Old Festool CT MIDI/MINI Bluetooth enablement.

[Goldserve]

I was disappointed while pleasantly surprised to find the control board all potted up so I couldn't tap into the power and control signal to turn on the vacuum. I looked around and found a person trying to accomplish the same thing (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/makita-(jdm)-vacuum-remote-start/) with a different brand of vacuum but the way it simulates the load is ingenious. A pure capacitive load won't draw any power so I don't have to sink 100W to trigger the vacuum but the electronics still sees current flow of ~0.9A so it will still turn on.

The final product here:
YouTube Video
https : //youtu.be/6hmbjQUKAuA

 

[AlexThePalex]

Works good, but isn't it a bore that you have to haul another box around?

 

[Goldserve]

It’s only a garage shop. The bore is running back and forth to hit the button.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I keep the little remote in my shirt pocket when using the vac in manual mode.

 

[krudawg]

I was disappointed while pleasantly surprised to find the control board all potted up so I couldn't tap into the power and control signal to turn on the vacuum. I looked around and found a person trying to accomplish the same thing (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/makita-(jdm)-vacuum-remote-start/) with a different brand of vacuum but the way it simulates the load is ingenious. A pure capacitive load won't draw any power so I don't have to sink 100W to trigger the vacuum but the electronics still sees current flow of ~0.9A so it will still turn on.

The final product here:
YouTube Video
https : //youtu.be/6hmbjQUKAuA

I guess I don't understand why you want to convert the Mini/Midi to Bluetooth.  I installed a remote control activated electrical outlet made by IVAC.  Cost about $100.  No messing with the circuit board of the Midi.
You can find it at Woodcraft, Amazon etc. 

 

[Goldserve]

That’s fair, you could do that. It was more of an educational experiment and the ability to use that cool bt remote that is strapped to the hose. I definitely don’t recommend this method for everyone.

 

[woodferret]

I like this.  How much of a pain was it to get the remote messaging working?

 

[Goldserve]

I started by trying to analyze the messages from the BT board that would normally plug into the CT expansion port but it was taking too much time and hitting a dead end (looked like some NRZ encoding, etc). The pulses for an ON and OFF are exactly the same each time so I resorted to counting the number of rising edges within 1.2secs (1.1 seconds would miss some pulses for OFF).

Basically, the flow is like this:

void loop() {
  if (DetectPulse == true){
    delay(1200);
    if (PulseCount == 42){
      digitalWrite(14, HIGH);
      Serial.print("Turn on ");
    } else if (PulseCount == 64) {
      digitalWrite(14, LOW);
      Serial.print("Turn off ");
    } else {
      Serial.print("Unknown ");
    }
    PulseCount = 0;
    DetectPulse = false;
  }

 

[Project box]

But what happens if your older festool dust extractor doesn't support Bluetooth control? festool make a bluetooth module that can be added to the CT range of dust extractor. But what if you have the older MIDI type, which can't be retrofitted. You would have to buy a brand new dust extractor!? My solution was, to try and Hack that Bluetooth module, so that it can be adapted to work with any dust extractor, not just festool type.
I'm sure a universal festool Bluetooth power "plug adaptor", would be a handy gadget for any festool aficionado!

 

[GoingMyWay]

Here's the video: that was missing from the previous post.

You need to use the full URL (youtube.com) and not the shortened URL (youtu.be).