Rocker switches definitely would be the better option. If the push-button ones die out or get stuck and mess up the lights I’ll switch over.
Are you going to wire in 2 of those 12v lasers or just 1? I see people wire in 2 lights but I can’t tell whether they’ve wired it in series or parallel to their buck converters. Considering the lasers have a much lower output than headlights, I’d be guessing either option could work if the bucks are capable?
Really I’m just looking for the safe but less complicated solution 
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Been doing some research on how to light these lasers properly, and it seems that they all have the same issue, whether they’re LEDs or straight laser diodes. After some extended time, they either dim up, or if the current isn’t limited efficiently, they’ll burn out.
For our esk8 application, i’d be guessing we need to have them lit up for an entire rides duration for maximum cool points 
. We can either use a laser diode driver (probably the easiest method), or wire up a circuit with a voltage stabiliser, resistors, a capacitor and the lasers. Not surprised to see why no ones done this before, requires some space and isn’t worth it unless you plan on using a ton of lasers. I’ll probably try all the methods and see which one is better and doesn’t use as much space. I’ll have to ask the guys at LorentzBoards how they wired them up in their board.
Alternatively, there are some external taillights that have lasers built-in, like Meilan X5. Picture from @agentdev 's build.
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Did a rough sketch of possible wiring for these lasers and some small LED strips I might use. Don’t even know if this type of wiring would even work.
Plan is to wire 6 laser diodes in parallel and then also power 2 very short led con strips off the same main buck converter. Not really sure whether i’d wire it to the main battery leads after the anti spark like shown in the image, or to the actual batt terminals before the anti spark. Once all the components arrive I’ll test this and some other wiring methods I have in mind. If anyone has some insight on a simpler or much safer and less electrical-noise producing method of achieving this, I’m all ears.
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Looks ok for me. But you dont need second converter. Use 12V car led lasers as I posted. Why 6 lasers??
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I’m making a wacky laser setup for mine. 3 lasers each side making a sort of 'wing" out the boards side. I’ll be using those cheap laser diodes of aliexpress but they’re rated 5V. These are semiconductor ones so I’ll need to use a constant current driver to give them specific amps (about .02A each) in order for them to not blow out over time. Allows them to run efficiently and stay bright for longer. The 12V Lasers will work as well, but these diodes are much smaller and ‘low profile’.
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Oh man…you’ve got me wanting to do some design again once I get time 
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Working on a smart brake system, auto night turn on lights using a nano. Planning on also make a dash screen using the same arduino. (Still paying with the values gotta make sure its not activating on hard acceleration)
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That’s awesome. Interested to see how it turns out compared to the ones you can buy online, considering those ones have issues with sensors not properly sensing brakes etc.
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Lasers have shown up. Sheesh these are a bit bigger than I thought. Smaller than the 12V car one. Going to connect these with jst ph2 connectors for convenience when servicing the boards internals.
Me and a friend are making iterations on a bracket holder for these that’ll go out the side of the enclosure. Pretty rough model but I’m sure it’ll hold the laser with some inner o-rings and hot glue as a seal.
The most secure method for attaching these I feel would be using a bracket in and out of the enclosure and bolting them in. I’m not too confident that strong glues could withstand accidental lateral impacts on the lasers.
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use Sugru, adjust and done
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Soldered up a mock circuit for the LEDs/Bucks and they work perfectly. Just gotta print the holders and finish up wiring the other lasers. Going to be fun customizing the shapes and how they line up from the sides of the board
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Looks very nice. The Maxkgo Buck converter is insane, 9-90V to 12V and 3A. Seems to run well, but this is just a 6s lipo so I’ll have to see once I hook up the 16s battery. Had to add another buck and LED driver as the lasers are only 3-5V. Despite having to fidget with multiple parallel connections and rushed soldering, it works.
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Anyone know of a dead-simple UART brake light controller? Maybe even a PPM-tap to a microcontroller?
I’ve got 12v accessory power, and I just wanna open/close 12v positive power when braking is active. Are there any known solutions for this or am I better off going a custom route and working with ESP32’s or Arduino?
Unfortunately there isn’t much out there. Ubox has a break light output but thats it afaik. I use it on one of my boards and it works well. Zmote guy is working on something for lighting control but it’s probably a little while out.
I am working on an esp32 as a lighting controller that I could grab the pwm signal or maybe tie it to the can bus to grab a break signal except that this is my first microcontroller project and I have no programming experience lol so i am not making rapid progress. Im meeting up with my friend who is a competent programmer and does projects like this often and we are trading labor so maybe he can get me a bit further along.
Probably grabbing the pwm signal will be the simplest solution - say input from -1400 triggers the output. The buck that the zmote guy makes have a 5v logic input for on off so that could simplify the process a bit, i had to modify the 100v to 12v one he offers as it just has a switch and not a logic input but v1 works as advertised
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It sounds like the Externally Powered version of the TelTail Lighting System would work well for you. It runs off 12v and can control the brake light based on UART or PPM input. I have 1 left and can work with you to customize the kit to include only the parts you need for your build. You can read more about it in the thread linked below or on the documentation page of my website.
Webstore: TTL Control Module EP – Solid Circuits
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I am a TTL user on my other board! Love the system. This is the perfect solution for what I need, and I’ll purchase it now. That’s pretty cool how there is just one left, but I hope one day the project can be revived considering it is fully open source, DIY esk8 is missing a solid go-to lighting controller. board lighting is personally one of the most important factors to me when it comes to a build.
Thank you!
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