Wireless directionals

[Rhodyspit75]

Thought this might interest some of the older car owners. There was an article in this mornings local paper. Dreamed up by an old car owner in Rhode Island. I have no financial interest.

https://smartsignals.com/cms/

 

[NutmegCT]

Thanks for posting that. Great idea. Wonder why he doesn't include a removable *brake* light (the high mount "third light"). I had to rig one up myself on my old Mercedes-Benz.

Note that he says "on back order" - must be popular!
Tom

 

[Rhodyspit75]

The article was in the Providence journal. I tried to get to it and post a link. The paper recently offered an online edition to go along with the delivery so I think that I might not be able to do that since I don't have that.

They can be used as markers and also hazards.

 

[Gliderman8]

Unless I missed it, his website only mentions $25 deposit;
How much is the purchase price?

 

[BustedKnuckles]

Directly from the web site linked in the original post. Found under the "Buy Now" tab from the home page...

 

[Rhodyspit75]

Here's the whole article, I hope.

BY PETER C.T. ELSWORTH
Journal Staff Writer
pelswort@providencejournal.com
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Santa does not have blinkers on his sleigh — other than Rudolph’s nose — and probably does not need any given he’s the only driver in the night sky on Christmas Eve.
But if he did need some, John Peterson’s Smart Signals is a kit of removable wireless directional lights that the jolly old elf could apply just for the night.
Peterson had his bright idea five years ago and after a lot of blood, sweat and tears he’s about to go mainstream with his removable safety lights for antique cars.
“It’s technology solving a problem that has been there for a long, long time,” he said, noting most collector cars prior to the late 1930s do not have blinkers and if they do they are usually so dim people end up using hand signals.
In addition, he said, many owners do not want to alter their cars by installing them. “It changes the car and is expensive,” he said. Instead, his lights take two minutes to put on and take off and keep the cars original.
Peterson, 41 and married with one son, said he got the idea in 2009 when he bought a Botsford Blue Green 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Tudor with his father John, a philosophy professor at the University of Rhode Island. He said while his father did not mind, “I couldn’t drive it without turn signals.”
After a couple of near accidents, he looked for turn signals that could be attached temporarily to the car. Finding none, he figured he could apply his background in building websites to develop some.
One of the first people he consulted was Bob Smith of Wakefield, a former car dealer and avid collector. He said Smith had given him a Leica camera when he was starting his career in journalism and has remained a mentor ever since.
Now partnered with Colonial Electronic Manufacturers of Nashua, N.H., Peterson expects to sell between 10,000 and 15,000 of his kits of Smart Signals wireless directional lights in 2014. Each kit is priced at $359 and consists of four orange LED lights attached by magnets behind a rubber mat (“wind tested to 100 mph”), rechargeable lithium ion batteries with 500 to 1,000 miles of driving time and a small control panel. Using wireless technology, the lights can be operated from inside the car and switched to running mode, directional mode and hazard mode.
“Hazard lights are important because these cars do break down,” he said.
Peterson spent more than two years on research and development — engineering, programming, mold making, testing. Working out of the Palisades Mill and the Peace Dale Mill in South Kingstown, Peterson and his team started fabricating his lights by hand about two years ago.
“They were initially hand-built and soldered,” he said. “A lot of sore fingers, but we sold some and saw the demand. For every one sold, five people wanted one.”
He said the life of an independent inventor developer was tough, financially and emotionally. “I had zero concept of what it was going to be,” he said of the money and work involved.
He sunk much of his money into the project. “It was very difficult in the beginning, as bad as it can get,” he said. “Credit cards maxed out, my 1987 Mercedes sold, antique radio collection sold, put everything into it to bootstrap it up.”
He said the experience had been a lesson in perseverance. “A lot of time, a lot of legwork,” he said. “You get used to the roadblocks, the ‘You can’t do that, you can’t do that.’ You get used to breaking them and after a while you know you can. The constant positive feedback kept me going.”
In addition, he said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had been “very helpful and supportive. I was very appreciative. For a small inventor they were very, very helpful in the process.”
And he assembled a team around him, including engineer John DeCesare, president of Celerity Embedded Design Services in Pocasset, Mass.; Allison Smythe, a systems engineer with Raytheon Co. in Marlboro, Mass., and product engineer with Portatree Timing Systems of Uxbridge, Mass.; and Dwight Giles, a former professor at UMass Boston, who is spearheading sales.
Peterson said the units are now assembled robotically by Colonial Electronic Manufacturers, which is also a partner in the company. He has also secured financing from family and a venture capitalist.
“I’m fascinated with the old meeting the new,” Peterson said, adding he got into developing his wireless lights because of his love of old cars. However, he said the irony was that he has had little time to spend on the car hobby since he started.
“Antique cars took me into [this] hobby — and out of it,” he said.
For more information, go to
smartsignals.com

 

[PAUL161]

Absolutely a great idea! A little pricey, but the kit price might come down as the market for it picks up. Good thing is, it can be moved from car to car. PJ