Ramos Alarm Clock says no to snooze, requires leaving bed to turn off

(CBS/AP) HOBOKEN, N.J. - There is no snooze button. If you unplug it, a battery takes over. And it offers a "lockdown mode": As wake-up time approaches, you cannot reset the alarm time.

Once it goes off, to stop it you must get out of bed and punch in a "defuse code" such as day's date into a telephone-style keypad located in another room, such as the kitchen or bathroom. That's the only way to stop the loud `ding-ding,' designed to sound like a customer angrily banging on a concierge bell at a hotel.

You can also set a per-determined number of "snoozes" or wake up in a courtesy mode where you hear 10 seconds of alarm, then have a 1-minute grace period to get up.

It was invented by Paul Sammut, a 25-year-old engineer who lives in Hoboken. During the day, he builds and researches underwater robots and vehicles at the nearby Stevens Institute of Technology.

Ramos alarm clock website
Kickstarter page

He started working on the gadget because he was finding it hard to get up and make it to work on time after college.

"I wanted to make something that would essentially force me to get out of bed when I wanted to get out of bed the night before," said Sammut. "And I was thinking about ways of doing it and I thought about how in high school I had the perfect solution to this, which was my mother, and how she would, if it was time for me to wake up, she would force me out of bed."

He built the prototype in his spare time and uses it every day.

"Now I wake up before it goes off," said Sammut. "I subconsciously fear it and know I have to get up."

After a friend suggested he try and sell the device, he made a video demonstrating it, and posted that on kickstarter.com, where the public can support creative projects by investing in them financially.

"We raised over $150,000 over a month and a half and we currently have over 400 orders," said Sammut.

Sammut has formed a company and is now trying to fill all the clock orders by the end of the summer.

He acknowledges there is one way to stop the alarm without getting out of bed.

"You could smash it," said Sammut.

But with a price tag of $200-$350 for standard models -- and $800 for a custom model -- that would be a really expensive way to sleep in.