Devlog #1

The First Prototype Is Done

What is PadeXa?

PadeXa is easy to use software for your Hackpad.

It is mainly based on two parts:

Hackpad firmware — The firmware is based on CircuitPython. Its
main purpose is to act as a HID keyboard, handle configuration from the
PC app, and communicate over serial. Everything works directly on the
Hackpad without depending on external software.
PC app — This is the main reason why I made this project. It is
basically a configurator for your Hackpad. It communicates with the
Hackpad over serial, and all configuration is saved directly on the
Hackpad itself, so the Hackpad can work completely without the PC app.

This project was originally inspired by my HackPad
project.

For this first prototype, I mainly focused on testing the key features —
and they actually work!

Here are the features it currently has:

HID — One of the main purposes of a Hackpad is being recognized by
the PC as a keyboard, and this works! For now, it can send simple text
without special symbols, as well as macros.
Mode selection — I want to support different modes for different
sessions. You can switch between modes using a button, and the current
mode is displayed on the OLED display.
Serial communication — This is another important part of the
system. The PC app communicates with the Hackpad using serial
communication.
CLI — The prototype currently only has a terminal-based interface,
but it already works!

I built the Hackpad prototype on a breadboard, which makes testing and
changing things really easy. :3

I think this is pretty cool for a prototype, but it still has a long way
to go before it becomes something actually polished.

Here are some things I want to work on next:

Fix some issues — The current system still has quite a few bugs
and problems, so I need to fix those first.
GUI — Yeah, the CLI is cool, and it will still be available, but a
GUI should make configuring the Hackpad much easier and more elegant.
Hardware configuration — Right now, this prototype is designed
specifically for my Hackpad. If I want to make PadeXa properly
open-source and usable by other people, I need to make the hardware
configuration system more flexible so that it can support different
Hackpad designs.

So yeah, I think that’s all for this Devlog!

If you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, feel free to leave a
comment. I’d love to hear what you think!

And hopefully, I’ll see you in the next Devlog.

Love u :3

Below you can see some previews of the app