Today is the day that Milwaukee One Key was revealed to the tool world, and everything changed. Or not. How will Dewalt respond?
Last month we wrote about Dewalt’s new 20V Max Bluetooth battery packs, as part of our larger 2015-2016 Dewalt new cordless power tool preview post. These new battery packs communicate with your smartphone or other compatible mobile device, and allows for status reporting as well as lock-out functionality.
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Milwaukee’s One Key smart tool tech offers much more functionality, such as the ability to essentially reprogram your tools.
Did you know what Dewalt’s brushless tools are programmed through the battery interface? It’s true – check out the photo above, which I took at Dewalt’s recent media event. The event was held at their Charlotte, NC factory, where one of the activities was to “build” our own 20V Max brushless hammer drills.
After the Dewalt brushless drill’s components are assembled, and the housing is fastened together, they’re programmed and then tested.
If Dewalt product managers and engineers haven’t yet caught wind of Milwaukee One-Key, and how One-Key M18 Fuel drills and impact tools will essentially allow for user customizations and programmability, I’m sure they’re going to be talking a lot about it today and tomorrow.
If I were an engineer or product manager at Dewalt, I would be asking two questions right about now. 1) Is this functionality that our users want or need? 2) Can we offer similar functionality? 3) Can we offer users something even better?
Do you know what would be better than Milwaukee’s One-Key tool control? The ability to reprogram the Dewalt brushless tools that users already own. Maybe it’s possible, maybe it’s not. All I’m saying is that, if at Dewalt, this is the angle I’d look at first.
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Here is a list of most (if not all) of Dewalt’s 20V Max brushless fastening tools:
- 3-speed impact driver
- single-speed impact driver
- compact drill and compact hammer drill
- premium drill and hammer drill
- 2-speed framing nailer
- finish nailer
- rotary hammers
- screwgun
- impact wrenches
That’s a lot of tools. It might not be possible, but wouldn’t it be great if Dewalt’s new 20V Max Bluetooth battery packs could allow for some level of tool customizations. After all, the tools are programmed via the battery interface! Maybe tools would require an initial reprogramming at a service center in order to allow for user customizations?Just an idea.
This is a theoretical discussion about how Dewalt could potentially respond to Milwaukee’s One-Key tech, or at least how I am hoping they respond. After thinking about it for a bit, I’m still uncertain as to whether reprogramming Dewalt 20V Max brushless tools through their battery interfaces would be possible. Maybe the programming is locked in, and there’s no way to reflash the tools as they have been engineered.
Still, maybe revisions of Dewalt’s fastening tools will allow for user customizations through the Bluetooth batteries as a connection interface. That’s more possible than expecting Dewalt’s current tools to allow for the level of communication and programming that we’re talking about, right?
Or maybe Dewalt determines that this is something their users don’t want and will never want. That’s a strong possibility. Look at Dewalt’s brushless tool offerings. Until now, Dewalt have focused their brushless motor efforts solely on fastening tools – drills, drivers, wrenches, and nailers – unlike Milwaukee, which has expanded their brushless offerings into saws and grinders, tools where greater power, efficiency, and runtime are definitely welcome.
I would love to be a fly on the wall at Dewalt offices this week.
Do you think Dewalt will seek to match or best Milwaukee’s One-Key capabilities, and if so, how?
Benoit
Just like the Milwaukee M12 heated gear a few years ago, tool manufacturers will laugh at Milwaukee One-Key technology claiming it’s gimmicky, no serious pro needs that kind of stuff, and so on.
But secretly, they will sit and wait to see how the market reacts, hoping customers will massively ignore the One Key technology.
Then, when they will realize in couple months from now that we are in 2015, customers are buying into One Key at a fast rate, because those same customers are younger, have smartphones, and love and understand new technologies, they will panic and yell : “Oh sh*t, we need to address this ASAP before Milwaukee reduces our market shares even more”.
Obviously, it will be too late already and they will be one, if not two product generations behind, just like they are right now in almost every tool category, except maybe accessories.
Right now, Milwaukee is leading the way, is taking chances (think about Li-ion about a decade ago, brushless motors and hand tools 3-4 years ago, now One-Key), and they put a lot of pressure on themselves to create something different. Everybody else is just following them, and try to imitate Milwaukee with more or less success.
While I do not wish any harm to Milwaukee’s competitors, I would love to be torn between several manufacturers as to which cordless system to buy because they would all have something different and special. Lots of competition is always a good thing for everyone. At the moment, unless you are a brain dead fan boy with a manufacturer’s brand tatooed on your forearm, it’s very hard to ignore Milwaukee’s broad offering of cordless tools on their 2 main battery platforms (M12 & M18). Unless you just need a basic drill and impact driver set, Milwaukee is pretty much the only brand that makes sense today for construction workers looking into a broad range of cordless tools featuring corded performances.
Hopefully Dewalt, Makita or Bosch will try to get into an innovation battle with Milwaukee. It would be nice to see 2 or 3 main competitors in the tool manufacturing business, just like Canon and Nikon are to the photography business, or even Apple and Samsung are in the cell phone business. To keep the cell phone analogy, Dewalt, Bosch and Makita are behaving much more like Blackberry than Samsung or Apple… They better wake up soon though, because cordless tools is a captive market, and once you chose and bought into a system, you will keep adding tools from the same platform.
David Funk
You drank the red Kool-Aid didn’t you.
Benoit
LOL. It might look like I drank the red Kool-Aid, but I sincerely think this is where the future of powertools is going. It might sound gimmicky today, just like cell phones taking pictures were a few years ago, but who knows where this technology will lead us to?
logan
This reminds me of over clocking PCS or tuning (reprogramming engine timing/fuel tables and transmission mapping) for cars. Other than the sanction by the OEM, I don’t see this taking the market by storm. It doesn’t actually give you any added performance, but it does bring something neat to the table. I wonder if the tools can be run out of factory spec.
Surely wouldn’t give the rush of added performance you’d see with a tuned 5.0 Coyote, or the increased speed of an over clocked cpu. Only talking about the performance aspect here.
The other stuff is unique, though it might not be particularly useful. The new Miller Digital Infinity tracks arc time, but the usefulness of that eludes me.
Maybe this new stuff can give Milwaukee reason to deny warranties eventually, due to excessive stress and misuse of a tool. Not that it’d know you put a 6″ hole saw on it and tried to bore through 1/2″ stainless. Yet.
Seems cool in any case.
Robbie Stanford
Dewalt has never been a company to rush things out of the door just to get them to market, (how long did it take them to get an oscillating tool out?) but I don’t see this one key catching on, I’m a techy person and I don’t see how I could use this or it being a factor, if it allowed real customization like adjusting torque curves or inventory tracking of what tools are in your truck or van then maybe it could be useful to commercial operations, especially if the one key operated the lock on the tool room then you could track who took what tool.
Maybe it could work if they integrated this into 36 or 40 volt tools but not 20 volt, sorry to say but 20 volt tools are a homeowner item, I’m not talking about quality or power but size, if I were a professional I would rather have to deal with a combination of 12 volt and 36/40 volt tools then just a 20 volt set.
Put this technology in the 36/40 volt line where the tool can be customized for a single job not in the 20 volt line where the tool is asked to be an all around tool.
Benoit
Wow!
“if I were a professional I would rather have to deal with a combination of 12 volt and 36/40 volt tools then just a 20 volt set.”
Well, you are obsiously not a pro, and you have not been on a construction site in a long time… 36v or 40v battery is a dead platform. There’s so much juice in a M18 or 20v batterye pack, you don’t need more. Milwaukee even came out with an M18 with 9.0Ah for extreme applications. By the way, do you know they now have a M18 SDS Max rotary hammer?
Jason
Except for Makita we have seen very little growth in 36v/40v tools. The only tools that seem to get updated are tools that deal with concrete drilling or chipping. The only brand that does things slightly different is Makita with their x2 platform where 2 18v batteries=36 volts. They they do offer better performance but nothing to right home about.
john
Look how long the XR second fix has taken to come to market. A long long time. Hopefully they have ironed out any creases before launching. Not sure that’s the case with others. Look at the Bosch 10.8v debacle and the Makita 18v battery failures and incompatabilty problems
Robbie Stanford
That’s why I would have 12v tools they have more than enough power to handle 90% of what needs to be done, and there lighter. If dewalt wants to compete then they need to wake up and innovate not follow, there expanding there 40 volt line of tools into the lawn tools, 40v brushless could easily replace corded tools with runtime for days.
Joey
Might as well attach a generator to your tool and call it cordless if 40V brushless seems to make sense. I’m sticking with Milwaukee for now. I love my M12 tools.
Steven B
In the software industry, we have a term “Solution looking for a problem.” I may well be wrong, but every power tool user I know is not interested in great precision, but having something work reliably. As a woodworking hobbyist, I just want my impact driver to work. I can’t picture any software tuning making a difference in my life. I certainly spend more of my time thinking about my project than the precise torque settings of my tool. There is certainly no harm in a company introducing a product and seeing how the market will react, but I am just finding this launch baffling rather than exciting. Who knows, history may prove me wrong.
Benoit
What would you say if Milwaukee had fastener profiles you could download in your drill or impact driver? Let’s say you need to install gypsum board, you fire up your One Key app, assign that specific type of screw to position #1, dial in position #1, and voilà, you no longer need a drywall screwdriver. How about that?
I think you are not envisioning all the potential of this techynology.
Another example, you have a crew, and some of your guys are young with no experience. You need to install a material that is tricky. You create a profile for the type of fasteners you are using, load it up in every drill used for that job, and once again, you will get very consistant results regardless of who installed it.
Jason
As the foreman you can mess around and find the setting that works best, and then you can tell they guys do this and you would have issues with over setting screws, breaking fasteners, or just stripping them out. People don’t realize some workers just don’t have any finesse when it comes to things.
logan
Who’d go through the hassle of doing that, and what company with crews would bother to switch their cordless lines to Milwaukee for this? I see the practicality (sort of, as software use, and then trial and error, or downloading and installing profiles on every tool), but this seems geared toward the hobbyist or enthusiast, not the contractor.
I’d be willing to bet that few companies would abandon their current platforms for this. I do work with contractors, though they are all in steel construction.
All tools now have variable triggers, save a few, so I really can’t see this being a complete game changer.
Chris Fyfe
I feel , based on no imperial evidence , just straw poles with the Dudes I know , DeWalt will die a slow , painful death .
Chrid
logan
Dewalt is the premium power tool line for stanley black & decker. There is no death.
Joey
Logan,
You are right, they might not die but they’ll probably end up making dewalt premium toasters like Black & Decker.
http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/products/toasters-and-toaster-ovens/toasters.aspx#/?page=1&filter.brand=Black%20and%20Decker&filter.categorytier2=Toasters%20and%20Toaster%20Ovens&filter.categorytier3=Toasters
logan
LOL. I’d love to see that!
Lenny
Or DeWALT will actually come out with something that is useful. I agree with what a previous poster said “a solution looking for a problem”.
Joey
Like the blue tooth batteries they just came out with? I do not see any usefulness with their battery packs.
skfarmer
i see very little if any practical use. more gimmick and hype than actual usefulness,
want to increase sales overnight. release the adapter that would allow the use of 20 volt max batteries on 18 volt tools. millions, yes millions of tool users would buy into that platform versus any other brands.
don’t believe me? take a poll stuart . ask actual users what they would rather have, a smart tool or new battery technology in the older tools
logan
I took a multimeter to the contacts on my Makita 18v tools. It fluctuated between 19.9 amd 20V. 20v is the voltage with absolutely no load. Once it’s in a tool and is ready to use, it’s a 18v battery.
Dewalt called the 18v slide battery a 20V max for marketing reasons. 20v sounds stronger, and it differentiates the two product lines.
Joey
Why would I invest my money on a company (dewalt) that made me invest a bunch of money to buy their 18v NiCad line to change it to 20V Max, make it incompatible, later make me buy an adapter, Plus now I need to buy a battery and charger.
Umm No thanks.
john
That argument just doesn’t hold water. What do you expect? Do you think companies shouldn’t move on with new technology.
I had plenty of Makita 9.6v stick battery gear, then the Bosch 14.4v range came out so I shifted to that. Then over to the Dewalt XRP and now am on to the Dewalt XR.
It simply is progress and development toolwise.
Reflector
I’m not really seeing any “real” torque settings more than what the drill clutch physically provides. Seeing as they aren’t putting a real, calibrated meter on there, that function’s pointless.
The only thing I can see is that you can program in profiles for very specific applications such as where the user would be able to drive a fastener “braindead” by slamming the trigger down and watching their impact driver do a few gentle taps, speed up and then max out until it senses enough torque load and cuts out to prevent the head from shearing off the shank.
If anything the biggest thing here would be the inventory management for the fleet users. They’re the bigger winners if they’re willing to spend the cash, otherwise there’s nothing new here than exposing the controller’s settings in the tools to the end user by a limited extent.
Toolfreak
I see more promise in the capacity of chipped tools to be kept track of wirelessly at the job site than in the software tuning aspect, but that’s not to say the tuning won’t be a nice perk of the tech.
Batteries and tools that can be tracked if stolen, can be disabled if they don’t connect to the network within a set period of time, that is tech that contractors would gladly pay for. I know they are getting into this with the batteries, but the tools could benefit from it more.
I’d be more interested to see what Bosch comes up with than DeWalt.
That said, I think there’s a grave risk that this stuff gets out of hand and we wind up with tools that have EULA’s like computers and software.
I didn’t like it when I found out my Bosch 12V stuff was chipped and keeps track of how I use it and when I use it, though that can only be used by someone with direct access to the innards of the tool.
I would not want to own a tool that could be hacked, or just accessed by the company, who puts in a clause that they can access your tool anytime and look at whatever information it has collected. Granted, a tool chip probably isn’t going to contain much earth-shaking, privacy-invading info about it’s users, but I can see a scenario where companies hand over info to law enforcement and someone gets say, imprisoned because the software showed they used a tool at the jobsite where a crime occurred, when they swear they were somewhere else. Not that I’m against actual criminals being caught by technology, but it’s fairly easy for real criminals to frame innocent people using such means.
So I guess once we’re going down that slipperly slope, it’ll be more interesting to see who still makes dumb, old-school power tools that don’t do any whiz-bang stuff rather than who has what hot computer tech in their products.
Benoit
While the EULA type of crap has now started to plague many products we wouldn’t have expected just couple years ago, John Deere tractors saga comes to mind, it may be just verbiage in the case of power tools.
I woudn’t lose sleep over having my tools collect information and get me in trouble later on. While it may hold some worthy evidences in some rare cases, any serious court of law will request much more than that before sending someone to jail.
On the other hand, an no one has mentioned it yet, I can see from here how Milwaukee could use the information they will eventually collect through the One Key inventory program. Just remember the application is in the cloud, meaning they are hosting it, and they are safeguarging your data. This also means they can run any kind of queries in the hosted databases, analyze the data, and figure out customer purchase patterns. If they access the data coming from the tools, they will have a lot of feedback to create the next generation of tools.
All in all, just like smartphones, there’s some good, and some bad. If you don’t want to be part of this, don’t buy their products. Simple.
Joe
Dewalt is too busy with lawn and garden tools……
logan
Just wait for the Dewalt corded lawnmower. Offers far higher runtime than cordless competitors!
Nathan
I suspect dewalt is already thinking some about it with their new battery system.
I could see them taking a departure from milwaukee and keeping the BT or WIFI com circuits in the batteries – that way if the com circuit were to get damaged, or die – the tool could still be useful.
and if there was coding that told the battery what it was connected to (and that should be easy) then dewalt could offer some of the features milwaukee is showing.
I think like usual cost is going to be part of the equation. for the home owner milwaukee’s ONe KEY doesn’t bring much to the table. neither does dewalt’s BT batteries. But with Dewalt the comms system doesn’t automatically add to the cost of every TOOL.
might work out well for them – time will tell
Zachary
I hope the don’t respond to it. I don’t want power tools that to connect to a phone or have fancy computers in them that increase the price. How about focus on stuff that matters instead.
Joey
What matters?
To me is productivity, performance and reliability.
logan
None of which are largely impacted by this innovation. Thankfully, buyer are given the option to forego this technology.
john
Have to fully agree, it is just yet another thing to go wrong. Big issue with all this phone controlled remote deactivating etc is that the bad guys will just take the tools and then go after the owner for the phone.
Joey
It’s interesting that many people think its not efficient and that they will never invest their money on something “gimmicky” but it seems that a lot of guys neglect the fact that they will continue making regular brushed and tools without One Key. That in mind as a consumer knowing I have options and that my battery pack, that aren’t cheap to buy, will work on a wide range of tools is really the driver in my purchasing decisions. I might not need one key on all my products but if I’m a plumber and invest 3K+ on a Utility Force Logic Crimper all those features will come in handy.
I still don’t understand how some Bumble Bee guys think dewalt is any better than Milwaukee.
Blair
Joey,
As a working contractor, (albeit sort of a rookie, I’ve only had 40 years in so far), I can tell you that my crews,are for the most part “bumble bee guys” not because we feel DeWalt has a clear advantage over Milwaukee, but rather by ergonomics. The DeWalt line meerly felt better in their hands, and using them day in, day out that is important.
That said, DeWallt is building its tools in the U.S.A, and that is fairly important to me as well.
I’m looking forward to testing the new cordless miter saw, and we are firmly entrenched in their line by now. Everything is subjective.
logan
Dewalt closed their US factories, and is reopening them just now. Plenty of their tools are still imported. It’s hard for me to be loyal to a company that brags about US production after completely destroying it.
Makita 5″+ grinder production , along with some corded drills, never left the US. They don’t brag about it, or throw it on the box like they’re heroes.
Milwaukee does make Sawzalls here, along with blades. Chinese ownership or not, I hope they bring more manufacturing here.
Joey
Blair,
I can understand that many guys already entrenched in dewalt wouldn’t change platforms, I wouldn’t either. But if I had to start from ground zero, lets say my tools got stolen, I think Milwaukee is overall a better buy and tool. I see a lot of guys who also buy dewalt for the price, again I don’t blame them but in the end, what are the important factors in a tool, to me productivity, performance and reliability. Ergonomics is somewhat a factor but I like to make $$$ if a tool can perform faster, easier and increase my work that’s what I want to put my hard earned money into.
logan
Higher prices do tend to make people think the quality warrants it, regardless of actual quality. Just because a Cadillac is far more expensive, that doesn’t make it not a dressed up Chevy.
That said, DeWalt is above PC and B&d.
Michael
Remember when they said PCs were stupid and no one would want one?
Technology always starts some where. It may not seem extremely functional now but it opens the door for new innovation. This is rarely a bad thing. I can imagine a day when the tech can be used to track productivity. To determine waste. Easily track minutes used. Report power consumption. All dumped to a smartphone/pad in real time.
I may not use it now but I love it’s potential.
Joe
“The ability to reprogram the Dewalt brushless tools that users already own.”
That sounds like a good idea…from what I can remember throughout the past years, I’ve read a couple of questions here and there where they would like more control on the torque output. Especially on the impact wrenches. Though I have also have heard workers that would like more control on their drivers (clutch is not enough) when working with, for example, drywall or MDF.
Phil
Stumbled on to this article while searching the web for a way to reprogram an existing DeWalt brushless tool.
Why am I looking for a way to reprogram? Because the tool is on a production workbench where a handful of holes must be placed on a $6000 component, but the tool has a big problem! It’s an impact drill, and each time the trigger is let off quickly the weight & inertia of the chuck is unscrewing itself from the braking force. So about every 4th or 8th time I go to use the tool the drill bit goers flying off across the workbench and I have to stop and go looking for that one bit. So, not only am I trying to keep track of the correct sequence of pilot sizes and finished sizes among a handful for one component, I must also remember to re-tighten the chuck every 3 or 4th time I use the tool. I think this is BS!
I know the flat topped battery design is needed because the space inside the tool grip is where a micro-controller is located. Compare trigger modules between the older 18 volt tool lines and these newer brushless tools. You will see that the old tools have a much smaller trigger module that leaves enough room in the lower half of the grip to place one mini-C cell at the top of the battery pack. That is the projecting portion of the battery that inserts inside the grip. Tear your battery apart to understand this, or look at some youtube tutorials on how to rebuild your packs. (ebay has drop-in kits for the older 18 volt packs that do not require soldering, so no need to waste money buying a new battery case when all you need is fresh cells and contacts)
Anyways, knowing that DeWalt must necessarily use some form of micro-controller to even have a brushless motor, has prompted me to search for options. And now that I have found this article, the fact that DeWalt does have a way to at least initially program a custom profile means that now I am looking for how to make use of that. Thank you Stuart for posting that fact!
I think using bluetooth and a phone-based app would be a bit of overkill for the majority of the market, especially if that should be ‘baked’ into an upgraded battery pack. There will be a lot of batteries that will never need this feature.
Maybe, a thin-profile adapter that slides into place between the battery and tool can provide an optional programming interface. And, might be an advantage to allow programming any tool simply by keeping the custom profile on a non-volatile memory chip inside the adapter. So the adapter itself can be in effect a visual indicator that the tool is running a custom setup, so you can tell at a distance which tool is which. Going this route would mean yet another bluetooth radio, inside the adapter. That adds less than a dollar to a 10K production run of control boards for a proposed adapter.
But for the moment, all I want is to change the ramp-down on the tool even if that means I must take the tool home and set it up on my own bench while replicating the work environment.
I don’t know what is possible for programming, but what I want is for the tool controller to recognize a fast trigger let-off as opposed to a controlled let-off. That is, when I go from full throttle drilling to full-stop as fast as I can get my finger off of the trigger.
In this fast off condition, the controller can measure the amount of milliseconds that pass between trigger positions to decide if a custom ramp-down mode is needed or not.
There should be a way to set the number of milliseconds for a threshold like say anything from 10 to 500. The smaller number depends on what would leave room for ‘debouncing’ the trigger position.
But, even if the threshold is fixed at say 350 mS, I want to be able to then set how many mS go by before the tool comes to full stop. Anywhere from 100 to 2000 mS.
Ok, if I can fix that problem, then I want to also set ramp-up times for several trigger positions or have the controller calculate proportional ramp-up depending on a full-throttle setting I like. But this would be beyond what I need to change for production.
If any reader should see this article, and reads these comments, who may know anything abouty the DeWalt programming interface & protocols – please leave a comment here so others may follow – thank you!
In the meantime, now I will see if anyone has reverse-engineered this feature, or consider how I might be able to do so…
Stuart
You’re welcome! I was surprised too, thinking that the programming was baked into the circuit boards.
That’s an interesting challenge – to reverse-engineer Dewalt’s 20V Max brushless tool programming. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don’t think it would be easy to hack the interface. I suppose that would depend on the microcontrollers that Dewalt uses in their motor controller circuitry.
The kinds of customizations that you’re hoping for might not even be possibly with Milwaukee’s OneKey tools, and they were designed for user customizations. But if one could tap into the raw coding, it *might* be possible, assuming that the hardware is precise enough to allow for timing control on the scale of tens of milliseconds.
John
Man that one key bs is dumb if there is one thing I know dewalt is the only tools I can drop 30 foot off the ground and pick it up and it still work and now dewalts flexvolt blows Milwaukee “one key” bs outta the water I don’t care what guys that sit around and try tools out say I’m a carpenter and dewalt makes the thougest strongest tools money can buy and now they just made it so u don’t even need power to a job site with cordless chargers no questions ask dewalt is the best
Red
People don’t look at this from all perspectives.
One comment said maybe we’d like to use specific profiles for various jobs.
Well, I’d rather trust my hands and fingers rather than some software with unknown content.
The batteries are already taking a bad turn with Milwaukee preventing cell replacement. Enough is enough. I want to be able to trust what I do, not what a lazy programmer and a paper-only quality control may or may not do.
And what prevents people from creating custom profiles ? Like a self-destruct one ? (guess what happened with some S’es from samsung…something similar) .