It's working!
I know, its been way too long since I started this thread, but I'm back. I spent a fair amount of time trying to get things developed the way I had envisioned but ran into too many hangups and lost interest for a while. Well, after seeing that JDG released his version with the work that I started, I decided to finish up what I had with a focus on the lowest possible cost. Also, my last auto-x event I forgot to turn esc off and it killed my run, that's when i knew I really HAD to make this thing work!
The main hangup was time, the original version would be too time consuming for me to assemble. Plus with OEM connectors it was expensive and I didn't think anyone would spend over $65 for this (apparently some will!). So I spent some time in the past few weeks working on a redesign that reduces the components and simplifying the code.
With that being said, here is the latest test of the final code and functionality.
VIDEO!!!
[video]https://youtu.be/tprAR9xpiNI[/video]
That dev board in the video has a lot going on but here are the parts below that are needed:
1. Trinket dev board (called in a teensy in the vid, whoops!)
2. Optocoupler
3. Wiring
View attachment 18513
The opto is cheap and effective and while utilizing the built in pullup resistors on the board, I don't need any external resistors. The wiring is an inexpensive PC motherboard extension that fits the OEM pins perfectly.
I'd like to release the info 'open source' so anyone with a soldering iron can build one at minimal cost. I'm also considering selling very budget friendly kits (not sure if I'll assemble or sell as kits, maybe both). Most of the parts are available only in quantity so it may be cheaper for everyone if I order the parts and sell individuals.
Any how, I can say that finally have a tested working kit. It can be set default to 'ESC off' or 'Sport Mode' and can cycle through the different modes using a single press. Since this project will be open source, I'm hoping others will pitch in code to add the functionality I don't have much time for. Like being able to program the default straight from the button.
I'll post back in a few days with the kit assembled and some more details on the parts.
At this point I'm not interested in making this a commercial product any more (looks like JDG already kind of did that) but rather a cheaper alternative if you want to spend less. I just want this to be a cool feature that is accessible and affordable to the masses.
Stay tuned... and I'd like to see how many of you out there would be interested in a parts only kit?