Knocki was my first startup, where I served as CTO and led development of a device that transforms any surface into a smart controller. Mount it to your bedside table and tap twice to control your lights, or knock a secret pattern to arm your security system—think of it as The Clapper reimagined for modern smart homes.
The Technical Challenge
Building Knocki presented fascinating engineering challenges. The initial assumption—that you could simply attach an accelerometer to an MCU and call it done—proved woefully inadequate. Everyday surfaces experience constant background vibrations: fridge compressor motors, HVAC systems, footsteps, doors slamming, and countless other sources of noise that make distinguishing intentional gestures from environmental interference remarkably difficult.
With unlimited power, sophisticated digital filtering could solve these problems. But we didn’t have that luxury. Operating on battery power meant carefully managing wake cycles, gradually bringing the device to higher power states only when necessary to process tap gestures and transmit events to our servers. The solution required extensive DSP work and meticulous power management design. When we finally achieved reliable gesture detection on battery power, it felt like a genuine triumph.
From Prototype to Production
Knocki was my first journey through the complete product lifecycle: ideation, prototyping, fundraising, design, production, fulfillment, and customer support. The early days were characterized by hand-assembled PCBs, blue wire fixes, and plenty of hot air rework. We launched on Kickstarter and became the largest successful project from Texas at the time, ranking in the top 5 worldwide.
As we scaled, I built and managed a multidisciplinary engineering team spanning electronics, mechanical design, firmware, systems engineering, and web/mobile development. I experienced firsthand the challenges of managing customer expectations during the pre-order phase and the complexities of post-launch support—troubleshooting bugs and discovering creative (sometimes unexpected) ways customers used our product.
Reflection
I’ve since left the Haptic team, but the technology lives on. It’s cool to watch as the idea gets integrated into high-tech furniture by OEMs and integrated in large commercial installations around the world.