Saw this https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/551966671/automate-your-blinds-with-a-smart-control-kit-in-1
Would love to see pricing, if they can actually deliver. But then I wonder if it would be at all compatible w/ zwave…
I am waiting to see where things like this KS go, as they often promise too much and fall victim to feature creep and die out.
For Tilt My Blinds it is going to take someone longer than 15 minutes to pull the blind down and put it back up, much less retro-fit a motor into it. They advertise NO API, but allow wireless firmware updates, so is it a WiFi solution? Being a tilt-only solution this isn’t going to consume that much power, but with WiFi, etc to then try and have these solar powered adds another challenge.
One of the similar campaigns uses Zigbee and Wifi in a battery powered device, so you only get 2-6 months of life before changing batteries, not ideal. Then there is RISE, but they use a continuous rotation servo motor so it takes a long time to raise/lower the shades (more like RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE). If you had to lower them before using the toilet, you’d be dancing for a while. So while these are interesting pursuits in gadgetry, just because they have an app doesn’t mean they are ideal way to motorize a window treatment. A good choice for retro-fitting existing blinds and shades though.
That kickstarter is quite light on details, even by kickstarter standards . . .
Lol that’s the funniest thing I’ve read on this forum
Checking out their kickstarter site and their website they claim Bluetooth to control the blinds and no tools required to install the motors. I am pretty sure that they will face challenges like the max weight their motors can control.
Another interesting point is how they charge their product… via a cable or solar.
I have more questions than answers at this point and having seen other kickstarter projects revising their first revision products I would not be surprised if they revise their product a couple of times as well like Doorbot aka Ibot, Skybell, etc.