<story><title>Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?</title><text>Amidst the sea of software startups, I&amp;#x27;m keen to learn who in our community is braving the often-quoted &amp;quot;hardware is hard&amp;quot; mantra. Whether you&amp;#x27;re working on IoT, robotics, consumer electronics, or something completely off the wall, please feel free to share below.&lt;p&gt;Remember, no venture is too small or niche! It&amp;#x27;s the passion and innovation that counts.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>lotsofpulp</author><text>I am always entertained by the extra amount people are willing to pay for the tiniest bit of risk reduction (or appearance thereof) for baby and kid related products.&lt;p&gt;For example, paying an extra $900 for a car seat, but then taking the kid on unnecessary car rides, which are magnitudes riskier than not taking the kid in a car.  If you are willing to pay that much for such an immaterial decrease in risk, surely you should avoid taking the kid in a car unless absolutely necessary.&lt;p&gt;Although, I guess some of it is also showing what you can afford.</text></item><item><author>gambiting</author><text>The price is insane man. The best of the best car seat according to lots of reviews(Cybex Anoris-T) is &amp;quot;only&amp;quot; £599, your thing is significantly more and I don&amp;#x27;t see why it&amp;#x27;s any better.&lt;p&gt;Edit: sorry, let me rephrase that - not insane, just hard to justify.</text></item><item><author>aquaphile</author><text>We make the world&amp;#x27;s best baby car seats.  &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kioma.us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kioma.us&lt;/a&gt;  Fatherly Magazine calls it &amp;quot;The Car Seat of the Future&amp;quot;.  It&amp;#x27;s been crash tested, flight inversion tested, flammability tested and mom tested.  It is full of patented innovations to make kids safer and parenting more enjoyable.&lt;p&gt;It required lots of material science, production techniques, supply chain adjustments, and a surprising amount of software (to model dynamic stress, and to run the robot and CNC trim paths).  Once you get to the point you can clearly articulate your BOM and Specs to a manufacturer for MOQ=50, things get a lot easier.  At the prototype stage we built everything ourselves, but now we use OEM manufacturers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>NikolaNovak</author><text>Our risk assessment is as emotional as is logical.&lt;p&gt;When it comes to driving specifically, my friends will buy a 50k SUV to feel safe, but will then buy cheapest plasticy tires or refuse to join me in advanced safety class.&lt;p&gt;That being said - kids are vulnerable, fragile, and don&amp;#x27;t make their own decisions. As a newish parent myself I 100% understand the extra pressure that puts to make the best possible decision for them.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?</title><text>Amidst the sea of software startups, I&amp;#x27;m keen to learn who in our community is braving the often-quoted &amp;quot;hardware is hard&amp;quot; mantra. Whether you&amp;#x27;re working on IoT, robotics, consumer electronics, or something completely off the wall, please feel free to share below.&lt;p&gt;Remember, no venture is too small or niche! It&amp;#x27;s the passion and innovation that counts.</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>lotsofpulp</author><text>I am always entertained by the extra amount people are willing to pay for the tiniest bit of risk reduction (or appearance thereof) for baby and kid related products.&lt;p&gt;For example, paying an extra $900 for a car seat, but then taking the kid on unnecessary car rides, which are magnitudes riskier than not taking the kid in a car.  If you are willing to pay that much for such an immaterial decrease in risk, surely you should avoid taking the kid in a car unless absolutely necessary.&lt;p&gt;Although, I guess some of it is also showing what you can afford.</text></item><item><author>gambiting</author><text>The price is insane man. The best of the best car seat according to lots of reviews(Cybex Anoris-T) is &amp;quot;only&amp;quot; £599, your thing is significantly more and I don&amp;#x27;t see why it&amp;#x27;s any better.&lt;p&gt;Edit: sorry, let me rephrase that - not insane, just hard to justify.</text></item><item><author>aquaphile</author><text>We make the world&amp;#x27;s best baby car seats.  &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kioma.us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.kioma.us&lt;/a&gt;  Fatherly Magazine calls it &amp;quot;The Car Seat of the Future&amp;quot;.  It&amp;#x27;s been crash tested, flight inversion tested, flammability tested and mom tested.  It is full of patented innovations to make kids safer and parenting more enjoyable.&lt;p&gt;It required lots of material science, production techniques, supply chain adjustments, and a surprising amount of software (to model dynamic stress, and to run the robot and CNC trim paths).  Once you get to the point you can clearly articulate your BOM and Specs to a manufacturer for MOQ=50, things get a lot easier.  At the prototype stage we built everything ourselves, but now we use OEM manufacturers.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>reaperman</author><text>And some of it is buying convenience. The peace of mind from knowing you have the safest seat allows risking more rides which frees up impromptu errand scheduling. Whether the math actually works out is orthogonal to the psychological effects.</text></comment>