Originally published at: Kini Motion Detector Adds Email Notifications and Previews Stasis Mode - TidBITS
The Kini motion detectors can now alert you to motion using email instead of or in addition to SMS, making them usable by those outside North America and opening up automation options. Kinisium is also testing a Stasis Mode that alerts you when a Kini hasn’t moved as anticipated.
We got a Kini to put into my wife’s jewelry drawer for when the cleaners are in the house. So far it’s worked very well. It notifies us when she opens & closes that drawer. It triggered once because I think the cleaners bumped the handle on that drawer. So I’m very happy with the device overall.
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First off, thanks to @ace for the article last fall that introduced me to Kini. It’s a nifty idea from an innovative entrepreneurial start-up. I would have probably never heard of them since I no longer receive promotional emails from Kickstarter (got burned once too often). The new Kini ‘stasis’ capability is really clever – I’m sure I’ll find a use for it soon.
Here’s my current Kini use case, which is somewhat off the beaten path (literally). I want to use Kinis to monitor activity at a nearby property where there is no internet. Thanks to the Kini blog, I learned of the Solis WiFi hotspot. It’s a combined WiFi hotspot and cellular LTE data modem. It includes a ‘universal’ virtual eSIM that can connect to cellular networks all over the world with no subscription, no prior sign-up, no muss, no fuss. Just plug it in to a 5V USB power brick and within a minute or two, it’s on-line over LTE data. It comes bundled with 1 GB/month of cellular data, for life! (Or as long as Solis stays in business…). The Solis Lite cost me $169CAD at Best Buy. The 1GB/month is more than enough to provide network connectivity for a bunch of Kinis. (The Solis Lite AP supports up to 10 WiFi devices). I’ll probably put Kinis on the front door, back door, garage door, and perhaps in the shed out back.
Then there’s the matter of power. Mains power can be dodgy at the property. In fact, at present, there’s no mains power. So I’ve added a 10Ah LiFePO4 12V battery (ie, 120 Wh of power) and a 10W solar panel to keep it charged. The Solis base station consumes less than a watt, so the battery should have enough autonomy to maintain the WiFi network through several nights and cloudy days when the solar panel won’t be doing much charging.
The next step in my remote monitoring and security project is to add one or more Wyze cams, powered from the battery and also connected to the Solis Wifi. The Wyze cams are somewhat more power hungry. My older V2 Wyzecam draws around 330 mA at 5V (ie, 1.65 W). It’s not clear if the 10W solar panel is big enough to do the job. The 10W rating is the theoretical maximum output - a clear sunny day, panel aimed directly at (and tracking) the sun, and located at the equator… In real life, the panel will deliver a lot less energy, so it’s not yet clear how many devices (Kinis and Wyze cams) can be supported.
All this thanks to @ace (and TidBITS), who catalyzed the entire project with the first Kini article. Thanks, Adam!!
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My use for my Kinis are one in the mailbox lid and one on the home safe (though the safe one sometimes has difficulty connecting- it is inside of a safe - and gives me notices about that)
Nice idea and simple solution