Mini Keyboard

So... What is this "Mini Keyboard"?

But first, some context behind the design!

I do a decent amount of technological subjects for school and often are constantly needing to run keyboard shortcuts, such as taking screenshots, running a command in the terminal to run a file and so on. And many times I have wished that I was able to have my own customised set of keys that would allow me to merely press them to execute those functions.

And lo and behold, I found this! (Thank you GitHub!)

This experience was actually what inspired me to choose the specific layout and orientation of the switches, screen and knob was actually from some of my experiences working with my MacBook.

After initially reading through the mission, I was thinking like:
'Woah, this is exactly what I have been looking for'

And 2 days later (and one very, very late night), I am finished! (For now 😉)

Honestly, the learning curve was steep, from starting with absolutely no idea how to even import the custom symbols, and ending up with enough knowledge to be able to freely customise and modify my Fusion 360 design (at least to some extent!). Overall it has been quite interesting, getting to learn how to take something as simple as the schematics for the PCB and import that into an editor that allows you to dynamically interact with wiring to create a finished product, these are the types of skills that I would not have learnt anywhere else otherwise.

Now, onto explaining what my Hackpad does (or is).
1. A 2x5 MX Switch type grid that are linked to commands, macros and functions for my Macbook Air. For example, the top left key is linked to the input combination Cmd + Shift + 3 (Screenshot), and the key directly next to it on the right is linked to a mini macro that opens the screen recording menu (Cmd + Shift + 5) and automatically begins a screen recording (Pressing the key again after the screen recording has been started will end, and save the recording automatically as well).
2. An OLED Screen that displays information regarding the inputs supplied by the Hackpad such as the time elapsed for a screen recording, display brightness level (%) and volume level (%).
3. A rotator knob that allows you to change the level of either the connected Macbook's brightness display level (%) or the volume level (%). The top-right key switch allows you to toggle which mode the knob affects, and the OLED will display a small symbol to remind you what mode the knob is on. This knob actually requires the Macbook to have installed another piece of software (for example switchaudio-source) to supply the Hackpad with the actual audio level for the OLED (instead of simulating a digital % level based off changes only made with the pad).
4. The MCU used is the "Seeed XIAO RP2040 microcontroller" and allows for quite a few inputs, which as well as using a matrix for the 10 key switches, provided me with enough room to just fit in the OLED and knob.

So, cool project, no?
I even decided to try to add some colouring to the board: A Sakura Pallet 🌸. Such nice colours, and hopefully if the box is able to be printed, I will be able to receive some white keycaps to finish off the look (Also, if anyone out there knows any really nice sticker arts that i can cut around the top face of my board and are Japanese Sakura style, send me a message!)

I'm hoping to continue to improve on this Hackpad in the future (maybe even switch out the MCU for a "Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840"! Who knows!), and I can foresee a future where if I am able to get my own Hackpad delivered to me, I think I will be using it every day!

Awesome project, awesome learning opportunity, and awesome use of 2/3 of my sleeping time last night! 10/10 Stardance and HackClub!