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Circular Saw Kickback Killer (We used science to make tools safer) - Smarter Every Day 209 (Patreon)

Published:
2019-02-17 16:45:14
Imported:
2026-06

Content

So we had an idea... and we decided to actually do it.  Chad and I are working together to "put brains in hardware".  

Contact us about putting AI in tools →https://www.lantern.systems/projects ⇊  Click below for more links!  ⇊  Click here if you're interested in subscribing: http://bit.ly/Subscribe2SED Get a free audio book! http://www.audible.com/Smarter  ⇊  Click below for more links!  ⇊ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GET SMARTER SECTION  Technical details about what we're doing: We're working on a time-series problem called a Sequence Classification.  Recurrent Neural Networks called Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are good for that. It’s what they use for natural language processing because it can remember context from the sentence you’ve just spoken.  In this case its used to analyze not just the current timestamp of data, but what has been happening for the last 20 - 250 ms, which helps to reject false alarms.

Files

Circular Saw Kickback Killer (We used science to make tools safer) - Smarter Every Day 209

Get your first audiobook free when you try Audible for 30 days visit →https://www.audible.com/smarter or text smarter to 500 500! Contact us about putting AI in tools →https://www.lantern.systems/projects ⇊ Click below for more links! ⇊ Click here if you're interested in subscribing: http://bit.ly/Subscribe2SED Get a free audio book! http://www.audible.com/Smarter ⇊ Click below for more links! ⇊ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GET SMARTER SECTION Technical details about what we're doing: We're working on a time-series problem called a Sequence Classification. Recurrent Neural Networks called Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are good for that. It’s what they use for natural language processing because it can remember context from the sentence you’ve just spoken. In this case its used to analyze not just the current timestamp of data, but what has been happening for the last 20 - 250 ms, which helps to reject false alarms. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tweet Ideas to me at: http://twitter.com/smartereveryday I'm "ilikerockets" on Snapchat. Snap Code: http://i.imgur.com/7DGfEpR.png Smarter Every Day on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SmarterEveryDay Smarter Every Day on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/smartereveryday Smarter Every Day On Instagram http://www.instagram.com/smartereveryday Smarter Every Day SubReddit http://www.reddit.com/r/smartereveryday Ambiance and musicy things by: A Shell In The Pit. http://ashellinthepit.bandcamp.com/ The thought is it my efforts making videos will help educate the world as a whole, and one day generate enough revenue to pay for my kids college education. Until then if you appreciate what you've learned in this video and the effort that went in to it, please SHARE THE VIDEO! If you REALLY liked it, feel free to pitch a few dollars Smarter Every Day by becoming a Patron. http://www.patreon.com/smartereveryday Warm Regards, Destin

Comments

Jesse Loewen

I've used Arduino to build many things. I haven't built stuff like this yet. But I once build a simple thing with a screen, button and an LED. When the LED lit up you would push the button and it would tell how long you took. I have never gone faster then 100ms or 0.100 second. My average was around 230ms or 0.230s. I think it's interesting that my fastest reaction is almost twice as slow as it should be for kick back.

KC

That is fantastic. Makes saws much safer and most certainly extends the life of the blade if not the saw motor itself. I was amazed to see the amount of wobble in the blade after the moment of the kickback. That has to hurt the accuracy of cuts made after a kickback event. Another savings is the reduced loss of material. A kickback can result in the material being cut marred and potentially unusable. Great job! I'm a big fan of sawstop technology for table saws and this is right up there with it. I don't know if you were kidding or not, but a chainsaw version of this would be even more valuable.

Sorka

Neal Stephenson is a favorite author of mine.

Michael Baker

Destin, PLEASE tell me there's going to be a Seveneves NDQ book club episode!

Daniel Johnson

This is a wonderfully practical use of AI! I hope you get a good response from the manufacturers. How practical do you think an add-on would be for existing brake-equipped saws? Attack the market from both ends!

Alexander Ek

Is that blood in the ceiling from a circle-saw-kick-back-accident, Destin?

Alexander Ek

At like ~40s into the video.

Matt Jones

Chainsaw AND tablesaw. This was rad, Destin!

Daniel Wisehart

So what happens if you try to cut a board with the saw under heavy load, sensors and software, without trying to induce a kickback? Does it cut OK without false triggering a blade stop? How does it compare to a saw with a worm gear?

Brian H

I've worked for three different top major tool manufacturers (brands you feature in your video), and my advice is that you research why Saw Stop has failed at approaching the mass market with their safety mechanism. In brief, they created an amazing mechanism that was massively beneficial, then demanded a huge royalty for it (long term), and when turned down because of the royalty and liability concerns, Saw Stop tried to force their way into the market through mandatory legislation claiming to the Consumer Product Safety Commission that users "need" the safety mechanism on which they refused to take a reasonable royalty. Thousands of dollars have gone into the legal effort to prevent making it a mandatory mechanism due the the monopoly it'd create, how it'd affect prices for users, and ultimately the potential collapse of the table saw market (Many manufacturers would consider exiting the table saw market if they could not align product price with user tolerance). That said, I think the folks I know working on those products at those companies will likely see this video, but if not, let me know and I might be able to assist making the connection.

Cousin Vinnie

Technical note: I've done work with Neural Nets. SUPER useful, but I never thought of applying them to safety mechanisms! You guys are amazing, and this is freakin' sweet! But, to be clear, this is not "AI". (In case anyone is thinking that.) It's simply learned behavior through pattern recognition. Part of the process for AI, but on it's own, simply machine learning, as Destin says. YES!

Clifton Ballad

Can you apply this idea to angle grinders for cutting metal? A kickback event on a 4 1/2" grinder with a cutoff wheel is a fairly scary event and (without checking safety data statistics) likely the cause of most wheels shattering and causing injury. An even scarier object that causes a fair number of injuries are the wire wheels you can get for grinders. I may or may not have had a 4 1/2" grinder staring me in the face straining against my wound up T shirt after a few millisecond event, and I may or may not have needed new underwear... Also, reach out to that Foul mouthed Canadian guy with the youtube channel about not boring tool reviews, if for no other reason than his cynicism may help guide you in dealings with large tool companies, but may yield insights into how to make your idea into a viable and useful product. And now for my own unsolicited opinion. You guys should build your own line of tools. Build them to last for 40 years or longer, with all the useful features and with user serviceable parts. Build the things around as many industry standard parts as possible. Make adapters so that one could use competing tools batteries/power supplies. Build tools that last, knowing that the business model isn't about planned obsolescence, but growth comes from expanding the markets and objects that are being built. Start with Circular saws and Angle grinders, when that market is saturated, switch to making blenders or ovens or other consumer goods. Build ALL of them to last damn near forever, with major upgrades being the only reason to replace. Done ranting for now, patreon is annoying with how they do their reply section... I might have to get twitter... Uhg... Cheers Clif

Jash

Hey Destin, This is really cool stuff. I'm working in a StartUp, where we put brains in hardware, just on an industrial scale. So I was thrilled to see you get this to work. Out of interest: what framework are you using to teach the AI and which hardware do you run the model on, in the saw? I assume you tried TensorFlow, so I suggest testing the edge TPU, if thats not allready what you're running with. We're currently working on an integration of that thing and it's... promissing. Anyway, keep up the spirit. Since I'm actually earning money myself now, I can afford to give some back to the people that inspired me to get here.

smartereveryday

Wow... i really like the idea of a brand built to last forever.

Clifton Ballad

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in business will tell you its a bad idea. Much resistance will be encountered from anyone in a suit that deal's with money/large corporate tools will tell you its a bad idea. Large marketing firms will likely give you some resistance due to their existing relationships with the above mentioned corporate types. But, so many more tradespeople and weekend warriors alike would agree on having a tool that they only have to buy once, even if it costs a bit more, and especially if it actually works better, and they are the ones you need to find and learn from. The issue will be of reminding the consuming public of what tools used to be, like the old Craftsman brand, because so many have gotten used to/given up and dealt with the Harbor Fraud style of tools/business that it will take much effort to break through. The large box stores like Home Defect and Blowes will be hard sells on things that will decrease foot traffic/volume of "things" moved... They might actually have to invest in customer service and what not and of course that cant happen... I'm sorry for the cynicism but this is an issue that I take to heart as it has an impact on not only my wallet but society and the planet as a whole, and it seems like few people really get why it's an issue which is what bugs me the most. I'd bet a round of Good beer that at least %80 of the junk in the Pacific Garbage Patch are junk consumer products that can and should be built to last more than 1-2 years... Then add in All of the resources and CO2 committed to making utter bovine excrement products... Also, as a metal fabricator for a living, seeing brands that had good lineage falling to the level of Hazard Freight level of quality while still commanding the price tags of their glory days hurts my day job and my hobbies at home... Again I'm running into the limits of editing my post, so I will end with an apology for any lack of proper grammar/spelling/college level writing and a final thought; It is the best option for Everyone (except the existing semi-monopolies) to create a brand of products that are built to last over a lifetime of use. The answer to all of the "what do you do when you saturate the market?" questions is to expand the market. Do not stop until everyone on the planet has a set of tools that will last for 40 years or more with decent use. Imagine what some of the small villages in Africa could do with a set of solar charged battery powered tools that are hardened to their environment? Again, more ranting... I was supposed to stop a paragraph ago If you want to hear more ranting about how to make better tools/products and how it could help save the world, do let me know LoL. I can rant for hours just from personal experience. Also, my dad was an analytical chemist for GE and later the Govt, who specialized in radiochemistry and is a geologist (he collects LOTS of rocks...) as a hobby, so I do understand quite a bit about science and the world we live on... I ended up becoming a Welder (that occasionally works on things for where Dad used to work) but don't tell my extended family... they still think I play Piano in a house of ill repute... Cheers! Clif

Shane Brewer

One if my friend's contactor almost lost his hand due to kickback. Thank God the incredible surgeons were able to save his hand and his life. Short of the story this was really cool tech and i can't wait till it's standard tech on equipment.

Chad Green

@Brian H, this is Chad from the video. Thank you for your comment and perspective on forcing safety features. We've had good success talking to manufacturers and it looks like we'll be able to get some very reasonable licensing agreements in place. If you've still got contacts, we're always interested in spreading the word further. Feel free to email me at info@lantern.systems