thewsc
It is often the same with software. Good feedback on software isn't random ideas, suggestions or feature requests that adds hundreds of hours of work on a whim. It is feedback that considers the work that has already been done. Anyone can come up with something else, especially in theory and with a blank slate. It doesn't really require anything other than an opinion. Hacker News certainly is proof of that.
It's random because pretty much anyone could volunteer that opinion. By diagnosing the problem, making a patch and reaching out the author has already made their intention of fixing the problem clear. Unless it has been established that the problem isn't valid a workaround isn't really relevant.
Effective communication and exchange of ideas needs to have a good ratio between work and value. I used to frequent meetups where people would present projects with thousands of hours or work and priorities behind them. There would almost always be someone with less experience stating their "ideas" on what should be done instead. Eventually those people would end up talking among themselves where their ideas could flow freely without any restriction of actual work being done.
Experienced people provide value. They try to understand the problem, add their own experience to it and validate the work that has already been done. They make the problem smaller and closer to a solution. They don't, or shouldn't, casually increase the scope for little reason.
It isn't realistic that you are going to develop a product from nothing in your spare time. If you don't know anything about hardware, chances are your idea isn't even any good. You didn't even ask a proper question, presumably because that would ruin the fantasy. Are you telling me you can't google how to make a prototype?
Yes, that sounds pessimistic. So I will give you the real advice. If you actually want to bootstrap a hardware project in you spare time, do something that is realistic. Do an add-on board for an arduino or a raspberry pi, or something with an esp8266 that you design yourself and sell in small quantity on e.g. tindie.
How long is that going to take you? Depending on your software experience, maybe a hundred active hours. How many hours would be realistic on average every week your spare time, maybe five? So around six months if you include holidays. Now you can imagine how long your original idea would take.