NEXKEY
Hardware- 1 Devlogs
- 3 Total hours
NEXKEY is my custom 9-key macropad designed and built from scratch. I’m designing the hardware and PCB in KiCad, with a XIAO ESP32, TFT display, rotary encoder, RGB LEDs, and a 3×3 key matrix.
#Devlog 1 — NexKey: The First Lines of the Circuit ⚡
Today I finally started working on NexKey, my own custom macropad.
🎯 The main goal
I want to build a macropad completely by myself — including the PCB.
Today was mostly about getting started with KiCad and figuring out how everything will connect.
🔧 What I worked on
I started building the schematic and divided it into different parts:
- 🧠 MCU + Power
- ⌨️ 9-Key Matrix
- 🖥️ TFT Display + SD Card
- 🔄 Rotary Encoder
- 🌈 RGB LEDs
I also planned how everything will communicate with the XIAO ESP32.
The TFT and SD card will share the same SPI bus, while the keys will use a 3×3 matrix with an MCP23017 GPIO expander.
For RGB, I’m using SK6812MINI-E LEDs in a chain.
🧩 What I learned
I thought PCB design was mostly about placing components and drawing tracks…
Turns out, there’s a LOT of planning before routing even starts. 😭
Day 1 done. ✅
