Interesting, but have to wait until they arrive now.
Very nice idea. They set up a new campaign on Indiegogo for people who missed the Kickstarter one, but still want to pre-order: MOVE-motorize blinds and shades | Indiegogo
Iām ordering a couple, but personally Iād have more use for iBlinds; itās too bad that didnāt get funded. Iāll probably end up DIY-ing something similar using servos and an Arduino on a MySensors network.
Weāve launched something quite similar on Indiegogo called AXIS Gear (we think youāll agree that Gear is more premium solution in terms of aesthetic and functionality).
Most importantly, weāre also going to be announcing Z-Wave support later tonight (so Vera integration wonāt be a problem) and extending the campaign deadline so that anyone interested has a chance to contribute.
Have a look here: igg.me/at/axis-gear
[quote=āteamaxis, post:23, topic:188274ā]Weāve launched something quite similar on Indiegogo called AXIS Gear (we think youāll agree that Gear is more premium solution in terms of aesthetic and functionality).
Most importantly, weāre also going to be announcing Z-Wave support later tonight (so Vera integration wonāt be a problem) and extending the campaign deadline so that anyone interested has a chance to contribute.
Have a look here: igg.me/at/axis-gear[/quote]
Thank you for posting this. While Iām looking for a solution like what you are designing, allow me to explain why I will not be purchasing your deviceā¦
-
Each device is $100 + $20 per protocol supportedā¦ $120 PER WINDOW!
NOT cost effective considering MOVE is $29 each. And what happens when you have Blinds that have both tilt & raiseā¦ you want people to pay $240 per window? You guys in CAN must be lighting up some serious bud to think that will happen.
My main room has 6 windows. I can replace all of these roll shades with new motorized shades or blinds for about $250 each - thus, brand new units with warranty from the manufacturer. And I can still re-purpose the current shades into another room or sell on ebay and get back about $50 per shade. -
Every kickstarter I have backed has been late 9 months and a major disappointment. Even one from a company who has a prior successful product that was nearly identical. I will not risk multiple hundreds on this given the poor track record of nearly every project Iāve seen or heard about.
I suggest you might want to reconsider your features & pricingā¦ window covering manufacturers are dropping prices on motorization. Within 2 years they will very aggressive on selling and pricing entire units.
Best of luck with your adventure.
@Aaron: Iād have to agree with you on your observations. Unfortunately more premium and more aesthetic always seems to mean way more money.
For what itās worth, I hope their campaign succeeds but I wonāt be participating either.
[quote=āAaron, post:24, topic:188274ā]Thank you for posting this. While Iām looking for a solution like what you are designing, allow me to explain why I will not be purchasing your deviceā¦
-
Each device is $100 + $20 per protocol supportedā¦ $120 PER WINDOW!
NOT cost effective considering MOVE is $29 each. And what happens when you have Blinds that have both tilt & raiseā¦ you want people to pay $240 per window? You guys in CAN must be lighting up some serious bud to think that will happen.
My main room has 6 windows. I can replace all of these roll shades with new motorized shades or blinds for about $250 each - thus, brand new units with warranty from the manufacturer. And I can still re-purpose the current shades into another room or sell on ebay and get back about $50 per shade. -
Every kickstarter I have backed has been late 9 months and a major disappointment. Even one from a company who has a prior successful product that was nearly identical. I will not risk multiple hundreds on this given the poor track record of nearly every project Iāve seen or heard about.
I suggest you might want to reconsider your features & pricingā¦ window covering manufacturers are dropping prices on motorization. Within 2 years they will very aggressive on selling and pricing entire units.
Best of luck with your adventure.[/quote]
Thanks for taking your time to go in depth with your response! Honestly, for a $29 price point - weāre confident there will be a āget what you pay forā effect - you can choose to utilize off-the-shelf components instead of going custom, but choosing to source low quality components will always compromise noise, speed and lift performance.
$250 for the shade and motor does sound like a pretty good deal! Mind sending over a few links? We would definitely want to look into this and see what features come included with that price.
Definitely canāt blame you for being skeptical with crowdfunding campaigns - way too many people have been burned since theyāve become a thing. Of course, internally weāre going out of our way to deliver on our promises (which is why the shipping date is quite far compared to other campaigns - October 2016.)
[quote=āBOFH, post:25, topic:188274ā]@Aaron: Iād have to agree with you on your observations. Unfortunately more premium and more aesthetic always seems to mean way more money.
For what itās worth, I hope their campaign succeeds but I wonāt be participating either.[/quote]
Itās definitely not for everyone but thanks for your support! We actually just hit 100% some time last night! ;D
I just priced adding a motor, battery pack or solar panel, to Bali blinds. It was $150-160, less if they are on sale which happens all to time at Lowes & Home Depot in the range of 15-20% off.
So assuming 20% off, that means adding motorization is about $130ā¦ that comes with a 10 year warranty, totally hidden in the valance, and backed by a huge company.
Iāll be replacing my shades for about $300 per. Then I simply add a bridge for about $100 to interface ALL of my shades and iām good to go.
So I stand by my comments earlierā¦
At $30-60 per shade, 3rd party control would be spot on for almost anyone.
At $100-120 per shade, it is not cost effective, and most people wont, unless you have some seriously expensive shades already.
Iām hoping the iBlinds device goes for sale.
[quote=āAaron, post:28, topic:188274ā]I just priced adding a motor, battery pack or solar panel, to Bali blinds. It was $150-160, less if they are on sale which happens all to time at Lowes & Home Depot in the range of 15-20% off.
So assuming 20% off, that means adding motorization is about $130ā¦ that comes with a 10 year warranty, totally hidden in the valance, and backed by a huge company.
Iāll be replacing my shades for about $300 per. Then I simply add a bridge for about $100 to interface ALL of my shades and iām good to go.
So I stand by my comments earlierā¦
At $30-60 per shade, 3rd party control would be spot on for almost anyone.
At $100-120 per shade, it is not cost effective, and most people wont, unless you have some seriously expensive shades already.
Iām hoping the iBlinds device goes for sale.[/quote]
Iām glad you found a solution to your problem, Aaron! Would still be interested in a link as mentioned before but no worries if youāre busy.
Without sounding too arrogant, I think you may be misunderstanding that AXIS Gear is not meant to be a cost-effective solution for anyone looking to simply find motorized shades for as cheap as humanly possible. Gear is a cost-effective solution for anyone looking for a premium and elegant device that can motorize their existing window shades that doesnāt sacrifice performance or functionality. Think the person that painstakingly took time to pick out window coverings they love and fit the aesthetic of their home and want to later motorize the coverings they love (either because they thought of it after or because cost was a problem when picking out those perfect, beautiful shades) as opposed to the person with paper blinds who cares quite less about the look of their home. Gear is not about waiting for sales, discounts or searching for the lowest price, itās about performance, aesthetic and convenience - and the price reflects this.
Honestly not trying to pick a fight here, our product is not for everyone and it clearly is not for you. With that said, loving the conversation, itās interesting to find people as passionate about blinds and solutions to motorization as we are - who wouldāve known?
[quote=āteamaxis, post:29, topic:188274ā]Iām glad you found a solution to your problem, Aaron! Would still be interested in a link as mentioned before but no worries if youāre busy.
Without sounding too arrogant, I think you may be misunderstanding that AXIS Gear is not meant to be a cost-effective solution for anyone looking to simply find motorized shades for as cheap as humanly possible. Gear is a cost-effective solution for anyone looking for a premium and elegant device that can motorize their existing window shades that doesnāt sacrifice performance or functionality. Think the person that painstakingly took time to pick out window coverings they love and fit the aesthetic of their home and want to later motorize the coverings they love (either because they thought of it after or because cost was a problem when picking out those perfect, beautiful shades) as opposed to the person with paper blinds who cares quite less about the look of their home. Gear is not about waiting for sales, discounts or searching for the lowest price, itās about performance, aesthetic and convenience - and the price reflects this.
Honestly not trying to pick a fight here, our product is not for everyone and it clearly is not for you. With that said, loving the conversation, itās interesting to find people as passionate about blinds and solutions to motorization as we are - who wouldāve known?[/quote]
I donāt always agree with Aaron, and I know he seems to ruffle feathers often.
With that said my idea of āpremium and elegantā would be to have it integrated and installed by the blind manufacture designed not to be universal but for the blinds you bought. My nicer blinds have no cords hanging down (Levolor cordless Roman shades) so I think Iām out of being able to use your product on my nicer window shades. I too think that 100 per window to add this box on the wall might be a bit more then would I find ideal, but Iām not on the top of the food chain like some.
You obviously hit your goal which means you have enough backers and your product is well liked by āenoughā people. Thatās all that matters!
My intention was not to say negative things about the productā¦ My opinion is based on my use cases and value proposition I see for me. The product may work great for others at a $100-120 price point. I just donāt think it is going to for most when the alternative device is a $30 Kickstarter. Even if it doubled in price, it is still far less expensive.
I suspect it will be & $50-60 retail with zigbee or zwave built in.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
I think Aaron is correct that past a certain price point you are better off investing that money in factory motorized window coverings since youāll typically get 5 year warranty on the electronics and 10 years on the fabric (for roller shades).
I think it is wise to be skeptical of any device that promises too much, especially crowd-funded devices. Also be aware that retro-fit devices like these are for very small windows (unless you want the lightest, sheerest fabric possible for no privacy or light control as seen in the YouTube video). Also you never get to hear how loud they are, or how smoothly they run, or how slow they are.
Motorized window coverings arenāt āeasyā to get them done right. All of the major tubular motor suppliers like Somfy arenāt worried about devices like this, and even used to sell something very similar to drive a drapery cord before motorized tracks and motors were created (a better way than add-a-motor). These types of solutions could be a great retro-fit device and might be good for small window shades, but in the Western U.S. windows are large and people want them covered in one large shade, so maybe elsewhere it might work. But it has to be the right price.
So now with Bluetooth connectivity, I wonder if we could use these:
http://www.mysmartblinds.com/buy/product/retro-fit-kit.php
I have been on the wait list for one of these, and it just shipped. I donāt need the blind in question to interact with my home automation system. I just needed a set schedule and manual override (not in my media room), so this was perfect for my needs even without Vera integration. I will let folks know how my experience goes getting it setup. I do have a VeraPlus, but my guess is that it it is not just going to connect and work, but I am happy to give it a try.
Let us know how it goes, I think of the 3 or 4 products linked in this thread from 5 months ago not one is for sale to the public or ready yet. I like to see good products but when they still a concept of being in stores a year from now. its a turn off.
This company is trying again for anyone interested:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iblinds/iblinds-make-your-existing-blinds-intelligent
The ship date is a ways away still, but their price seems worth a try for 1 or 2. They say theyāve tried it with Vera too
Still looking forward to the Move which started this thread. Will be interested to see if the bluetooth works with the plus.
Delayed due to damaged mould but due soon (in the global view of things).
So far itās the only thing which might work with existing roman blinds.
[quote=āmrv777, post:36, topic:188274ā]This company is trying again for anyone interested:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iblinds/iblinds-make-your-existing-blinds-intelligent
The ship date is a ways away still, but their price seems worth a try for 1 or 2. They say theyāve tried it with Vera too[/quote]
Iām done with Kickstarterā¦ most tech related effort look like they completely fail or deliver 6-12 months late and with far less features than they advertise at the start. Iād rather buy a completed product for a few $ more vs give people free money to experiment with zero checks/balances in place.
If this device is good then the developers should spend their own money (or go get a loan) to develop it and sell a finished productā¦ but I suspect they are simply looking for people to cover the R&D in hopes it works outā¦ just like most Kickstarters. Iām not giving away any more money, or time.
Latest update on the Move:
So as you all probably know there were an accident with two molds and we are waiting for these to be rebuilt and it?s still the same timeframe for us receiving them (week number 13-15). As soon as we receive them the work on make the actual parts will begin and then we can start assembling finished units.
For everyone interested in the electronic parts of MOVE we can tell you that we are still working with the documentation and we will release it at our website as soon as we are finished. But one thing that we like to highlight already is that MOVE is built with two MCU inside. One is a ATtiny48 that controls all core functions, making MOVE able to function all by itself with only the buttons as controls. The other MCU is CSR1010 that almost only is used as a radio chip. We decided upon this approach in order to not be tide up with only one radio technology. The wire control through the USB port will talk directly with the ATtiny48 MCU.
To everyone that thinks a Z-wave version of MOVE is preferred, we like to inform you that we are looking for a Z-wave partner to team up with in order to make a Z-wave version a reality. We think it?s a much better approach finding a partner than doing it ourselves. Because we have dual MCUs and core functions that would not be affected if the radio chip is changed we think and hope that we will find a partner interested in cooperation.
- MOVE team
Marc has said that if we want the MOVE adding to the list of bluetotth devices we want adding to Vera Plus we need to let them know how popular it would be (priorities).
If you would buy and use it let it be known!
Let this be vote number 1
I would use at least 4 of them