Touch lamps; a surprising finding!

After watching this video, Youtube recommened a video about SawStop which does the same thing as touch lamps but uses the technology to stop a spinning blade at the instance a human touches it with the body. Interesting connection the Youtube algorithm did there :)

Martin

As a ham radio operator and shortwave listener, triac-based dimmer circuits are Satan's own lighting control technology. It's like this: You: "And now for some relaxing mood lighting!" My shortwave radio: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!! Me: GODDAMMIT!!!

Circuitmike

The noise is probably being capacitively coupled into the metal surface and registering as a touch. It's likely protected against the 50/60 Hz AC being coupled in like that, for obvious reasons, but noise can have much higher frequency components and some of those likely pass through and register.

Circuitmike

To be fair it wouldn't be that hard to construct an analog ciruit that was auto-calibrating. I was going to do it before i posted this comment, buuut i never got around to it before you made the post public. Anyway the general idea is that an RC-oscillators frequency is dependant on the capacitance. So in order to make it self-adjusting you "just" have to look for quick changes in the frequency. This can be done with a simple high-pass filter. It would require an extra 1 or 2 tubes though so it wouldn't make any sense to build it in a vintage module, but what i am trying to say is that you don't need a micro-processor to make a self adapting module.

Simon Albinsson

Now I can figure out why my touch lamp is not working.

Preston (Bilskirnir)

Such a missed opportunity...

Tnarg42

I have a friend who does Morse code on his ham radio. He said his neighbor across the alley has a touch lamp that cycles "bright, brighter, brightest, off" as he operates his code key. Says he hopes the guy never figures out what is making it do that! Hilarious!

HarveyB

I'm glad my suggestion was helpful. You going over how the IC goes through a self calibration when its first plugged in helped me understand the erratic behavior of the lamp I grew up with, which I would try turning on by the switched outlet it was plugged into.

Capacitater

Jerrad Pierce

Capacitator.... big Clive will love that....

david c tayloe

My wife and I both said simultaneously that we were expecting you to clap twice before the screen went black at the end. :-)

Kevin Tessner

You got me searching google for "capacitator", which didn't work, so then I searched for "potato capacitor"... and I found this: https://rimstar.org/science_electronics_projects/potato_chip_macrochip_w_555_timer_circuit.htm .....and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huFRrcaF6VY ....and this: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925838818307187 ...and this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgxQG1PyfM

I sometimes wake to my touch lamp on its lowest setting. Cats...

Benjamin A.

Rad shirt

Retro Game Club podcast retrogameclub.net

Love that shirt. :)

The capacitator brightened my day!

Paul Schuur

Probably using that original 1955 connect-the-sensor-to-the-mains-voltage design then, not the modern integrated circuit variety.

tim1724

this touchy video was quite.. illuminating

Neph

Most likely not a real pressure sensor. Capacitive touch sensors can take advantage of the fact that your finger is a squishy meat stick to pretend to measure pressure, but what they're really measuring is how much area of your squishy fingertip has flattened out on the pad. Capacitance is proportional to area.

Matt Whitlock

That's the 60-Hz (or 50-Hz in some areas of the world) ripple leaking through the crude power supply for the logic circuitry. Modern versions with energy-efficient switching power supplies shouldn't produce this effect.

Matt Whitlock

Hook one of these up to your Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster, and you can make your toast dark, darker, darkest, bread.

Matt Whitlock

I never tire of the magic of 'buying two of them' ☺

Skoddie

Me: Whoa, $35 in 1955??? ::pauses video:: ::open new tab, go to https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm :: Me: Whoa!!! $340!?! ::resumes video:: Alex: Oh, and adjusted for inflation, this was a $340 lamp. ::writes this comment::

This reminded me of an interesting MacBook Pro "feature" I found out about the hard way. Their newer (apparently since ~2015?) "Force Touch" trackpads don't actually move or click for real - the click is a software-controlled haptic feedback! (So they appear to be a case of using both capacitance and some kind of pressure sensor) I learned about this when it stopped working for me - the trackpad stopped clicking. So then I had to restart my computer while holding some magic combination of buttons to convince the software to start doing it again. I also regularly have to kill the process for my touchbar "buttons" because it tends to crash and break. Macs are so intuitive and easy to use! But then again, if companies like Apple and Google didn't keep making these kinds of "improvements", how could their engineers ever "demonstrate impact" and get promotions?

We should invite him like we invited Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips… Howdy from D-Wave Systems Canada! 😅

Your humor was on point in this one :D

Michael Dunn

At the start, when your phone goes off the left of the screen, I thought you'd move your head to try and stay on - he he! I own two touch lamps, you can still get them in the UK.

Daniel Andrews

my grandma had one that would give you a little zap every time you touched it

BiggieJohn

Good question! I'll throw together a second channel video to take a look at it directly

Technology Connections

Is the standby power any better on that modern module from the hardware store?

Francis

I just started watching this video but I'm giving a thumbs-up just for the NeXT shirt!

Don Eitner

I always thought it was weird that these lamps always felt like they were vibrating when you touched them.

Any idea why ours seam to trigger randomly when a CPL is used on the same power line ? If it use capacitance, it shouldn't be bothered by noise on the AC, should it ?

Vlycop

"beige, new age raves, and Nicolas Cage's coming of age"

Nate D

Nice patent discussion. If ever have any patent questions I'm an IP Atty in the midwest, feel free to reach out.

I got one about 9 years ago, but within 2 years, the circuit died... The lamp is now connected to a switchable socket with the circuit removed... Rather use a switch than "talking to my lamp" :-P BTW: remember those TVs with tiptronic channel switches? When a fly would land on the switch panel and the TV switching channels to whatever the fly was thinking about? ;-)

MrHammond

Hi Alec that IC is an early microcontroller not an ASIC

Paul Fisher

Yay! another TC video. Just want to thank Alec for including the direct link to YouTube in the post so that I can click through to YouTube right away (I prefer watching there, as I use Enhancer for YouTube to speed up videos, etc)

Those touch force-sensing screens were abandoned for the same reason as the headphone jack: COURAGE. Or was that just “we can’t get the bloody thing thin enough with it still there?”

Sean Hearrell

Jokes on you, I'm watching this on a MacBook with a Touch Bar

My grandma bought a huge china cabinet in 2007 or 2008. It has built-in recessed "accent" lighting controlled by touching a hinge on one of the doors. I don't think it works on the other hinges or doors though.

Jason Wellband

I want one!

Matt

OMG OMG OMG classic NEXT T-shirt! Whoo-hoo!

Craig P Steffen