Redshiftt is my new, patent pending vehicle accessory control system. At its heart is a wireless Bluetooth remote controller housed in a handsome replacement gearshift knob. There are no individual buttons to feel for, nor anything you have to look at to operate the controller. The built-in mechanism is simple, solid, and highly tactile. It doesn’t require fine hand motions, so the driver can find any of the six accessory selection positions and send a command signal solely by feel, even while shifting gears, and even on rough terrain. Built-in battery power means no wires need to be run for the knob, just screw it on the gearshift stalk and it’s ready to use.The mechanism  has a lock-out position to avoid unintentional operation and to power down the electronics for maximum battery life. The knob can replace almost any knob on any standard transmission and some automatic transmission vehicles by simply using the appropriate thread adapter for that vehicle’s shifter stalk.

 

The knob controls weatherproof accessory relay boxes that can be mounted anywhere in or even under the vehicle. There will be different size relay boxes, with two, four, or six relays, plus a two-relay box with two electro-pneumatic solenoid valves to operate air-powered accessories like ARB and Eaton differential locks. Each individual relay box has its own Bluetooth receiver. The knob and receivers form a wireless network, so the single knob controller can control multiple boxes. The modular, networked system allows the user more design flexibility, because rather than having to run a lot of wires and/or air lines to one central control box, different boxes can be installed at locations more convenient to connect with the systems the user wants to control.

 

Completing the system, but not necessary to use it at all, an app can be installed on your smartphone or tablet that will act as a monitor and parallel controller. On-screen touch buttons will indicate the knob controller’s selector position to augment the tactile nature of the controller, indicate the state of every relay, and control the relays in parallel by touch. Each relay channel will be able to be programmed for conditional controls, such as remaining on for a period of time after the ignition is turned off, or operating channels according to speed, time, or other factors. And the screen will always display basic navigational data: time, speed, heading, altitude, system voltage, etc. and give a warning when the knob battery needs replacement.

 

So, that’s a basic rundown on the Redshiftt system. Things are moving along pretty rapidly toward production, I hope to be able to roll it out before year’s end. I’ll have more details, including special applications for Vanagon Syncros, so check in again soon!

13 Comments

  1. cs44

    Can’t wait. You had me at ‘wireless’.

    Reply
    • Chris

      Cool, thanks for the comment. Things are moving along, I’ll have a little update on this soon.

      Reply
  2. Manny

    Can’t wait! 👍

    Reply
  3. john Baise

    Sounds pretty cool, please let me know when it comes out

    Reply
    • Chris

      Thanks John!

      Reply
  4. Ryan

    Any updates on Redshift?

    Reply
  5. Craig Turner

    Sounds interesting. What’s the status? I have an ’85 VW Vanagon Adventurewagon.

    Reply
  6. Jon

    Is this something that could be used for a discrete kill switch?

    Reply
    • Chris

      Sure, you could cook up a number of ways to do that.

      Reply
  7. Rob

    So….. what’s the status on this project?

    Reply
    • Chris

      Hi Rob, thanks for asking. Spring of 2020 I back-burnered Redshiftt to focus on making a stable living in such uncertain times. Things have gone well and I’m putting time into this again, but the partners I was using for technical development aren’t available now so I’m trying to engage new ones. The down time let me think a a lot about what’s been done so far and how I can make it better.

      Reply
  8. Bryan

    Hey Chris, hope everything is going well for you. Any more movement on Redshiftt or have the times been too difficult?

    Reply
  9. Brennan

    I’m interested in this too!

    Reply

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