Illustrated Kristina with an IBM Model M keyboard floating between her hands.

Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The 24-Hour Macro Pad

July 15, 2024 by Kristina Panos 2 Comments

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but this great little music-controlling macro pad by [nibbler] actually was. Why? Because as Hackaday’s own [Donald Papp] reminded us, we all need a win sometimes, especially as projects drag on and on without any end in sight.

A small macro pad with six buttons. — Image by [nibbler] via Toxic Antidote

As [nibbler] points out, what really constitutes a win? Set the bar too low and it won’t feel like one at all. Too high, and you may become too discouraged to cross the finish line. With that in mind, [nibbler] set the bar differently, limiting themselves to what could be done in the one day per week they have to devote time to electronic matters.

One-day turnaround usually means using parts on hand and limiting oneself to already-learned skills and techniques. No problem for [nibbler], who, armed with an Arduino Leonardo Tiny and a some colorful push buttons, set about designing a suitable enclosure, and then putting it all together. Was this a win? [nibbler] says yes, and so do I.

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Most of a three-key macro pad featuring a 3D-printed, LEGO-compatible plate.

3D-Printed Macro Pad Plate Is LEGO-Compatible

April 30, 2024 by Kristina Panos 2 Comments

We love LEGO, we love keyboards, and when the two join forces, we’re usually looking at a versatile peripheral that’s practically indestructible. Such seems to be the case with [joshmarinacci]’s LEGO-compatible 3D-printed plate for a three-key macro pad. For a first foray into scratch-built keyboard construction, we think this is pretty great.

The idea here is threefold: the plate holds the switches in place, negates the need for a PCB, and makes it possible to build the case completely out of LEGO. In fact, [joshmarinacci]’s plan for the keycaps even includes LEGO — they are going to 3D print little adapters that fit the key switch’s stem on one side, and the underside of a 2×2 plate on the other.

Although [joshmarinacci]’s plan is to design a PCB for the next version, there is plenty to be said for combining the plate and the PCB by printing guides for the wires, which we’ve seen before. We’ve also seen LEGO used to create a keyboard stand that fits just right.

Via KBD

KanaChord Is A Macro Pad For Japanese Input

April 8, 2024 by Kristina Panos 13 Comments

There are various situations that warrant additional keyboards on your desk, and inputting a second language is definitely a good one. That’s the idea behind KanaChord, which generates Unicode macros to render Japanese Kana characters using chords — pressing multiple keys at once as you would on a piano.

The Japanese writing system is made up of Kanji (Chinese characters), Hirigana, and Katakana. Without going into it too much, just know that Hirigana and Katakana are collectively known as the Kana, and there’s a table that lays out the pairing of vowels and consonants. To [Mac Cody], the layout of the Kana table inspired this chording keyboard.

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A “Full” Keyboard For $5*

February 29, 2024 by Kristina Panos 14 Comments

Sure, we’ve all seen PCB business cards at this point, but what about giving away a full-blown keyboard at meetups and such? That’s just how cost-effective the idawgz32 keyboard is. How on Earth can it cost so little? [sporewoh] used the CH552 microcontroller, which comes in around a dollar and only needs a couple of capacitors to get it up and running. The firmware is FAK.

As [sporewoh] writes in this blog post about the keyboard, they did some analysis and realized that most of the cost of their previous tiny board came from the switches. In addition to switching up the switches, [sporewoh] performed a few tricks to get the cost down, like making the key spacing 9 mm x 9 mm so that the overall board is less than 100 mm x 100 mm (which triggers a deal at a certain board house).

Unfortunately, the switches turned out not to be so good. They had greater travel and required more actuation force than the ones [sporewoh] was used to with previous board. The switches were also scratchy, which was solved with a little Krytox. But ultimately, they are pretty unreliable, so the next revision will use Panasonic EVQP0N02Bs.

If this seems familiar, you may be recalling this $3 macro pad which uses the same chip, or maybe the fact that we’ve covered the CH552 in detail.

*Thanks to the current CAD to USD exchange rate.

Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Really Snazzy Folding Keyboard

January 16, 2024 by Kristina Panos 4 Comments

Sometimes you just have to throw your hat in the ring, and throw it hard. Here is [mkdxdx]’s rockin’ EVH 5150-esque take on the keyboard business. The Mriya foldable keyboard aims to be and sport a number of things, and it does all of them in great style. I could totally see my fingers flying over this thing somewhere in the wild, with robots fighting in the distance.

I have to say I really like the fact that [mkdxdx] uses thumb keys here for what I can only assume are Enter, Space, and Backspace. It’s a nice compromise between compactness and ergonomics. I also really like the totally impractical but quite cool-looking connector that runs between the top and bottom.

If the color scheme looks familiar, you’re probably remembering [mkdxdx]’s first-place-winning entry into the 2023 Cyberdeck Contest. This RP2040-based keyboard might just end up as part of a larger project, but it’s already an outstanding peripheral. We can’t wait to see the next phase, should there be one for this keyboard.

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Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Foot Keyboard

October 25, 2023 by Kristina Panos 12 Comments

[crispernaki]’s opening comments to this VCR head scroll wheel project lament that overall technical details aren’t “complex, ground-breaking, or even exciting.” Since when does that matter? The point is that not only did the thing finally, eventually get built, it gets daily use and it sparks joy in its owner.

This feel-good story is one of procrastination, laziness, and one aha! moment, and it’s roughly twelve years in the making. Inspired by an Instructable from long ago, [crispernaki] ran straight to the thrift store to get a VCR and take it apart.

The original plan was to just reuse the VCR head’s PCB and hide it in an enclosure, and then figure out way to block and unblock the path between an IR emitter/receiver pair. After many disemboweled mice and fruitless attempt, the project was once again shelved.

But then, [crispernaki] remembered the magnetic rotary encoder demo board that was just sitting around, along with various microcontrollers and Altoids tins. And it all quickly came together with a Teensy 2.0 and some bits and bobs, including a magnet glued on the shaft of the VCR head. A chip on the demo board does all the heavy lifting, and of course, the Teensy does the work of emulating an HID.

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Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Tile-Based Macropad

October 16, 2023 by Kristina Panos 8 Comments

Prolific Hackaday.io member [Michael Gardi] has hit upon the biggest problem with making reprogrammable macro pads — the legend situation. What do you do when the whole point is that the keys can so easily be changed?

There are a couple of options: blank keycaps and memorization, re-legendable keycaps, and little screens instead of keycaps. Surely there has to be another way, and [Michael] has discovered one: a tile-based system of descriptors.

As you can see, the labels are removable 3D-printed tiles that swap out with ease thanks to tiny magnets. But these aren’t just tidy labels. Inserting a new label automatically changes the macro! Each tile holds a “simple numeric value” which maps it to a macro when inserted and detected by a Hall effect sensor. I can’t wait to hear these tiles click in action during a demo video, which I can only hope is forthcoming.

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