Momentary Button

A momentary button is a switch that only remains active while it is being pressed. Once the button is released, it automatically returns to its normal state.

Many VESC Labs products use momentary power buttons. The device detects the button press and handles the power-on or power-off sequence internally. This allows features such as soft power control, controlled shutdown, and status indication.

Momentary buttons can also be used for other functions such as changing drive modes, activating reverse, triggering a horn, enabling cruise control, or navigating menus. For these applications, a momentary button can often be connected to an ADC input using only two wires: the ADC signal and ground.

The VESC monitors the ADC voltage and can detect when the button is pressed. To perform custom actions beyond the standard ADC functionality, a LispBM script must be written and configured within VESC Tool. This script can then trigger specific actions when the button is pressed, held, or released.

Example

A momentary power button connected to a communication module may be pressed briefly to turn the device on or off. Alternatively, a momentary button connected to an ADC input could be configured to cycle between Eco, Sport, and Race drive modes using a custom LispBM script.

In simple terms: a momentary button only remains active while it is being pressed.