Hacker News Comments on
The Computer-free Automation of a Jukebox (Electromechanics)
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All the comments and stories posted to Hacker News that reference this video.By today's standard Doom doesn't need much processing power.You could probably find exactly the right chip that only has exactly just as many bits of RAM as you need for the lamp's functionality. But that would probably be more expensive to develop and chip than just using standard parts?
Even more radical: I suspect with a bit of cleverness you could probably do everything the lamp needs to do with some relays and transistors. But today, that would be more expensive.
Compare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGaXEmfTIo for the latter approach.
⬐ jfrunyonImplementing wifi/RF with "some relays and transistors" doesn't sound fun.⬐ eru⬐ moftzYes. I should have been less sloppy: you'd have to rethink what the lamp needs to be able to do slightly, too.⬐ nxpnsvNot to you perhaps, but I’d watch the video if some patient/insane/genius built it...You could do something very basic with discrete components for controlling wireless lighting systems but system starts to get out of hand when you need to have a bunch of lights nearby. It's much cheaper, simpler, and smaller to reduce it down to a chip and move to a digital RF system. I've got a bunch of RF controlled outlets in my house but it's just about the dumbest system you can buy. It's on par with the typical remote garage door opener. You can program the on/off buttons on the remote for each outlet but that's as far as it goes. I'd like to be able to remotely control them away from home or be able to give each light or outlet its own schedule and that requires either a central controller or each device having network access for network time and remote control.Interestingly, a friend rented a house in college once that had a system of low voltage light switches that ran back to a cabinet filled with relays that controlled light switches and outlets. No major benefit to the user other than a control panel in the master bedroom that lets you control the exterior and some interior lights. It was a neat system but definitely outdated. I'd imagine a retrofit would be to drop all of the relays for solid state and provide a networked controller to monitor status and provide remote control.
Here's something similar that you might be interested in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGaXEmfTIo
This video made me aware of his channel a few months back and I've been hooked. I really enjoyed the multi-part one where he explained the inner workings of a jukebox[0]
The computer free automation of a jukebox from the 1970s is an eye opener: (an in depth teardown and explanation) https://youtu.be/NmGaXEmfTIo