Smart Doorbell Streams Video

OAKLAND, Calif. Home automation startup Skybell has developed an always-on device that streams video using only an 240 milliamp battery.

By wiring its smart doorbell to the transformer and door chime in an existing doorbell, Skybell can run its motion sensor, two-way audio, and camera with wide-angle lens on 10 volts of power. Skybells on-board battery trickles power from the existing home infrastructure so users will never have to charge the device.

Skybell was developed in the summer of 2013 as a way to remotely see who is at your front door. Pressing the doorbell button activates a camera, which sends video to a smartphone app and allows for communication between users and visitors. Its first generation device raised over $592,000 on Indiegogo and a recently shipped second-gen device now includes a lower-power Wi-Fi chip and on-demand video that allows the doorbell to act more like a surveillance system.

The Skybell doorbell's processor, sensors, and low-power Wi-Fi chip allow for streaming video. Source: Skybell

Engineers have also developed an adapter for digital doorbells, which hold power longer enabling it to play a digitized song. A small circuit board screwed into the digital doorbell adapter converts Skybells power management mode to shorten the power needed to play a chime.

Additional video recording features that use a small amount of on-board memory will be available in the next few weeks. Co-Founder Andrew Thomas hopes Skybell will morph into a really intelligent sensor at your front door that can tell your whole smart home hub what to do from turning on lights when someone approaches the door, to voice and facial recognition and response.

I see a day when Skybell can recognize speech, Thomas told EE Times. We want Skybell to be as useful by itself as it is as a platform

Still, if your home doesnt have a doorbell, Skybell will not be the device for you. Thomas isnt worried about the lost market share; rather, he sees a bright future for his doorbells place in the growing world of home automation and for the market as a whole.

Thomas believes uptake for home automation will start slow. Numerous reasons to buy an item such as a smart thermostat will improve the likelihood of creating a smart home, he said.

Im waiting to see how relationships with platforms and companies do with retailers, he said citing Home Depots Wink hub and Lowes Iris. I want to see if people are going to want to use platforms from people who sold them products or platforms based on handset they have.

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Smart Doorbell Streams Video