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IEMI Labs
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SensingDesign complete (stages 1–6, rev B), not built, not validated

LaundroLink

Every washer and dryer's uptime and coin count, plus a live free-now page for customers

Shows which washers and dryers are running, which have gone silent or faulty, and whether the coins collected match the cycles run, and shows customers which machines are free right now.

Who buys it
Owner-operator of 1 to 3 laundromats with 30 to 60 machines; coin-only stores with older machines first.
Why it pays
About $160/month per 40-machine store from faster repairs and fewer check-in drives, and about $250 if coin gaps are real (est., unproven). The free-now page may add $75–225/month in visits (a hypothesis to test).
Target price
$399 per 16-circuit hub + $39/store/month (target)
First-minute wow
The owner opens the store's free-now page on her phone and sees the same live board her customers see: 14 washers free, 3 dryers finishing in 6 minutes.
See the CAD designConcept page
LaundroLink concept: the idea and where each part goes
The concept. The CAD design is below, under Printable CAD.

What the research found

And how this design answers it

  • A clamp on a machine's power cord reads zero → CTs go on one hot conductor of each machine's branch circuit inside the panel
  • Mains work needs an electrician → pilot stores use magnet-on vibration pucks; production board is 5 V SELV with mains only on listed parts
  • Coin-only stores are shrinking → payment-agnostic current sensing, free-now page and uptime alerts work in card stores too
  • Theft value is unproven → price case works without it; the coin check is an evidence report, not an accusation
  • Gas dryers show motor current only → igniter current step is learned per machine to detect "tumbles but never heats"
  • Poor Wi-Fi in back rooms → optional LTE-M module fitted only when needed

Use case

A washer goes down at Saturday peak

OwnerAttendantRepair techLaundroLink cloud

  1. 01Trigger: washer #14 has drawn only idle current for 90 minutes while its neighbours averaged 1.6 cycles each
  2. 02Detection: the silent-at-peak rule fires and notes the last cycle ended with a short drain
  3. 03Alert: SMS to the owner, who taps "Ask attendant"; the attendant finds an error code and confirms it down
  4. 04Action: the free-now page marks #14 out of order and the owner books the tech from the alert

Outcome: Repaired the next day instead of after about 4 days; about $100/month in washer and dryer revenue recovered (est.)

How it works

Architecture

  1. 01

    Sense: one split-core CT per machine branch circuit at the breaker panel (pilot: magnet-on vibration pucks)

  2. 02

    Measure: DIN-rail hub with 2× TI ADS131M08 (16 channels) and ESP32-C6

  3. 03

    Send: MQTT over Wi-Fi, or events only over optional LTE-M (about 12 MB/month)

  4. 04

    Decide: cloud classifier turns current into cycles, phases and faults, learned per machine

  5. 05

    Tell: owner app with alerts and coin reconciliation, public free-now page, QR fault reports

Hardware

Real parts, buyable today

Bill of materials: about $242 per hub at prototype quantity ($172 Wi-Fi-only); about $32 per pilot puck (est.).

BlockPartWhy this part
Current measurement2× TI ADS131M0816 simultaneous CT channels per hub
MCU + Wi-FiESP32-C6Wi-Fi first, no extra radio needed in most stores
Cellular (optional)SIM7080G LTE-MFitted only where the back room has no usable Wi-Fi
Power + enclosureMean Well HDR-15-5 PSU, listed DIN fuse terminal, CamdenBoss CNMB/9 UL94 V-0 boxNo mains on our PCB; mains touches listed parts only
Pilot sensorMagnet-on vibration puckNo electrician needed until the owner has seen value

Mechanical

Printable CAD

10 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.

See the CAD parts render
LaundroLink printable parts, rendered from the CAD
Render of the printable parts from the actual CAD. Not yet printed or photographed.

Loading the CAD…

Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways

Open risks we are working on

  • An inspector may reject the unlisted SCT-013 CT inside a panel; listed CTs cost about 15× more and break the $399 hub price
  • Classifier signatures are typical values, not measured; VFD washers and shared breakers may blur phases
  • Demand is unmeasured: coin-only share, real coin gaps, and whether the free-now page brings customers
  • Texas licensing for CT installs and the UL listing path for the assembled hub are unconfirmed
  • LTE-M coverage inside a steel panel room is unknown

Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.