# An Interview with Felix Rusu

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2018-07-09
- Length: 1h 24m
- Episode: 398
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/398-an-interview-with-felix-rusu/

## Summary

Felix Rusu of Low Power Lab explains how he built a home automation ecosystem using sub-gigahertz radios and low-power microcontrollers to avoid the range and power limitations of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. He details the design of the Motino board, which uses an ATmega328P and custom libraries to manage RFM69 modules, enabling features like automatic transmit power control and wireless firmware updates via external flash. Rusu discusses the trade-offs between RFM69 and LoRa, emphasizing that for most residential applications, RFM69 offers sufficient range with lower complexity and cost, while highlighting the importance of keeping data local on a Raspberry Pi gateway rather than relying on the cloud.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=0) Introduction and Background
- [11:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=661) Choosing Sub-Gigahertz over 2.4 GHz
- [24:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=1473) Motino Hardware and Low Power Design
- [28:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=1715) Wireless Firmware Updates and Reliability
- [42:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=2574) RFM69 vs LoRa and RF Protocols
- [51:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=3113) Home Automation Products and Use Cases
- [1:10:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=4242) Range Expectations and Troubleshooting
- [1:19:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-07-09-an-interview-with-felix-rusu#t=4777) Manufacturing and FCC Certification

## Topics

- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Batteries & low-power design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/batteries-and-low-power)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Low Power Lab (company)
- Motino (product)
- RFM69 (chip)
- RFM12B (chip)
- ATmega328P (chip)
- LoRa (product)
- Raspberry Pi (product)
- Hope RF (company)
- Semtech (company)
- Silicon Labs (company)
- Arduino (product)
- MotionMote (product)
- GarageMote (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Changing the World One Wireless RF Chip at a Time](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2024-06-04-changing-the-world-one-wireless-rf-chip-at-a-time) (Moore's Lobby)
- [Ep 367: Radioactive Weather, Continuous Pickles, and Moon Junk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2026-04-24-ep-367-radioactive-weather-continuous-pickles-and-moon-junk) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [Ep. 9 | Mesh Networking for IoT Smart Homes with ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Bluetooth](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2020-09-11-ep-9-mesh-networking-for-iot-smart-homes-with-zigbee-z-wave-and-bluetooth) (Moore's Lobby)
- [70: Make Us All into Sherlock Holmes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-10-03-70-make-us-all-into-sherlock-holmes) (Embedded.fm)
- [272: Stick 'Em on Whales](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2018-12-28-272-stick-em-on-whales) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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