JulienLe said..cable free charging is very inefficient

This isn't entirely accurate, or (to paraphrase Obi Wan) it depends on your point of view.

To be CE compliant, a wireless charger is required to be at least 87% efficient (ignoring losses in the wall-wart as they are experienced by USB too): batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_without_wires

I agree that figure is quite a bit worse than using wire - about 13% !

Solar-power penetration is reaching 30% of homes (in Australia... other countries vary... UK is using a lot of wind), and there are many places in the chain of power-delivery where inefficiency occurs (say the transformer on the power pole), so the loss of efficiency for wireless-power, isn't a big concern.

vs.

The case on a GoPro is reasonably well constructed, yet lots of them get flooded on a regular basis. So the effort to water-proof a USB plug, is pretty hard.


That said, I applaud your effort to build these - it isn't easy. If you think wireless power isn't suitable, then ok.

Hello mathew, as I understand that page, 87% is only AC-DC efficiency ?

"AC adapters must meet a minimum efficiency of 85 percent; Energy Star Level V requires 87 percent (European CE uses CEC as a base). Adding the losses of the AC adapter to wireless charging brings the overall efficiency down further as the inductive transfer efficiency of inductive charging is only 75-80 percent."

I wouldn't expect better than 60% total efficiency on a device the size of Motion. The device would also be thicker. And to be more efficient, it would need to be wider/longer. I'm totally on board with the principle of it but realistically, it would come with a lot of downsides too. Also, the main goal for it would be easy access to competitions and for an organiser with 100 devices, it would mean >= 50 pads, a bigger electrical toll and slower charging rates.

The first Motion prototypes had capacitive buttons hidden inside the brick because I didn't have the budget for custom seals. Great waterproofing idea but terribly inconvenient. So I moved to the current solution. And exchanged these old devices with new ones; no one ever looked back.

If you can keep the price at $200 or less these are going to sell well. All going well, what sort of timeframe until one is available to buy?

Yep, but when might they be ready for sale? End of year?

BSN101 said..
The lightMotion will be able to BT to my Iphone

I suggest that it is probably not a good idea to use an expensive smartphone on the water at all.

First reason is that waterproof bags almost always eventually fail

Second reason: this happened yesterday in a very mild fall where the phone on my arm hit the mast. Fortunately, it was a $19 phone.

Hello ! I received all parts to do the first trials but I haven't found the time yet. I'll post something longer about it at the end of next week.

What put me off using the GPS is having to plug it using the USB to the computer.Because I'm lazy, I use my Garmin watch that upload via Bluetooth to my phone automatically instead of using my GT31 (this also stops me to buy the Motion as I know I will not plug it to my computer after a session).The Garmin is a lot less accurate but so much more convenient in my opinion.If you were able to make a light motion having the feature of uploading directly to the phone via Bluetooth, that would be the best of both world as the Motion GPS looks great.

Side question but would USB plugging Motion to your phone to upload your tracks good enough ? Is your will to not have to kickstart a complete desktop computer to do this ? Or did I understand it wrong ? Thank you ! J

jusavina said..
What put me off using the GPS is having to plug it using the USB to the computer.Because I'm lazy, I use my Garmin watch that upload via Bluetooth to my phone automatically instead of using my GT31 (this also stops me to buy the Motion as I know I will not plug it to my computer after a session).The Garmin is a lot less accurate but so much more convenient in my opinion.If you were able to make a light motion having the feature of uploading directly to the phone via Bluetooth, that would be the best of both world as the Motion GPS looks great.

If you do not do GPSTC then stick with your Garmin.
They are accurate for everything except the 2 sec at times and cannot be verified.
KA 72 works fine with Garmin.

As I understand it, having BT makes very little cost or size difference. Leaving it out wil not make it much cheaper. Certainly not in the class of the Canmore! The current Motion is already quite small. Any smaller and it would be impractcal and easy to loose.

Bluetoothing results to phone (or tablet/computeretc) is a great idea for those too lazy to open their computer and plug it in. (has the human race really got to that?)

Also, if there is no screen, the results can still be viewed quickly and easily after the session via phone and BT.

I think all understand and support this is a no screen option, For those what want a screen it is the standard Motion or other GPS's available.

Would rather loose the screen and keep bt

love using my 'cheap' suunto to monitor on water and quick BT upload to phone while derigging

keen for a waterproof gpstc compliant device that I can BT simply at end of session

JulienLe said..
Some news by the end of the week. Gears are turning.

Is it the end of the week yet? Its beer o'clock somewhere in the world so it must be the end of the week somewhere too?

JulienLe said..
I made some important changes to Motion recently to take early user reports into account. They changed my way of viewing/using Motion for the better.

For this same reason, I've decided to give more weight to the messages written above and decided for LightMotion to come with wireless data, inductive charging, network, 10hz GNSS, big memory, big battery, no USB, no display. A rugged black box. It'll be available in bulk to distributors, competitions, clubs and by one to end users. They will only be made in bulk though, once a month. They will also come with a cool new feature I'll explain on release.

I have working prototypes on hand. I'll add a page to the website tomorrow to register your interest.

If this proves a viable alternative to USB, I'll look into moving Motion to wireless data and inductive charging in October.

Sounds great .
After purchasing 4 x Canmore, 2 x GT31, 2 x GW52, 2 x GW60 in 4 years a rugged device for GPSTC is on the way.

decrepit said..

Cocky2 said..>>>>>.
After purchasing 4 x Canmore, 2 x GT31, 2 x GW52, 2 x GW60 in 4 years >>>>>>>

What have you been doing with them???? Drowning 1 or two I can understand but 10 in 4 years, that must be some sort of record.

Probably just using them as prescribed, Decrepit. Some people only do 1000km a year in flat water conditions and some will do 5000km a year in rough conditions. The stresses on the devices vary greatly from user to user. I've lost a Canmore and 3 x GW60's in two years.

Cocky2 said..
Sounds great .
After purchasing 4 x Canmore, 2 x GT31, 2 x GW52, 2 x GW60 in 4 years a rugged device for GPSTC is on the way.

Boston! said..

Probably just using them as prescribed, Decrepit. Some people only do 1000km a year in flat water conditions and some will do 5000km a year in rough conditions. The stresses on the devices vary greatly from user to user. I've lost a Canmore and 3 x GW60's in two years.

Thats ridiculous! Nobody could be that careless.