor watch)
- Ultrasonic Anemometer/wind instrument (possibly including lightning proximity sensor and other weather sensors)
- Diesel heater controller
- 12/24v fridge motor controller
- Smart alternator regulator
- DC aux drive motor controller
- AutoPilot hardware
- Modular Chartplotter hardware (Displays as mentioned above, etc.) to integrate with OpenCPN (or similar open source chartplotter software)
- VeDirect bus interface (data monitoring of Victron equipment)
- Central control unit
- Fun with SDR (Software Defined Radio) - like fulltime [or auto-only-when-underway] AIS receive, WX channel monitor/auto alert, other functions that may be better served by an SDR than the normal marine radio.
Some of this data (with more pretty layout/graphics) is here:
https://www.7t4.us/projects.php I have already designed a 12/24v (6-36v) to 3.3v/5v [the most common voltages in electronic devices] DC-DC converter and have the PCB's and components waiting for me to assemble/solder.
PCB (printed circuit board) design for the GPS module is mostly done. I'm in the middle of firmware programming and development for the prototype hardware. It's very likely I could produce a better GPS/IMU device at a lower price than Garmin's cheapest unit.
The PCB design for the fridge motor controller and MPPT charge controller are all but done. However, since I'm really trying to avoid using components made in China I've been reconsidering my choice of microcontroller. And a diesel heater controller wouldn't take
too long to develop/design.
I have hardware sitting around waiting for me to prototype an ultrasonic [no moving parts] Anemometer.
Several other devices are merely conceptual at this point.
Yes, these are almost all commercially available 'black box' devices. The main difference is integrating intelligent control/automation/monitoring features via a common communication protocol for the devices which typically don't have such or are locked into some proprietary vendor system. My proprietary system is better, at a lower cost!
...But seriously, I'm more likely to make most, if not all, devices under some type of open source license.
Making my own on-board electronics/nav/data system hardware is only a bit cheaper than buying commercial stuff because certain components have to be bought in bulk quantities and I insist on spec'ing higher quality parts. With my time involved in PCB design, assembly, firmware programming, etc. there's probably not much difference. Though it does mean I have a better system and knowing how practically every bit of hardware on my boat works, I can reprogram, upgrade, repair or replace as needed.
The only way of making this type of system available at a fraction of the commercial options is more
cowbell...uhh...numbers; and maintaining a low overhead. The per unit cost goes down as the total number of units go up.
So basically I'd need a minimal group of pre-orders for a basic system package, or at least a particular device for the product idea to really work out.
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