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Ask HN: What are you working on (August 2024)?

634 points david927 | 3 comments | 24 Aug 24 22:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.705s | source

What are you working on? Any new ideas that you're thinking about?
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oulipo ◴[25 Aug 24 05:47 UTC] No.41344737[source]▶
Hey guys! We're engineers/designers from France, and we've built the Ultimate DIY Battery that you can repair and refill!

It works with 90% of the bikes/motor brands on the market, so I assumed that some people here might be interested, if they got a non-functional batteries but they still want to use their e-bike?

We believe that everybody should have control about stuff they own, and we should fight against planned obsolescence!

Here are a few videos about our founder on the battery itself, why we built it, and how to assemble it:

- What is the Gouach Battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuW1NPkvNk

- Presentation of the pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLoCihE0eIA

- Presentation of the fireproof and waterproof casing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJpt7RDbRM

Here are the juicy bits: https://docs.gouach.com

We'd love some feedback from the e-bike DIY builder community

Oh, and it's launching as a Kickstarter in September and there is an offer for early-backers here https://get.gouach.com/1 for a 25% discount on the battery!

You can follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gouach.batteries to get the latest news!

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samstave ◴[25 Aug 24 13:14 UTC] No.41347062[source]▶
Since you have the ESP32 - can you emulate the Apple Airtag on it please.

I have a $7,000 Orbea E-bike and I have an Airtag hidden in it. Its a great feature.

Not sure if I could redo the Orbead Battery this way because its internal to the frame - but it does have an extended battery pack option - perhaps this could be wired to use that connector as your interface allows for any ebike it seems?

The post recently on HN about the flipper zero being able to emulate the airtag is pretty nifty, and you could use these guys effort:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41287031

---

I LOVE this project.

I want.

Actually, Can I ask that you add a LORA transceiver network in the build since you have the ESP32 (maybe update it to the ESP3250?) :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40llxjrIG3w

Imagine being able to lora talk back from your bike to the trailhead, or your campsite.

And do you have a better version of Shimano's E-Tube iOs crapware?

EDIT: Since you have THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHZFRHiUdg

The Goauche BMS Tesrt Bench needs its own video/HN post - and this is exactly what would be great info to get via a LORA messaging for all the telemetries from the pack?

WOW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEuBDA_xb8

I want to open a Goache Plant in California. Seriously.

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crhulls ◴[25 Aug 24 14:02 UTC] No.41347382[source]▶
I'm the CEO of Tile and we are working on a line of products for theft.

As a genuine question, I'm very surprised that many people don't seem concerned that AirTags alert thieves to their presence. If your bike is stolen the thief will get the notification, even if they are on Android (with the new shared platform rogue tag detection).

I'm trying to understand the user psychology here - not pitch our own products.

Do you have any specific features you would like to prevent theft?

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yardie ◴[25 Aug 24 14:33 UTC] No.41347572[source]▶
The fact that something is being tracked and the thieves know it’s being tracked is a deterrent itself. Like the value of stolen iPhones crashed because activation lock made them worthless. So they moved on to Samsung Galaxies, until they implemented their own activation lock.

If you steal a bike with a tracker on it you’ll probably leave it right there for the real owner to find.

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1. crhulls ◴[25 Aug 24 14:54 UTC] No.41347732[source]▶
Of course I know this, but I am trying to go deeper. With AirTags and the new standards you literally can find and disable the tag for anyone using the Google or Apple networks.

I am surprised that people think the benefits of AirTags outweigh the downsides given the alternatives, of which we are one. I'm mainly just trying to learn.

I also think you probably are overestimating the deterrent value. Thieves are not necessarily thoughtful and the alerts aren't real time. Once they get the alert they might ditch the bike, but if it is back at their garage they will probably disable or remove it.

I also am a bit triggered by this line "Honestly, you as the CEO should know this." which is on the edge of being an ad hominem. Why did you choose to include this? And wouldn't you know that I know these things? Like I am asking questions to get nuanced user feedback. Do you think someone who runs a consumer product company (I started Life360, Tile's owner), isn't deeply aware of how customers think?

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2. yardie ◴[25 Aug 24 15:39 UTC] No.41348069[source]▶
First, I want to apologize. The last statement came out a lot more combatant than I realized. So I removed it.

I was a Tile wallet user until I stopped carrying a wallet completely. There are 2 types of thieves: the professional and the opportunistic. Opportunistic, the majority, aren't doing more than they have to and if the bike has a tracker they know about it makes it less appealing. And if you can get the casual thief to give up immediately then the device has already payed for itself.

The professional will chop it immediately. I see kids in my neighborhood with $2000+ Trek Marlins, with all the expensive mountain bike parts removed. They simply wanted a bike to freestyle on. And doing all that probably took hours if not days. The professional is not going to spend anymore time than they have to disable a tracker when there are better options all around.

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3. crhulls ◴[26 Aug 24 01:54 UTC] No.41353301[source]▶
Interesting, thanks for the insights.