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Networked Fridges 'Negotiate' Electricity Use

Posted by samzenpus on from the share-the-juice dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers have developed a way to network household and commercial fridges together in a distributed peer-to-peer fashion that lets them 'negotiate' with each other on the best time to consume electricity. A retrofittable controller is attached to each fridge and then a temperature profile is built around the unit. The controller enables communication between other fridges on the network and also the power source. It enables fridges to work together to decide when to cool down, and thus consume power, based on how much surplus power will be available, and to anticipate power shortages and change their running schedules accordingly to use as little power as possible during these times."

13 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. Cold beer by pondermaster · · Score: 5, Funny

    My fridge better not negotiate its way out of cold beer at 7pm.

    1. Re:Cold beer by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 2, Funny

      Fridge Skynet is evil. It might well happen.

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    2. Re:Cold beer by Smivs · · Score: 2, Funny

      Fridges may be cold-blooded killers, but still need human assistance.

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      Smivs on the intertubes!
    3. Re:Cold beer by Foolicious · · Score: 4, Funny

      My fridge better not negotiate its way out of cold beer at 7 AM.

      There -- fixed that for you.

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    4. Re:Cold beer by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Funny

      Having your beer cold is your first problem...what the hell is it hiding that requires the temperature to be turned down to numb?

      Drinking most American Beers warm is like recycling urine. Without benefit of the recycling machine. Having your mouth and throat numb is a feature, not a bug.

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      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Obligitory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I for one, welcome our ice cube dispensing overlords

  3. A cold day... by denzacar · · Score: 1, Funny

    It will be a cold day not only in hell when these networked fridges form a hive mind and decide that they don't need us any more.

    And here we thought that Skynet would come from more unmanned aircraft.
    We forgot that we need our food so we could fight the machines.

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    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  4. Correction... ICEnet by denzacar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Those are not flying fridges - yet.

    And it is quite obvious that should there be a nuclear war fridges would be the only things to survive.
    Indiana Jones taught me that.

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    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  5. Re:Won't be useful to many people by troc · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I step in the shower all power can be diverted to the water heater, etc.

    But what about the forward deflector shields?

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  6. Re:What else? by Smivs · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's give every appliance a connection to the Internet!

    Do you really want your Fridge wasting all day on Slashdot?

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    Smivs on the intertubes!
  7. Re:Won't be useful to many people by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yep ... I was going to put in a Star Trek reference but that would just have been karma-whoring.

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    No sig today...
  8. Re:What else? by LordKronos · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yours doesn't already?

    He's probably just got a really old fridge. He should probably go to Sears and get a new Kenmore fridge. They are on sale this week.

    ***this message was created by the Kenmore Energy Star Net+AI 21.7 Cu. Ft. Refrigerator***

  9. Re:There are quite a few ways to extend functional by Richy_T · · Score: 2, Funny

    more than 50% of my electricity usage was going towards making food lukewarm.

    Welcome to slashdot, Ronald McDonald.