Sober look at the breathalyzer - review of semiconductor DrinkMate
For the first time, DrinkMate came to us back in September last year, almost immediately after the last update of the campaign on Kickstarter appeared .
We had played enough with the sample, provided this opportunity to our friends, and then decided to “put DrinkMate” in very, in our opinion, extreme conditions: to test it on a sober person.
This desire was due to the “blasphemy” addressed to the majority of semiconductor-type breathalyzers, which are consistently blamed for “promiscuity” and the lack of accuracy of testimony as opposed to electrochemical gadgets. In particular, it is argued that in some cases, for example, in the absence of calibration, they will sooner or later begin to "show alcohol" in an absolutely sober person, reacting to nicotine.
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Despite this, some breathalyzer semiconductors are known among professional technology, including the Russian Hunter, the Belarusian Alcotest, the Ukrainian Alcont, and some others that analyze changes in the sensor conductivity, which is affected by ethanol vapor.
DrinkMate belongs to the same type, but at the same time, it seemed to him that it had a number of advantages, functional and stylistic. Least:
How it works
The device synchronizes with the phone through the port and works in tandem with a proprietary application for IOS and Android , which give tips on how to use a breathalyzer and allow you to fill in your profile: gender, weight, country and language selection, choice of units:
The application will not let you make a mistake in the sequence of actions or do something earlier than expected. First, of course, you need to connect DrinkMate to your smartphone, then wait ten seconds - the sensor will warm up, after which it will blow. In this case, the words diverge from the picture. From the visual instructions, it follows that the breathalyzer should be brought to the lips almost closely, although the text recommends maintaining a distance of 3–4 cm.
However, errors can occur if exhale incorrectly. This should not be done very quickly, evenly, sending a stream of air, and not jerky "exhale." Otherwise, an error message is waiting for you, after which you will have to wait for the re-measurement until the sensor cleaning procedure is completed.
Such a procedure can take several minutes, although it can be shortened by manual ventilation of the breathalyzer, as recommended in the screenshot. Then you can start the measurement again.
From the very beginning we were frightened with a margin of error for everything. Nicotine, citrus fruits, kefir and kvass, which settled in a warm place, bananas and cherry juice ... Therefore, as a person who has not been drinking for a couple of years, I stocked up on each of the samples.
And I must say that I systematically received a zero result, despite all the zeal. For comparison, I took the old sample of the Chinese mobile alcho-tester Hohoney, whose action is based on the same principle, and after kvass and cigarettes, for example, he counted me a couple of unacceptable units.
In order to get a little bigger numbers, I asked my wife to drink some kind of expensive cherry beer to make sure that the device was capable of such numbers. She quickly mastered half of 0, 33, after which we smoked on the balcony, and then drank the leftovers.
The default unit of measurement is BAC, or “blood alcohol concentration”, which correspond to: 0.1% BAC = 1 ppm, For example, 80 mg% = 0.08% BAC = 0.80 ppm. And this, in general, looks like a low-alcohol cherry beer.
Measurements not according to the instructions: fast sharp exhalation, very close distance:
In any case, no matter how credible or, on the contrary, mistrust is any digits with DrinkMate, the developers display a warning message that one should not take the testimony as a guide to action. It is necessary to understand that such a breathalyzer is an analogue of common sense, and if you understand that the evening went well, then it is better to try to call a taxi, and not rush behind the wheel.
The device will be an excellent gift and souvenir, which is easy to take with you to quickly take advantage of almost no special long preparation. It is sold in an oblong box, inside which there is a breathalyzer and accessories.
In length it does not exceed five centimeters, and its diameter is less than the beer cap. It consists of two parts: a sensor and a cover, which covers USB or Apple Lightening to connect to the phone and gives the device a complete cylinder shape. On the opposite side - the holes in which you want to exhale.
Cost DrinkMate - 3 000 rubles .
We had played enough with the sample, provided this opportunity to our friends, and then decided to “put DrinkMate” in very, in our opinion, extreme conditions: to test it on a sober person.
This desire was due to the “blasphemy” addressed to the majority of semiconductor-type breathalyzers, which are consistently blamed for “promiscuity” and the lack of accuracy of testimony as opposed to electrochemical gadgets. In particular, it is argued that in some cases, for example, in the absence of calibration, they will sooner or later begin to "show alcohol" in an absolutely sober person, reacting to nicotine.
')
Despite this, some breathalyzer semiconductors are known among professional technology, including the Russian Hunter, the Belarusian Alcotest, the Ukrainian Alcont, and some others that analyze changes in the sensor conductivity, which is affected by ethanol vapor.
DrinkMate belongs to the same type, but at the same time, it seemed to him that it had a number of advantages, functional and stylistic. Least:
- The gadget is unusually tiny, and this makes it very convenient in terms of transportation: it fits perfectly in your pocket and is removed from there if necessary. In contrast to most, even the models already mentioned, the DrinkMate is an almost weightless cylindrical "trick".
- The lack of a display and other pointers to a measuring device does not give out a breathalyzer in it, which allows it to be used delicately and does not characterize a person in any way.
- The absence of a battery eliminates the error due to a podsazhennogo battery.
How it works
The device synchronizes with the phone through the port and works in tandem with a proprietary application for IOS and Android , which give tips on how to use a breathalyzer and allow you to fill in your profile: gender, weight, country and language selection, choice of units:
The application will not let you make a mistake in the sequence of actions or do something earlier than expected. First, of course, you need to connect DrinkMate to your smartphone, then wait ten seconds - the sensor will warm up, after which it will blow. In this case, the words diverge from the picture. From the visual instructions, it follows that the breathalyzer should be brought to the lips almost closely, although the text recommends maintaining a distance of 3–4 cm.
However, errors can occur if exhale incorrectly. This should not be done very quickly, evenly, sending a stream of air, and not jerky "exhale." Otherwise, an error message is waiting for you, after which you will have to wait for the re-measurement until the sensor cleaning procedure is completed.
Such a procedure can take several minutes, although it can be shortened by manual ventilation of the breathalyzer, as recommended in the screenshot. Then you can start the measurement again.
From the very beginning we were frightened with a margin of error for everything. Nicotine, citrus fruits, kefir and kvass, which settled in a warm place, bananas and cherry juice ... Therefore, as a person who has not been drinking for a couple of years, I stocked up on each of the samples.
And I must say that I systematically received a zero result, despite all the zeal. For comparison, I took the old sample of the Chinese mobile alcho-tester Hohoney, whose action is based on the same principle, and after kvass and cigarettes, for example, he counted me a couple of unacceptable units.
In order to get a little bigger numbers, I asked my wife to drink some kind of expensive cherry beer to make sure that the device was capable of such numbers. She quickly mastered half of 0, 33, after which we smoked on the balcony, and then drank the leftovers.
The default unit of measurement is BAC, or “blood alcohol concentration”, which correspond to: 0.1% BAC = 1 ppm, For example, 80 mg% = 0.08% BAC = 0.80 ppm. And this, in general, looks like a low-alcohol cherry beer.
Measurements not according to the instructions: fast sharp exhalation, very close distance:
In any case, no matter how credible or, on the contrary, mistrust is any digits with DrinkMate, the developers display a warning message that one should not take the testimony as a guide to action. It is necessary to understand that such a breathalyzer is an analogue of common sense, and if you understand that the evening went well, then it is better to try to call a taxi, and not rush behind the wheel.
The device will be an excellent gift and souvenir, which is easy to take with you to quickly take advantage of almost no special long preparation. It is sold in an oblong box, inside which there is a breathalyzer and accessories.
In length it does not exceed five centimeters, and its diameter is less than the beer cap. It consists of two parts: a sensor and a cover, which covers USB or Apple Lightening to connect to the phone and gives the device a complete cylinder shape. On the opposite side - the holes in which you want to exhale.
Cost DrinkMate - 3 000 rubles .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/367967/
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