I want to share with you the story that eventually led to the creation of Dossant Electronics. I wrote the article below around Feb 2012 and it described the motivation and the vision for the project called CellStarter. I hope that you enjoy learning about it!
“In preparation for my first winter in Minnesota I installed a remote starter in my car. Of course, my plan was to start my car while at home and let it warm up before I would get in. The remote started I purchased had an advertised range of 1/2mile. However I quickly found out the remote starter did not work when inside my home. A building was an obstacle the remote control could not overcome rendering my brand new remote start system useless.
Being really concerned about the extreme cold temperatures, I was in search of a way to overcome the range issue. I wanted a cost effective way increase my range. I could not find a suitable product out there that was low cost and had no annual subscription fees. I did not want to pay too much for a feature I would only utilize 3 or 4 months of the year.
That was the motivation for building CellStarter. I figured the most simple and cost effective way was to use a spare cell phone and leave it on my car. When I want to start my car remotely, I simply call that number. CellStarter is an adaptor between that spare cell and my car’s remote starter system. Now with CellStarter I am able to start my car from virtually anywhere there is cellular coverage.
Moving forward, instead of keeping this solution to myself, I would like to share it with others. In order to do so I must turn CellStarter into a product. One which you must (1) find useful, (2) easy to install and (3) reasonably priced.
I dedicate this site to the project of turning a prototype into a product. As a hobby, I’m doing this for the end product as much as for the fun and learning along the way.” -Igor Ramos
Check out the demo video recorded in November 2011. This is a proof-of-concept of CellStarter.
[youtube http://youtu.be/xdTZt-yp2os]Although CellStarter did not make into a consumer product and it’s no longer being developed, it’s building blocks are now seen in several other projects such as the MICO Shield for Arduino, DTMF Module and RECAP! Furthermore, one and a half years developing CellStarter taught me key lessons in the complexities involved in taking an idea from prototype to product when you have very limited resources. This is material for several other posting…
I hope you enjoyed to learn a bit about how it all started.
-Igor