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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems
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To: Michael F. Donadio who wrote (36240)10/8/2000 1:52:11 PM
From: rudedog  Read Replies (2) of 64865
 
Michael - a light bulb connected to the internet????? Give me a break! I saw an article about that and thought it must be a joke.

I did an energy management and maintenance system for a GM plant in the early 80s which monitored the state and energy consumption of every piece of equipment in the plant - every light, every switch, every motor, every HVAC unit. It used an IEEE488 carrier on the power lines to transmit data, so no additional wiring was required in most cases. Current monitoring techniques were used to track the condition of both incandescent and fluorescent lighting - those same techniques appeared in high end GM cars a few years later (for example the 1989 Cadillacs provide indications for any burned out bulbs via current monitoring). The system also predicted when bulbs might fail before they actually did fail, as in most cases, incandescent bulbs show a rise in current draw shortly before they fail. Fluorescent show a decay in current draw when running and an increase in starting draw as they approach the end of their useful life, so maintenance can be scheduled when convenient, not when the lights fail.

The cost per monitored point on that system was less than $0.50 and it worked fine - it is still in use nearly 20 years later. It would be trivial to put that reporting onto TCP/IP but what would the point be? Seems like an overly complex way to re-invent capability that has been around in a cheap and reliable form for a long time.
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