2020-10-28, 05:16 PM
the waterproof switches I have found cost a lot, so the 8 button remote is going to end up costing the same as the autopilot computer!! So this is one option but not really ideal.
I think the most interesting is 3d printing a mold and pouring silicon to make a waterproof enclosure for the electronics. This will end up being a somewhat difficult project in the end though.
I played with capacative touch a bit, it may be more useful on a keypad wires to the controller but not so much for a portable remote control, because you will push the wrong keys if they are too close, and often tapping multiple times etc.. and water messes it up.
The other option is to make boards that can fit in existing tiller pilots to re-use the buttons, but each has different dimensions and I have given away a lot of these so I can't measure them. This way, still only 2 wires are needed for the motor itself since the buttons are completely separate and wireless. If anyone is interested, it would be helpful to give exact coordinates of the locations for tactile switches, and perhaps I can make boards to support a few different tiller pilots.
Now it would be possible to "tap" the motor power to charge a capacitor to completely avoid draining batteries (or even slightly charge them since alkaline can do that) but so far it seems with 2xaaa batteries the remote can last for years already.
I think the most interesting is 3d printing a mold and pouring silicon to make a waterproof enclosure for the electronics. This will end up being a somewhat difficult project in the end though.
I played with capacative touch a bit, it may be more useful on a keypad wires to the controller but not so much for a portable remote control, because you will push the wrong keys if they are too close, and often tapping multiple times etc.. and water messes it up.
The other option is to make boards that can fit in existing tiller pilots to re-use the buttons, but each has different dimensions and I have given away a lot of these so I can't measure them. This way, still only 2 wires are needed for the motor itself since the buttons are completely separate and wireless. If anyone is interested, it would be helpful to give exact coordinates of the locations for tactile switches, and perhaps I can make boards to support a few different tiller pilots.
Now it would be possible to "tap" the motor power to charge a capacitor to completely avoid draining batteries (or even slightly charge them since alkaline can do that) but so far it seems with 2xaaa batteries the remote can last for years already.