Microsoft Helps Develop Smart, IoT-Enabled Refrigerators (microsoft.com) 178
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
Promising "intelligent food management" to help with shopping and meal planning, Microsoft is collaborating with household appliance manufacturer Liebherr to develop a refrigerator where stored groceries "can be monitored using internal cameras." The refrigerators will use Microsoft's object recognition technology to create a list of your groceries -- with photos -- accessible via an an Android or iOS app (or a Windows device).
"Microsoft is providing computer vision capability as part of this collaboration," says their web page, citing the deep-learning technology underlying the Microsoft Cognitive Services Computer Vision API, released in Microsoft's open source Computational Network Toolkit. "Using the deep learning algorithms contained within CNTK, Microsoft data scientists worked with Liebherr to build a new image processing system to detect specific food products present inside a Liebherr refrigerator..."
"Microsoft is providing computer vision capability as part of this collaboration," says their web page, citing the deep-learning technology underlying the Microsoft Cognitive Services Computer Vision API, released in Microsoft's open source Computational Network Toolkit. "Using the deep learning algorithms contained within CNTK, Microsoft data scientists worked with Liebherr to build a new image processing system to detect specific food products present inside a Liebherr refrigerator..."
Pharmaceuticals (Score:4, Funny)
If I installed this on my fridge I would use the app when I went to the pharmacy. That way I could check up on which antibiotics where already growing in my fridge.
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I'd use it to see how much open sauce there is in my fridge.
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Technology like this could enable men to find the barbecue sauce even if it were behind something else on the shelf. I predict a significant increase in the birth rate.
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Japanese fridges already kinda do this. I think it was Sharp that introduced it. When they detect mould growing a light comes on, and the newer models connect to wi-fi and talk to a phone app.
The good news is that from memory they only operate on your LAN, not via the net.
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Japanese fridges already kinda do this. I think it was Sharp that introduced it. When they detect mould growing a light comes on, and the newer models connect to wi-fi and talk to a phone app.
The good news is that from memory they only operate on your LAN, not via the net.
Great- so not only will someone be able to hack my fridge- they'll be able to laugh at all the mold I've got growing too!
Fucking Useless Shit (Score:5, Insightful)
.. designed to get people more used to having cameras and other sensory equipment all around them.
You are missing the opportunity! (Score:2)
While the chances of them being able to SEE more than 15% of the contents of my fridge around, you know, all the other stuff in it, no matter how many cameras there are....
I can see a great opportunity to livestream the constant evolution of internal lifeforms as a new reality TV show - their daily trials and tribulations, the constant ebb and flow of bacterial and viral battle.
Just dont ever open the door - never ever open the door. I tried that once. ONCE.
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designed to get people more used to having cameras and other sensory equipment all around them
Exactly, precisely this. Why the actual FUCK do you need cameras in your gods-be-damned refrigerator in the first place, and why the actual FUCK does it need to be connected to the Internet at all in the first place? This is more stupid, trendy, useless so-called 'internet of things' crap that has no real useful purpose -- except maybe as previously stated, to put more gods-be-damned surveillance in our lives. What's next? IoT toilet, that monitors your pooping? Sends directly to your doctor? TO HELL WITH T
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[pinimg.com]
[wikipedia.org]
Need I say more?
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(image) [pinimg.com]
(article) [wikipedia.org]
Had to re-post because
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--Oh, for mod points today... +2
Re: Fucking Useless Shit (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh, the sensor broke?
The cooling element gets disabled and the refrigerator needs to be repaired.
Same way you can't scan a black and white paper if your all-in-one printer and scanner is out of cyan ink.
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That could create some interesting liabilities for the manufacturer. If your electricity goes out and the contents of your fridge are lost you can claim for them in many European countries. So if some non essential part fails and it results in an avoidable, unreasonable loss...
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In the 90s Epson disabled black and white printing even though the printer had four cartridges for CMYK.
Mom rushed to buy an overpriced namebrand black cartridge and it refused to print.
Later, the printer was ruined anyway since an inkjet that doesn't print for a month gets that way, ruined.
A black and white laser printer is a better solution since
- there is only one color, so you can't be ripped off that way
- it still works even if you don't use it
It used to be 10x more expensive than a color inkjet, but n
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If you're using all 3 colors to simulate black you screwed up when buying the printer.
I guess that's a fair assessment for me since I had a printer that did that even if you told it to just use black but I should have known better. It was an HP printer. (Only way to get it to not use color ink to do black was to remove the color ink cartridge and leave the black one in.)
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Please try to Google for the sentence "Can't scan with no ink" and look at all the results. Then come back here and say that again with such certainty.
The reason I specifically said 'cyan' ink was because that should never, never be needed for anything that has to do with black and white, not printing and certainly not SCANNING.
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But I have directly seen printers that locked you out of everything until you replace the ink cartridges.
If the colour cartridges are empty then how can they print the yellow dots [wikipedia.org] that lets the government know which printer was used ?
Re:spolier alert below (Score:5, Funny)
So would a system freeze be seen as a positive feature ?
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You disabled the sensor, so the warranty is void. Yes, the cooling element is highly dependent on the visual sensor so we cannot grant your warranty claim, so sorry.
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But what's more intresting: Which idiot would buy a smart fridge with cameras and network connection just to disable cameras and network connection? INstead of buying a regular fridge for half the price...
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re: Fucking Useless Shit (Score:4, Informative)
You might have noticed that TVs are actually cheaper than comparable computer monitors. One has to wonder why...
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This is Microsoft. Periodically the fridge will lock up - like because of the bug where it you put a jam jar with an expiration date whose month is an odd number on the middle shelf between leftover Chinese takeout and a can of soda,
To reset the fridge and resume cooling, you will have to press the refrigerator-side door closed while cycling the icemaker and lifting up on the water dispenser lever.
Smart refrigerators (Score:5, Insightful)
A solution in search of a problem.
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The problem is lack of business for MS, the solution is clearly a fridge that you have to pay SW licenses for.
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The thing is the IoT world has plenty of business for MS, especially in industrial and business-to-business settings which pay far higher license fees than any shit screen glued to a fridge door ever wood.
I just really don't understand this announcement. By all other accounts MS was a serious IoT company and now they pull this we have a lightbulb you can change colour from the internet garbage. For shame!
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Actually there is one feature that looks handy: the camera. I've often been at the supermarket and thought "hang on, do I need milk/eggs/whatever?" The rest though? Meh. And I'm not cool with paying more that $50 or so extra for the camera either.
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How about just buying it and using it twice if you already had it?
Or do you have to cook every meal to a recipe in a weekly plan?
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Your milk and egg cartons are transparent? You keep paper towels and canned goods and spices in the fridge?
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Problem: how do we get more data to sell and lock in our customers to buying our products?
Solution: smart devices!
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It would also work much better if RFID tags were embedded in food packaging.
Re: Smart refrigerators (Score:2)
Though they already can track you by the chip in your pet ... your passport ... the tag hidden in your Nikes that was personalized at the checkout counter when you bought them ...
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What about the stuff from the pick your own, or the local farmer's market?
I agree this looks like a terrible way to go about this 'problem', but there are lots of likewise terrible ideas looking for this 'problem'.
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You obviously cannot see problems but let me illuminate you by suggestion what the features of a smart fridge are.
Facebook status updates; We're run out of tomatoes!
Twitter feedback; After 2 hours of refrigeration we have discarded your new product because it sucks!
Family alerts (via facebook); We've run out of tomatoes!!
Intrusion detection; "Toddler attempting to open fridge door. Deploying countermeasures!"
MaaS (Maintenance as a Service; Fridge printer ink running low, please consider replacemen
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You obviously cannot see problems but let me illuminate you by suggestion what the features of a smart fridge are. Facebook status updates; We're run out of tomatoes!
You forgot the most obvious one:
A Windows 10 refrigerator edition update screws up your compressor driver and the fridge blue doors and spoils all your food, then Slashdot shills call you an idiot because you weren't running the thing in VM mode.
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The problem is insurance companies don't know enough about your diet and lifestyle. This allows them to know.
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Indeed. Most IoT stuff, like his fridge, are really stupid. Like the IoT kitchen stove you can turn on with your phone... WTF??? You DON'T want the stove on when you're not home!
Adjust the A/C with a phone? What, you're too damned lazy to walk across the room? Stupid! If I can turn off the heat with my phone, so can the FSB.
I may have to buy a TV even though the one I have works perfectly fine, because it may not be long before you can no longer buy a dumb TV.
It's bad enough that my computers and phone are
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A solution in search of a problem.
Indeed. An unwanted solution in search of a non-existent problem.
"The refrigerators will use Microsoft's object recognition technology to create a list of your groceries..."
Great...I can't wait to pay thousands of dollars for Microsoft to do what I've happily been doing for years with a pencil and paper.
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It will be a smart refrigerator but you'll have to leave the door open because the camera won't work without the light.
Hmm. (Score:2)
Sounds like a solution in search of a problem to solve. What's wrong with a note pad and a pen on the fridge's door? That's what I've been using since DARPANET.
And when the information gets sold (Score:3)
Health insurance goes up because you're not eating healthy enough, police have free access to all these cameras to make sure no one's storing drugs in their fridge etc.
Because writing 'Milk' on a list when you take the last carton of milk is such a daunting task!
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Screw you and your first world problems. Milk. As long as it's quite, liquid and mixes ok with the coffee it is ok.
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Quite what?
P.S. If you put milk in coffee, you're a fucking savage.
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White, not quite. Brain fart leading to a wrong word being typed. Don't ask me to write legibly before I had my first coffee.
And yes. With milk. The creamy swirl in the melange between the black of the coffee and the white of the milk is what keeps me believing in culture, civilization and dignity.
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Quite what?
P.S. If you put milk in coffee, you're a fucking savage.
How about sugar? Chocolate sprinkles? Little cocktail umbrellas?
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Only your body.
And that of every other goon asking that silly question.
Good (Score:5, Funny)
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I know what it will happen... (Score:5, Funny)
"Your fridge is 99% full. You can make more space with the Fridge Cleanup Tool. Proceeed ? (Y/N)"
and at the very end:
"I am sorry Dave, you should not eat this."
"Open the fridge door, HAL!"
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There are some high tech features in a fridge that I'd like, but only one requires any kind of network access. That is, the fridge should be smart about when it uses electricity, both to avoid peak time loads if possible and to save me money by using cheap power.
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Where's my fridge? [slashdot.org] How about not running the compressor when it's well below freezing outside? How about venting the heat outside instead of into the kitchen when it's sweltering outside?
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"Your fridge is 99% full. You can make more space with the Fridge Cleanup Tool. Proceeed ? (Y/N)"
Shuddup and take my money. Actually take my girlfriend's money, she's the one with 5 year old leftovers that greet me when I open the fridge door. I had a complete conversation with it the other day.
"Object Recognition Technology" (Score:2)
This would be much easier to do if all the items purchased in a supermarket had some kind of machine-readable label that linked to a database holding the product information and price...
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This would be much easier to do if all the items purchased in a supermarket had some kind of machine-readable label that linked to a database holding the product information and price...
You mean like a bar code that they could scan at the checkout?
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I think you just got the joke. The problem is though that not everything, specifically fresh fruit and veg have barcodes.
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And often the bar codes are on the bottom of the container (e.g., twelve packs of beer).
Dumb idea. And when Microsoft stops security updates when your fridge is only nine years old?
WTF are these idiots thinking?
"Smart" appliances (Score:2)
More and more I get the feeling, to want smart appliances you gotta be rather dumb yourself.
You mean .. like Samsung already has?? (Score:4, Interesting)
Ok .. they don't have image detection. But they do already have a fridge that has a camera to see the inside and a neat Android interface. My wife and I played with one at a local store recently and it was kinda neat. It had a nice whiteboard function to leave notes, supported streaming video and supposedly interfaced with the SmartTVs, although I'm not sure of the functionality. Since it appears to use Android, it was pretty intuitive to us. I don't think it would be to people who haven't used Android phones though.
I don't know how useful image detection will be without several cameras in the back and side of each shelf. But it was interesting to be able to see very clearly what was inside without opening the door. I wonder if the energy cost of the TV screen and computer hardware will outweigh the savings of not opening the door as often or as long.
It wasn't worth to me the extra $2K more a comparable fridge costs. It might be to people with more disposable income than I have.
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"I wonder if the energy cost of the TV screen and computer hardware will outweigh the savings of not opening the door as often or as long."
I'm not sure, the heat capacity of air is pretty low.
Assuming temp in the room is 25C and the air inside the fridge is at 4C we need to know the volume of air lost during each door opening, the difference in energy content of said air between 25C and 4C, and the efficiency of the refrigerator cooling circuit to remove that energy.
The volume of a standard fridge is about
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I decided to not worry much about the energy loss when opening the door : wouldn't refreshing the air a bit be healthy, anyway?
Is there an amount of cycling the air recommended to fend off odors and unwanted life? Do high end fridges cycle the air on their own?
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That sounds neat and all, but I'm at a loss as to what use streaming video on a fridge would be. Our connecting to a tv, smart or otherwise.
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That sounds neat and all, but I'm at a loss as to what use streaming video on a fridge would be. Our connecting to a tv, smart or otherwise.
You can bet that if Kim Cardassian's Refrigerator is streaming video from inside, some tools will be watching it. Probably become a new reality series.
For how long will it work? (Score:2)
LG has shown a Windows 10 fridge, running on a low end x86 PC. Your Samsung fridge seems a lot of fun and niceties from the read while I'm sure most people will turn away from the Metro apps and Windows store, if only instinctively. But I really hate to be the guy that breaks the fun :), so as to point out the Android fridge's near term future is dubious, whereas the Windows fridge is promised security updates till 2025, subject to extension if an OS upgrade occurs or if MS has another moment of "shit, if w
Coupons will appear on the screen (Score:2)
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No, nobody will buy these so Microsoft will have to pay you to use the product along with their "focused advertising"
Why? (Score:2)
... and selling the data acquired to marketers... (Score:2)
.
Stop conflating "smart" with shit like this (Score:2)
Meanwhile their supposedly dumb counterparts car
... and no mention of security (Score:2)
"Using the deep learning algorithms ..." (Score:2)
Again with the Internet fridge (Score:2)
What is this, the third time someone tries this? Last time we used to joke about Internet-connected toasters and fridges was around late 90s and the dotcom boom? Then again in the mid-2000s?
While I do believe that tracking your food intake can be beneficial, I am not sure this particular implementation will be for the benefit of the consumer. Regardless, computer vision seems a bit overkill for this. A smartphone app with barcode reader and a small scale should be enough, the trick is getting it streamlined
Windows Refrigerator Features (Score:2)
1. It will crash and your food will spoil.
2. You will get calls requesting your SSN and bank details from people with Indian and Russian accents saying they are from Microsoft support and you have a virus.
3. You will need to double click on the door handle to open it.
4. You will have to pay $300 a year to subscribe to fresh food.
5. The camera will send pictures of you in your underwear at 2 AM to Microsoft for quality improvement.
6. You will need to subscribe to virus protection for your refrigerator.
BSOD (Score:2)
Now you won't only see the blue screen of death on ATM machines and airport display boards, you can see it on your own 'fridge. And there will be a blue film of death on all your rotting vegetables. #badidea
I wonder if it qualifies for a Energy Star rating (Score:2)
They mounted a very large tablet on a Refrigarator. The really crazy part is that because of "innovative features " like ice dispensers and water chillers the 1940's refrigerators were actually more energy efficent then the modern ones. Putting a power hungry giant screen on it is one way to continue driving down energy efficency
IDIOT == Insecurely Designed Internet Of Things (Score:2)
IDIOT == Insecurely Designed Internet Of Things
Spread the meme.
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There has been some discussion about booking chargers for EVs at given times, but it's generally thought of as a bad solution to the problem of there not being enough chargers. People book and then don't turn up or get delayed, and it requires forward planning which is something that EV drivers want to get away from. With a petrol car you just jump in and drive, with an EV if you are going beyond your range you at least want to check that the charger you plan to use is working and that there are alternative
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The same problems apply to parking spaces. People don't want to book, they just want to park.
This is the problem with most Internet of things ideas. They require booking and planning ahead. Imagine when we're all driving Google Cars. we aren't going to just hop in and it will know where we want to go. You'll program every day's trips on your calendar app, and any changes will need to be manually done. This might be great for obsessive compulsive's who have to have a rigidly set schedule, but I might have any of 5 different work destinations, and sometimes don't know until halfway to work. So I'll b
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The advertising angle will make any useful functionality too shitty to bother with. What are the chances that I'll be able to program it to order the milk for delivery from the cheapest source, rather than Samsung's limited choice of expensive "partners"? Of course they will optimize their delivery system so that the milk they deliver is the one with an expiry date two days hence, rather than the really fresh one that I'd pick up if I was in an actual shop.
To some extent the convenience of something like an
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The advertising angle will make any useful functionality too shitty to bother with. What are the chances that I'll be able to program it to order the milk for delivery from the cheapest source, rather than Samsung's limited choice of expensive "partners"?
I'm certain that these wonderful devices will come with electronic rather than mechanical door latches.This will open a whole new world of consumer convenience. The door won't open until you watch an advertisement.
Then I can just imagine Forbes.com getting involved.......... Then your Refrigerator sassing you - "We see that you have adblock enabled on your Refrigerator. Please disable it to allow opening the door and to continue accessing your food."
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And what if someone does take your booked space, okay they can be fined but you still can't park there until they move. What you want is an app that can tell you where free spaces are so you can save time by not driving around looking for one.
No, what they really want is an app that can fling the offending car into a nearby dumpster so they can park in their reserved space.
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In your scenario, the only result would be that you pay for the parking spot. And not from the moment that you put your car there, but from the moment you reserve that parking spot. And you better reserve early, because everyone wants one and not everyone gets one, so instead of paying for the time you're there, get prepared to pay for the whole day, in the end resulting in even FEWER legal parking spot because everyone would ensure they have one and reserve one from 10am to midnight 'cause they will want o
Re: The idiocy of the reporting (Score:2)
Re: The idiocy of the reporting (Score:2)
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Your"find me a parking spot" app will be doomed as soon as it becomes popular. You'll be racing against everyone else looking for a parking space in the same area.
Sure - my off-the-cuff idea isn't very good, perhaps, but maybe with some work it could be. The point, though, is to start thinking about the things an IoT could actually be useful for, rather than everybody just saying "not good enough" about every silly idea that comes along. I am old enough to remember a time when the internet was widely regarded as "the biggest timewaster ever". It still is that, no doubt, but look where that's got it.
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Really? Mind Blown?
I have seen these things all over the world - Hell - I have seen them in New Zealand, where hobbits roam the mountains.
And, of course, none of it needs 'networked sensors and signs' in any IoT way, its good old sensors and a controller somewhere - probably a per floor controller.
There are often road signs around the cities telling you how many spaces are left in which buildings.
Nice solid 1980s tech, nothing to see here. No IoT required.
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LED lightbulbs should last 25 years and at end of life would be running the equivalent of Windows 3.1
Windows running a lightbulb? Yeah, that should work well. I imagine something slightly more appropriate, perhaps, with only the functionality that is relevant. And - what kind software support do you expect will be necessary for a lightbulb? Is it going to be a full media hub or something?
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Let's start at "how much do you pay me to use one of these".
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My 25 year old fridge is pretty simple. Mechanical thermostat + self defrost. In 25 years will today's IoT fridge still be relevant? Will it be like trying to get online with Windows 3.1?
While I like technology, I subscribe to the KISS principle. The simplest solution is usually the best. In the case of home appliances, they usually seem to work better with basic mechanical timers than fancy electronics... let-alone foolishness like Internet connectivity.
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If you live in a freezing climate then if it's a fridge-freezer then you need dual-thermostats, but otherwise, KISS is exactly the right approach.
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Usually with the dual thermostats one of them is just a damper controlling how much air gets blown into the fridge from the freezer.
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These comments only apply to dual fridge-freezer units, which are quite common:
My understanding is that two actual thermostats are required since the freezer needs to be at -20C and the fridge at 4C. If the ambient temperature goes between -20C and 4C then a single thermostat (typically located in the fridge) turns off and the compressor stops. But the freezer will now defrost, especially so if the ambient temperature is floating around 0C. Worst case would be weeks of temperatures between -5C and 0C where
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Most residential fridges are rated for ambient temperatures between 10C - 32C. The first issue is the control issue you mention, the second is the efficiency of the refrigeration cycle, and possible lubrication issues. Most solve this issue by installing their fridge inside a climate controlled living area (like a kitchen). There are some "garage kits" for fridges that are a heater to trick the thermostat in the fridge section. You may also need a heater to keep the compressor and refrigerant warm (and gase
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No, the script kiddie noticed that the fridge contents weren't changing after 2-3 days and sold the list of all vacant houses in the area to the local gang. The outcome could be a lot worse than just moldy milk.
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In China students are fined for 'excessive' toilet flushing [bbc.co.uk], they must use an electronic pass every time that they go to the toilet.