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2.4GHz Wi-Fi Detector Ring Project
mohrt writes "The Wi-Fi detection ring was developed to give mobile computer users the ability to detect 802.11b/g signals, while providing a unique, fashionable and ultra-portable product package.
The prototype circuit collects and rectifies an RF signal in the 2.4GHz range, whereafter an Atmel Tiny microprocessor, detecting the presence of a DC voltage, thusly engages a flashing LED.
For those of you who have no excuse to wear a ring, well here it is."
The last time a ring was this cool was with a decoder and a whistle and came in a cereal box.
i see you, too, have the schwartz
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The maximum detection range appeared to be roughly 40 feet (line of sight), which is not exactly great, but this can likely be blamed on the antenna...
He doesn't mind
However, who would want to detect a Wi-Fi if he's not going to use it? If you're already a mobile user, it might be easier to just use your device's auto-detection software.
I agree that there are times when I wish I could have detected the signal before I take out my laptop, but I usually solve that problem by starting up my PDA first.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
In brightest day, in darkest night
No Wi-Fi shall escape my sight
Let those who worship broadband's might
Beware my power, my ring's LED light!
It also can tell you if your microwave oven is working! (and how much leakage you're absorbing by standing in front of it)
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
Just plant a 2.4ghz bug on him?
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
The perfect nerd wedding ring!!! Now all I gotta do is find a girl that'll be ok with that.
...but I'm sure she'll prefer one of these!
Its not going to tell you if there's an available hotspot. Just because there's a signal doesn't mean it isn't WEP or 802.1x secured (yes WEP and Secure is an oxymoron, but still...). If its not then it's probably not free or is not one from a provider you may be subscribed to.
Use a hotspot search engine instead like Dowza or WiFi 411. You'll have much better luck finding a usable hotspot with those kinds of things... Yeah I'm missing the point about geek factor...
I think it's great. My laptop is not very portable, and my PDA is from the stone ages. It'd be cool to see where the hotspots are, whether I've got a device with me or not -- just for future reference. =) What would be really neat is if hotspots were visible on a map that I could access from anywhere. Does anything like that exist yet?
MakePassword.com Mp3 Blog
Wouldn't cordless phones set this thing off constantly?
Im gonna make one for my girlfriend.. I'm sure she will love it :)
There's a battery or something inside the thing that powers it. What they meant by the voltage was the voltage that the circuit sends as a result of having picked up an RF frequency. *Radio frequency frequency?
RTFA - The picture on the page clearly shows the battery that the ring contains to light the LED...
Well you better go catch it!"
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
if it can light up an LED with the juice it's pouring into the air, what else might it be doing that we're not aware of yet?
Did you even bother to look at the prototype? It's mostly battery. I mean come on, you click the link, and there is ONE, count them ONE image on that page.
Let's not make fear inciting "radiation is bad" posts without AT LEAST reading the story first? Just a suggestion...
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
Its not lighting up with the juice that is in the air. it just detects the "juice" in the air while the watch battery both powers the detection IC and lights up the LED.
Wow, the concept pictures look nothing like the prototype. Hopefully they can work on making it aesthetically pleasing. Maybe they should call up Apple?
Ear-, nose- and belly button- rings will be available soon!
From the article: "Due to the simplicity of the circuit design, the prototype unit does not discriminate between other sources of 2.4GHz RF, eg. "leaky" microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc. Future production units would feature surface-mounted components to decrease the detector profile and microcontrollers that discriminate between other RF sources, as well as indicate whether the Wi-Fi nodes are open/closed/encrypted, etc."
Yes, but they're going to fix that.
Due to the simplicity of the circuit design, the prototype unit does not discriminate between other sources of 2.4GHz RF, eg. "leaky" microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc.
Technology, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
Pardon me for pointing out that this is overly complicated. You've got a tuned-circuit detector looking for a particular frequency. That's rectified into a DC voltage. Why didn't they use an analog comparator chip to light the LED? You can't tell me that the A/D plus CPU-and-software is a simpler solution.
They mention a future revision doing interpretation of the open/closed/encrypted state of the WiFi node, but that's going to need a real front-end, not just a diode power detector. If they decoded the packets, I'd be impressed. So far, I'm not.
What about marriage?
Never mind...
Perfect for the geek who wants to be married to technology rather than another person.
Nothing says commitment to your true love technology like one of these rings.
it looks great too!
Rather than signalling to women around you that you've already got someone willing to spend the rest of her life with you, this ring indicates (and guarantees) that pretty much that no woman will ever want to be with you.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
The designers should consider making this a watch instead of a ring. That way they can also design a UI for the watch's display, and you would have more room for bulk on your wrist than on your finger.
This can be the reverse-wedding ring. As a wedding ring indicates that you're taken, this ring can indicate that you are most definitely single. After all, no sane girlfriend/fiance/wife would allow you to step out the door with your "WiFi detecting ring" no matter how cool you thought your witty references to the Lord of the Ring were.
Atmel's AVR Tiny is a microcontroller, not (just) a microprocessor. Small but important difference!
Finally, a resolution to all those wedding ring & diamond related discussions on slashdot.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
This is TRES KEWL!
geezze just might give one to my girl!
Gizmos Gagets For Ninjas
Now I don't know what sort of PCB the maker means in the layout, but the ring better not use this kind--it's known for pollution.
Is it a printed circuit board as I think and hope it is? Looks like it...
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
...is that the Eye will find you and send out the ringwraiths when you wear it. Bummer.
That'll look real nice right next to my Java ring. :-)
[Insert pithy quote here]
-b.
A perfect gift! First, I give my girlfriend the ring... then I finally have an excuse to sing the famous song from Napoleon Dynomite. Why do you love me? Why do you need me? Always and forever... We met in a chatroom, now our love can fully bloom... Sure the world wide web is great, but you, you make my salivate... I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I STILL love technology... Always and forever. Our love is like a flock of doves, flying up to heaven above... always and forever, always and forever... Why do you need me? Why do you love me? Always and forever...
Nice idea but is it really practical. What about the security risks? Is this also going to be involved with the 802.11i protocol? If these concerns are addressed then it is truly the master ring. Which will find them all and in the darkness bind them.
...it's better than this secret decoder ring I've been using since I was 8.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Let me guess what frequency it blew, Cap'n...
I'm married. I need a reason NOT to wear a ring!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
ubergeek is when you go around calling it "my precious".
there's no place like ~
Due to the simplicity of the circuit design, the prototype unit does not discriminate between other sources of 2.4GHz RF, eg. "leaky" microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc.
It's the one ring to detect them all?
FLR
You can get attiny11s microcontrollers at a lower cost than most (not all, admittedly) 555s. They'll run on an internal RC oscillator and don't require external components to set timing intervals. For many applications it wouldn't surprise me if people used that as an alternative to a 555.
I might not be the only one who'd like to build someting similar.
where's all that Karma?
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them (Wi-Fi networks)
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them. ( Download porn! )
Considering WiFi networks are just one type of device running on 2.4 Ghz, expect many false positive. In a urban setting, the ISM band is pretty much saturated so your LED will most probably stay a solid green.
Also, I have doubts about the sensitivity of their antenna design.
:wq
To be able to add the future ability to differentiate between a hotspot and a microwave?
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
I sure hope this guy got a patent on this thing... or, in the true spirit of Open Source, he should publish the parts list and build instructions... Neat idea...I can see it now...a Detector Ring for the UNSECURED wi-fi network...Detector Ring to identify A/B/G networks, or networks on 900mhz, 2.4, or 5.8 ghz... Endless possibilities...
--E--
Normally using an excessive amount of technology to achieve something pointless is something we love to see here..
Finally another form of birth control for males.
Jewelry worth wearing! Forget form - it's all FUNCTION!
And all it really needs is to be encased in tinted epoxy (yes - it means dead battery = dead ring)
Time to order some parts online!
Visualize Whirled P.'s
... blink the uc(SSID) in Morse code..
On second thought... She'd never leave...
"Yes, I have a Disaster Recovery Plan. It's called my Resume"
Why not just use a keychain that does that?
A watch that detects wifi is curious, maybe even useful to some dorks, but it's not cool. A keychain that detects wifi is curious but not cool. A PDA that detects wireless isn't even curious.
This ring is cool because it's a ring. Ever hear of a secret decoder ring? Why do you think it keeps coming up here? Were you never a kid? Are you not even a nerd?
Amy
..is that the Eye will find you and send out the ringwraiths when you wear it. Bummer.
:-)
I was not aware we were calling network security folk Ringwraiths now.
However, I have to admit that it does not seem totally out of line...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I really like this from the cool factor point of view, but it raises a practical question for me.
I have never understood the keychain access point finders. Since they can't tell me if the net is open (much less if it's a protected one I have a key for) it isn't much more than, well, a radiation detector.
Worse, because of (3-space) registration issues, interference, etc. it can find access points that are from a practical standpoint electrically inaccessible to my laptop.
But this ring, that's something different, and very cool.
Anyone notice how in the comments there's like 10,000 references to the One Ring from LotR and maybe one or two references to engagement rings or wedding rings?
Looks like there's a difference between what most people think about and what the Slashdot crowd thinks about...
If I need network access, I either want to have it right at the moment or at least know where to go to get online for sure. I can not imagine lugging a notebook all over the place just in case I get lucky. Better to get bluetooth interface to a GPRS phone in addition to WiFi. But then the ring will only be marginally useful. Of course maybe it's intended just as a curiosity anyway.
This is great for bullies, now if someone is looking to beat up a nerd all they have to do is set up a wireless network and wait for a nerd to home in on it. Almost like a fish finder.
That was Yoda, not Spock.
ProofPlease forgive me if you were trying for humor. It was lost on me. (I had a long day.)
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Actually, you might discover (through experimentation, or whatever) that inserting a processor in-line with an 'LED flasher' circuit can actually save significant power over just blinking the LED itself.
This is due to some esoteric details of how an LED is most efficiently driven. I learned when I was developing firmware for some small hand-held medical devices that used a Microcontroller (an NEC 4-bit controller) that you can actually get greater efficiency (more light output per power consumed) by driving LEDs with a VERY high current for a very short duty. Drive them to 100 mA or so at a 1% duty cycle, for starters, and experiment with high drive current and duty cycle. There is a dramatic current savings over driving an LED with a DC level to get equivalent brightness.
The power saving achived by this means will likely be more than enough to power the processor, if it's one of the tiny micro-power processors. Use one of the little 8 pin PIC parts or what-not.
There- interesting (hopefully) topic drift.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Do not eat Wi-Fi Detector Ring
Doing it this way you might be able to get the circuit down to a couple transistors, necessary resistors for biasing, and a battery.
Now, the problem with doing things this way is that it will pick up any RF - I think the microchip is used to tune to 2.4GHz and only trigger on that frequency band. The chip and supporting components are probably a bit smaller size than what you'd get if you tried to construct a simple RLC bandpass filter with discreet components, too.
"Ad infinitem et ultra!" - Buzz Lightyear
That thing makes an awfully ugly ring, but would be a perfect set of cuff links to go with my circuitboard business card case.
i can see something like this being useful to hikers, or campers or anyone like that who would get lost. I know wi-fi is way to limited for this type of thing, but maybe someday when they figure out how to get a better signal. The ring could show people the way if they get lost. Meh, just a thought.
I thought I saw Angelina Jolie wearing one of these at the awards shows...
This has to be the height of Geek Moron...
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
Actually, what I am looking for is USB memorysticks (or similar) that can be worn as earrings.
Any suggestions? They can make that stuff really small, right?
You don't need to see my
Thank goodness there's a processor in that thing. How else could it sense a DC voltage and light up an LED?
Ubergeeks are so cool...
jesus people. "security risks"? it's an RF detector. end of (very poor) story.
It needs a microprocessor to "detect the presence of a DC voltage" ???
I wore a new ring It is green with a signal Found a cordless phone
Warning, knife is sharp. Please keep out of children.
So you would use a microchip to go from RF noise to detecting that close to 2.4Ghz there is a signal. Using a standard chip not designed specially for that purpose. Maybe think about how you would design the circuit to do that?
What in fact is used to tune to 2.4GHz is the crystal it mentions being hidden round the back of the ring, as per standard.