MotoButtons Lite DIY project!

Jörgen · 22 Oct 2023, 21:40

For the DIY freaks

MotoButtons Lite
A low cost, waterproof, Bluetooth (BLE) controller for Drivemode Dashboard motorcycle navigation with joystick and mouse mode for only $28 in parts.

https://github.com/joncox123/MotoButtons?

I am not sure, I have to read all information, and maybe it will work with MRA as well.
I let you know.

Leo Klein · 23 Oct 2023, 08:37

i want to make one if it works

richtea999 · 23 Oct 2023, 16:07

Good spot Jörgen!

His attention to detail in the Construction guide page is second to none, and a comprehensive parts list too.

I see he has the same issue as Joost at BarButtons (and no doubt others), i.e. the price of the 5-way joystick/thumbstick - waterproof ones are very expensive.
However, he offers excellent alternative for waterproofing it yourself.

Oh, but only a KTM rider would fit it on the throttle side, right?

Jörgen · 23 Oct 2023, 16:30

@richtea999 said in MotoButtons Lite DIY project!:

Oh, but only a KTM rider would fit it on the throttle side, right?

Con Hennekens · 24 Oct 2023, 06:57

@richtea999 said in MotoButtons Lite DIY project!:

Oh, but only a KTM rider would fit it on the throttle side, right?

I guess that depends on whether you drive left or right?

joncox · 25 Oct 2023, 03:38

Hello, I'm the author/creator of MotoButtons. I added support for cycling through multiple modes of operation, including a new one for MyRoute App.

I tested it out on the Android app, and it seems to work OK. It supports the same functionality as BarButtons, but the 8th button is a "virtual" button activated by long pressing the center joystick button.

Briefly, the key mapping is up/down/left/right arrows, 'c', '-', '+' and 'n' (vitual). The virtual button pulls up the menu.

Jörgen · 25 Oct 2023, 07:04

@joncox Hi, you read my suggestion, and you have it already implemented.

That is great, thank you very much.

My parts will arrive tomorrow and I hope I can finish the MotoButtons over the weekend. I will let you know the result.

Con Hennekens · 25 Oct 2023, 07:10

@joncox, great that you are here! As I understand it, you open the menu using a press-down on the joystick. Does that same method also activate the menu option you select? That would probably explain why two buttons are enough.

Another suggestion would be to make a longpress on one of the buttons switch from zooming +/- to volume +/-

I am interested, I will look into your project for sure!

Jörgen · 30 Oct 2023, 16:50

So MotoButtons is ready and with some little changes working with MRA.
Zooming in/out, open menu etc. works fine.
I am not sure which mode I like more (mouse or BarButtons), I need to have praxis test.

Anyway thanks to Jon for this great project, I like it.

Martin Wilcke · 30 Oct 2023, 20:43

@Jörgen Can we have some pics, please!

Jörgen · 30 Oct 2023, 21:26

@Martin-Wilcke Looks like this one.

https://github.com/joncox123/MotoButtons?

Jörgen · 1 Nov 2023, 20:25

@Corjan-Meijerink I build the MotoButtons and they work fine so far. The author made some changes already to improve the function.
But they are not perfect, or may be I did something wrong.
The MotoButtons are in BarButton mode as well as MRA. Moving map, zoom in out are ok, long press on the joystick Center open menu or Center map. If I am in the menu, I can move up down, but how to get out of the menu? What command is needed, or how does the BarButton do this? With another button? And how is the skip waypoint working, also with another button?
May be a BarButton owner can help.

richtea999 · 2 Nov 2023, 21:09

@Jörgen The BarButtons codes are here:
https://jaxeadv.com/barbuttons/using-the-barbuttons/barbuttons-user-guide-v4/

The default keymap for MRA is Keymap 1:

And here's the specific info on what Keymap 1 does in MRA:
https://jaxeadv.com/barbuttons/compatible-applications/#htoc-m

So, combining those two together, to leave the menu you need to generate an 'N' = close drawer. Which on BarButtons is button 3.

Let us know how you get on!

Jörgen · 4 Nov 2023, 12:36

Here a video that explains the problem:

https://youtu.be/UYnIyIdnH_o?si=aScruJCCABUo3m7Q

joncox · 4 Nov 2023, 17:51

@Jörgen I think the problem is due to keyboard layout locale in Android and iOS. I changed the "keyboard layout" from US English to German in Android 10, and I reproduced the problem you said you had on iPhone (minus key becomes "/" key).

Your problem is different on Android, however, I am almost certain it is still a keyboard layout problem. You have to also set the "keyboard layout" for the MotoButtons to US English. This will only effect the MotoButtons controller, not the rest of your system.

https://www.mobilefun.co.uk/blog/2015/04/how-to-fix-bluetooth-keyboard-language-settings/

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/add-or-change-keyboards-iph73b71eb/ios

In hindsight, I think MRA should use keys that do not change with different keyboard layouts. In other words, using n, c, +, - is probably a bad idea. However, on a US full sized keyboard, there are two minus keys. Maybe if I send the other one, it will work correctly on US and German layouts. I wasn't sure originally which one to send.

Lastly, in KeyEventDisplay, I noticed that holding down the center button does not release the key until the button is released. This is the proper behavior in DMD2, but it triggers the internal key repeat in Android. Again, the latest firmware is working correctly for me on iPhone and Android with US layout, but maybe this is also causing an issue on your Android tablet. I could try disabling the repeat for center button long press.

By the way, I am not studying the BarButtons code because I don't think he has released it as open source. So I am not looking at it to avoid any potential copyright questions.

Jörgen · 5 Nov 2023, 22:24

HI, I changed the keyboard layout as you said, but get still the black screen like in the video.
But I noticed something, when I do a long press (1-2sec.) on the center button, the first white LED is flashing. If I release the pressure then, the menu opens normal, if I press longer then LED flashing I get the black screen.

Jörgen · 5 Nov 2023, 22:25

Hi, I think we got a little further and were able to pinpoint the problem a little more precisely. It has nothing to do with the keyboard layout.
The MotoButtons send key signals to MRA (n, c, +, -, left, right, up, down).
During testing, I had Google open and cold see what keys were sent to my tablet. You could see +, -, for the zoom buttons, you could see c for the center button, and you could see n for long press center and on longer press nnnnnnnnnn.
But as shown in the video, if you press n too long in MRA, MRA crashes.
The first Idea was that is an issue of the MotoButtons, then I had the idea to use a Bluetooth keyboard in MRA (in BarButton Mode).
Everything worked as expected, except when I press n longer, MRA crashes.
So I can get the same problem, like in the above video with a BT keyboard.

@Corjan-Meijerink can you take a look into this?

Corjan Meijerink · 13 Nov 2023, 11:25

@Jörgen I've replied to the email thread.
The issue regarding long pressing that character has been fixed for the next (beta) update.

Jörgen · 13 Nov 2023, 15:14

@Corjan-Meijerink Ok, thank you, saw the mail.

So you think that this and the other issue with BT connection have the same cause?
I will report after next update.

Corjan Meijerink · 13 Nov 2023, 18:00

@Jörgen the connection crash seems very weird and not reproducible on any of our Androids / iPhones Could be your device, could be the tablet or something else