Existing buttons always leave something to be desired. They look cheap, feel mushy and are of varying quality. MXIO brings mechanical keyboard switches to 12 volt systems in your car. They give a great mechanical feel, a satisfying sound and rated for more than 50 million presses. You can switch between momentary and toggle with a simple dip switch, and they are rated up to 15 ampere, 20 ampere peak, but they are upgradeable through a relay. That should be enough. Oh, and they’re hot swappable, so you can bring your own switches.
There is nothing worse than a great project car that just doesn’t feel right. Sure, it drives amazing. But the buttons suck. They are not satisfying to push, they sound bad, feel mushy, look cheap. You fear they might break at any moment. Usually, they do.
Our Damage Control MXIO buttons aim to fix all of your frustrations. We are not reinventing the wheel here. We are simply adapting the input of mechanical keyboard switches (like CherryMX) to your car’s 12 volt systems. Our design makes the switches themselves hot swappable and interchangeable with other mechanical switches. Clicky or linear, CherryMX or Kailh, you get to swap them out yourselves with ease. Great for customization and repairability.
You are able to switch between toggle or momentary. They’re rated up to 15 ampere, 20 ampere peak. You can upgrade them with a relay.
We are launching by adapting our Damage Control MXIO for the front fog light blanks in a MX-5 / Miata NB. You can fit two DC MXIO buttons in there. You would buy two MXIO buttons, and the fog-button case, in which you slot two buttons.
Another example: in the future we want a 1DIN panel for MXIO switches. That would be a grid of 6x2. You would need 12 MXIO buttons, and a 1 DIN case in which you slot the 12 MXIO buttons.
We will bundle all of this, but we will not force you to buy new MXIO buttons each time you want to move them someplace else.
Damage Control MXIO buttons can be used in every car that uses a 12 volt system. We will make sure the dimensions are properly documented, so that everyone with the skill can design cases and mounts for MXIO.
We will launch with the following products:
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We were talking about mechanical keyboards. The conversation shifted to frustration about available aftermarket buttons for non CAN-bus, 12 volt systems in cars.
We are currently researching the costs to produce the PCB needed for the translation layer.
We have decided that this could be viable. We are starting the PCB-design.
The design of version 1 has been completed. It is way too big. We have to find a way to reduce the size dramatically.
We have opted to split the PCB in two parts. The part that houses the switch socket, and the part that handles the power. The PCB is on the longer side to make sure you line up as many switches as you want, while keeping standard keyboard spacing of around 19 mm center-to-center.
Version 2 submitted, but are not satisfied with the results.
Version 3 has extra safety measures which we missed in version 1 and 2.
Version 4 is done. Until now the wiring solder points were flat pads. Pull hard enough on a wire and you could rip the pad straight off the board. They are through-holes now, so the joint has something to hold on to. We also added some quality of life: an easy way to put the MCU into programming mode, and headers for testing the PCB.
The first 5 prototypes have been ordered. We expect to have them delivered in week 41.
Our first protoypes work! We ran into a few issues too, primarily on the PCB that holds the switch. But still. It works! We are redesigning the PCB as we speak.
Damage Control builds and sells products that solve real frustrations. That means we require input from you. Here is a short list of things you can do.
Talented developers are a rare breed. Are you one of them? Sign up to become one of our development partners.
Join a waiting list so that we see when a product has a lot of demand (or none). It helps us shift our priorities.
Let us know what’s missing in your car. No matter how small or which platform. We will produce viable products.
We intend to build Damage Control as the definitive automotive enthusiast community. Follow us on social media and engage with us to help us achieve that.