A Low-Cost Solid State Clothesline Alarm

Modern electrical dryers are often equipped with end-ofcycle alarms, making their use more efficient and reducing the need for periodic monitoring. We believe that lowerincome households as well as ecologically aware consumers, drying their laundry on a clothesline, could benefit from a similar mechanism. Such an alarm must be simple to use, compatible with existing systems and low-cost. This work describes the design of a solid state FSR based alarm device for detecting when a batch of drying clothes on a clothesline is dry. In this paper we outline our design guidelines, product development process, and the mechanical and logical structure of our product. Author