Something in Hardware

What I made:
I built a custom 3-key vertical mechanical macropad optimized for streamlined, rapid-fire gaming inputs (perfect for fast character swaps or macro hotkeys). The hardware is powered by a Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 on a custom 2-layer PCB, and it runs on KMK (CircuitPython) for easy, plug-and-play configuration.
What was challenging:
The biggest hurdle was wrestling with the CAD modeling workspace in Fusion 360. Ensuring the custom “sandwich-mount” enclosure perfectly accommodated the 0.4mm printing tolerances of my PCB while precisely lining up 2.90mm screw holes through both the top plate and bottom tub took some meticulous alignment and timeline troubleshooting.
What I’m proud of:
Instead of just copying the standard horizontal/landscape layouts from the documentation, I stepped out of my comfort zone to design a unique, minimalist vertical column layout. Hand-routing the PCB and tailoring a custom case around that vertical layout from scratch felt incredibly rewarding.
What to know for testing:
Because the firmware relies on KMK, it is completely beginner-friendly and handles remapping on the fly. You can just open up main.py in the repository, edit the keymap array to whatever bindings or macros you want, and drop it straight onto the board like a flash drive—no massive C compilers or development environments required.