5 ms·
I am considering adding a watchdog logic in the microcontroller that holds a mosfet gate, if there is any signs of failure in logic it would pass through the no
by mygnu 1y ago
I am considering adding a watchdog logic in the microcontroller that holds a mosfet gate, if there is any signs of failure in logic it would pass through the normal light signal.
- HPsquared 1y agoA lot is also dependent on how it's wired into the vehicle, as in the main electrical failure modes like open circuit, short to ground, stuck at +12V, etc. Need to be careful about where the responsibility (and liability) is.
- 1970-01-01 1y agoConsider adding logic to test if the bulb is open. That would be a killer feature for sales.
- sgt 1y agoWith BLE integration and an app showing you great deals on bulbs.
- sidewndr46 1y agoAnd also ads for unrelated products down at the bottom of the page in the app.
- fsckboy 1y agoit's all LEDs now, i would think, is "open" still a thing?
- 0_____0 1y agoI have a second concern re: posi-tap as a connection method. Personally, I would not use a insulation displacement connector like that in a high-vibration environment, at least not without many many hours of accelerated lifetime testing under high vibration load. It's possible they're fine, but at the end of the day you're driving a couple of knives partway through a wire in a way that's non-inspectable. For field installs perhaps the low-temp soldering butt splices would work well? That would be my go-to in your shoes. It does require cutting and stripping wires, which has its own issues if done by the layperson, but it does connect and encapsulate the joint in a way that should be very robust to vibration and to environmental contamination/corrosion.
- SoftTalker 1y agoI think the ideal here would be what good trailer brake adapters do in cars that are not factory equipped with a trailer light connector: they have an adapter for each car model that plugs directly in to the stock wiring harness at the taillight. No soldering, no stripping wires, no piercing insulation. However, this complicates the product because you need an adapter for each bike manufacturer and possibly each bike model or even model year. Another advantage of this is it simplifies installation for the bike owner. Just mount the controller and connect the plugs.
- 0_____0 1y agoYou have to run the business case (at the end of the day all the work you do has to support this). What's the NRE/tooling and marginal cost to produce a harness variant, and how many units with that variant will you sell? Will people buy the device without the harness adapter? OE connectors are hard to get, they're typically not some stock Molex or Deutsch dealy-o. I've worked on projects where we 3D printed whole connector blocks to try to do get mating to OE ECUs. It kinda sucks, and you need a whole lot of volume to support that kind of engineering.
- SoftTalker 1y agoAgree, it has to be practical. The better trailer light adapters do it but probably not for every obscure older car/truck model. And really the whole product idea is something that only applies to older low-end bikes. Newer/higher end bikes increasingly have this feature from the factory.