The Clicker
In consumer electronics remote controls have been essential devices since the late 1930’s but wires connecting them to TVs made them a bit less attractive to TV or radio owners until 1939 when Philco came out with the “Mystery Remote Radio Control”, the first wireless device for operating CE devices without wires. The Philco device was a wooden box with a few components (including a vacuum tube) a battery, an antenna, and a dial that could ‘dial up’ your favorite radio station without you having to get up or trip over wires. The rather large device enabled the user to raise and lower the volume of the radio, mute the sound entirely, or choose one of a few programmed stations to listen to, along with being able to switch to the radio’s built-in phonograph if the radio stations were not playing something to the user’s liking, all through a telephone-like dialing mechanism.
TV remotes became more popular with the “Lazy Bones” remote control developed by Zenith (066570.KS) in the early 1050’s, but was still connected to the TV with a wire, and was replaced in 1956 with the Zenith “Space Command”, a device that used ultrasonics to change channels and volume. As when the unit’s buttons were pushed, they created a clicking sound which the TV receiver’s microphone could identify,, giving rise to the term ‘clicker’ for older remote controls. However, with the cost of transistors decreasing in the 1960’s remote controls began operating at frequencies above the range of human hearing, although dogs could still hear them and metal banging against glass could also change the channel.
By the 1980’s companies like Jerrold Electronics (COMM) were producing more sophisticated ultrasonic remotes, but most were designed to work with a particular brand of TV or CE device, so in 1985, Steve Wozniak of Apple (AAPL) fame, started a short-lived company CL9, whose objective was to develop a universal remote control. The CL9 product was a well-designed but expensive device that faced competition from other ‘learning’ remotes that were less sophisticated but simpler. Unfortunately, while ‘learning’ remotes solved the problem of not having to buy an second remote for every device, they are still difficult to program and complicated to use, so we still wind up with a few remotes that are needed to tell the TV to switch to streaming services that are not included in the TV itself or similar functions.
All of these devices require making sure the batteries in the remote are up to snuff and replacing batteries is a chore, so last year Samsung (005930.KS) came up with the idea of putting solar cells on its TV remotes, allowing them to charge when in a sunny location, in theory a good idea, but not that practical. This year Samsung is trying something else. While leaving the solar cells available to the remote during the day, Samsung has included circuitry that can ‘harvest’ the RF signals coming from devices that produce radio waves, such as your router. Such micro-harvesting is an area of interest in the IoT world, as many of such devices require only small amounts of power to operate and are located in places that would make battery replacement difficult or dangerous. By collecting the RF energy that is all around us and converting it to electrical energy, such devices are able to power themselves to a large degree.
4G and 5G spectrum have been shown to be near the efficiency of other forms of energy harvesting, such as temperature gradients or vibrations, which means that cities that are blanketed with such RF signals are a fertile ground for energy harvesting, with a study done almost 10 years ago showing that a broadcasting tower located ~4mi from a collector generated enough energy to power a standard microcontroller. While the amounts of energy gathered are small, usually measured in micro-watts, they are available 24/7 and are free, so the development of RF energy harvesting antennae and conversion components will allow the harvesting to become more efficient and will be applied to devices that don’t require large amounts of power for operation. Samsung seems to be trying to present itself in an ‘eco-friendly’ light with their remotes, with the idea of both solar cells and RF energy harvesting being one of the few times where in the short run being eco-friendly is also something that is both convenient and ecologically sound.
TV remotes became more popular with the “Lazy Bones” remote control developed by Zenith (066570.KS) in the early 1050’s, but was still connected to the TV with a wire, and was replaced in 1956 with the Zenith “Space Command”, a device that used ultrasonics to change channels and volume. As when the unit’s buttons were pushed, they created a clicking sound which the TV receiver’s microphone could identify,, giving rise to the term ‘clicker’ for older remote controls. However, with the cost of transistors decreasing in the 1960’s remote controls began operating at frequencies above the range of human hearing, although dogs could still hear them and metal banging against glass could also change the channel.
By the 1980’s companies like Jerrold Electronics (COMM) were producing more sophisticated ultrasonic remotes, but most were designed to work with a particular brand of TV or CE device, so in 1985, Steve Wozniak of Apple (AAPL) fame, started a short-lived company CL9, whose objective was to develop a universal remote control. The CL9 product was a well-designed but expensive device that faced competition from other ‘learning’ remotes that were less sophisticated but simpler. Unfortunately, while ‘learning’ remotes solved the problem of not having to buy an second remote for every device, they are still difficult to program and complicated to use, so we still wind up with a few remotes that are needed to tell the TV to switch to streaming services that are not included in the TV itself or similar functions.
All of these devices require making sure the batteries in the remote are up to snuff and replacing batteries is a chore, so last year Samsung (005930.KS) came up with the idea of putting solar cells on its TV remotes, allowing them to charge when in a sunny location, in theory a good idea, but not that practical. This year Samsung is trying something else. While leaving the solar cells available to the remote during the day, Samsung has included circuitry that can ‘harvest’ the RF signals coming from devices that produce radio waves, such as your router. Such micro-harvesting is an area of interest in the IoT world, as many of such devices require only small amounts of power to operate and are located in places that would make battery replacement difficult or dangerous. By collecting the RF energy that is all around us and converting it to electrical energy, such devices are able to power themselves to a large degree.
4G and 5G spectrum have been shown to be near the efficiency of other forms of energy harvesting, such as temperature gradients or vibrations, which means that cities that are blanketed with such RF signals are a fertile ground for energy harvesting, with a study done almost 10 years ago showing that a broadcasting tower located ~4mi from a collector generated enough energy to power a standard microcontroller. While the amounts of energy gathered are small, usually measured in micro-watts, they are available 24/7 and are free, so the development of RF energy harvesting antennae and conversion components will allow the harvesting to become more efficient and will be applied to devices that don’t require large amounts of power for operation. Samsung seems to be trying to present itself in an ‘eco-friendly’ light with their remotes, with the idea of both solar cells and RF energy harvesting being one of the few times where in the short run being eco-friendly is also something that is both convenient and ecologically sound.
Wired Remote Control Concept - Source: Popular Science Monthly 11/30
Philco Mystery Remote Radio Control - Source: Antiqueradio.org
Inside the Philco Mystery Remote Radio Control - Source: Antiqueradio.org
CL9 Universal Remote - Source: myoldman.net
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