Update on my bike handlebar bluetooth remote control project-
I built a prototype with a mini joystick but decided it wouldn’t work well with gloves (an important design goal) so I went back to buttons. That one was basically a breadboard with a clone of the Nordic dev board, which I actually zip-tied to my handlebars for testing! After that I went back to proper buttons, which I can 3D print big pressy knobs for.
I did the autumn prototype board by hand-
It’s still bulky and uses 2*AAA batteries but I was happy with the format for a working prototype.
The current board was basically the same but I hired a freelancer for an hour to lay it out nicely in KiCAD (which I’m not too familiar with) so I could get it made by one of the PCB prototyping factories
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This was quick and disturbingly cheap (made me regret spending £2 on the Sharpie permanent marker I used for etching the previous prototype!!)
I’ll test this for a couple of rides zip-tied to my hardtail flat handlebars in a zip-lock bag for waterproofing. If it’s all good I’ll 3D print an I-spec mount.
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I already identified a couple of flaws though. Also, the goal eventually is to build one small enough to integrate with STI shifter- that means using a smaller LiPo battery (and I want USB charging, i.e. more complicated power control) and a much smaller surface mounted bluetooth module. So I am already working on the next iteration!