raspi handlebar housing for sensors and display

thingiverse

What I Wanted to Do: Gather, Record, and Display Information on My Motorcycle My goal was to collect data about my motorcycle's acceleration (xyz), rotation/tilted position (xy), and GPS data. However, I omitted the GPS data initially due to space constraints for a GPS antenna and chip. I chose the Raspberry Pi Zero W for this project because it has Wi-Fi/BT, persistent storage, an OS capable of tasks like FTP, SSH, or Python, and was familiar with it. For this task, the Rasperry Pi Zero W is significantly overpowered. I needed I2C connections for sensor data and displays, minimal storage (measured in KB), and a wireless connection. There are many consumer chips available that fit the bill, but I opted for what I knew and could use later for various other projects. I can watch 720p movies on the Raspberry Pi Zero W, but the power consumption is too high if I only want to record sensor data. To address this issue, I purchased a cell phone external battery, disassembled it, soldered a micro-USB to it, and connected it to the Raspbery Pi. By disabling all services on Raspberry Pi (only command login, SSH, and Python), I achieved approximately 5 hours of runtime with a 1600 mAh battery capacity. The design focused on accommodating the Raspberry Pi, battery, sensor, display, and finding a spot on the bike to attach everything. The only visible location for the display was in the middle of the handlebar. As seen in the photos, it is a single unit containing all components, held together by a 5mm counterpart rod with a diameter of 32 mm and a width of 10 mm. I didn't perform any strength calculations... The PLA I used showed no signs of deformation after speeds exceeding 200 kph and vibrations reaching 13,000 rpm (~216 Hz). To position everything around the rod, you need to find a way to arrange the display, on/off switch, and wiring so they are accessible. It turned out that I'm rather untalented in soldering, so I opted for Raspberry Pi with pins that can be plugged directly into the board. On the other end, the display, battery, button, switch, and accelerometer required soldering. I did my best, which has held up so far. The housing design and components worked together as intended; however, the accelerometer was unable to handle vibrations from the engine. It functioned correctly until about 3,000 rpm but produced disturbances at 5,000 rpm. I attempted to use the built-in low-pass filter and adaptive exponential smoothing algorithms on the data, but ultimately, there were no conclusive results. Please write me if you have knowledge about accelerometers/position sensors. I wrapped the sensor in foam, I wrapped the connection to the rod in foam. Unfortunately, it was not enough to dampen the vibrations. I want to replace the Raspberry Pi with a slimmer chip, find a sensor that can handle vibrations, and add GPS. Write me your ideas!