macropaduno

devlog 9! hardware

All the parts I ordered finally arrived for the macropad, and now I’m waiting for the tools to ship and then I’ll be ready to put everything together.

Although there is the alternative of waiting until I go to college (about 1.5 weeks left) and using their makerspaces to put it together. Because to be honest, I think I’m pretty underequipped and it would be nice to have some guidance.

Either way though, I have plenty of things to work on now so I’m pretty happy. I hope to finish this macropad project soon and maybe use it as a remote controller for other projects!

macropaduno (ultra version) devlog 8… the real final this time.

I completed the design of my final board (the one on the very right), and I honestly like how it looks. I liked the very first version because it looked pretty cute, but then moving onto the second version, I wanted more features but then it turned out UGLY. The third version was a total culmination of this entire project and I’m happy with how it turned out.

I did say that I would CAD the 3rd version’s case on SolidWorks and I did try, but the workflow felt too bizarre for me to transition over. Maybe I’m too inexperienced with SW, but when I learned I needed 3 mates to fix a part in assemblies, it was a hard pass. OnShape for me is just way faster since I’ve been using it for a few years.

Although, as I wait for the project to be reviewed, I might pick up SW practicing again because its used in industry a lot more and maybe I’ll feel more comfortable using it. Time to make the BOM and submit!

macropad ultra devlog 7?
In my last devlog I said that I was done with the project and while it technically was, there were a few things I thought about before deciding to change it again.

1. Board manufacturers like JLCPCB charge extra for 4 layer boards and boards > 100x100mm
2. I didn’t like how big my macropad had gotten with the previous version

So I changed it again with this version 3!
This was a reduction of essentially 120x150 -> 100x100, something that I thought was pretty difficult. In order to do so, I maximized as much space as possible, using header pins to provide space underneath components, routing through footprints which I hadn’t done before, and ignoring silkscreen outlines since they ask a larger footprint than the actual part.

Do I feel guilty about it? A little. But then again, I’m completely new to this so I have no taboos I’m breaking. I was basically ignoring all silkscreen text since they took too much space- in hindsight, I’ll probably name my components a lot smaller instead of C_2.8V_Out_1 and R_Pullup_Reset_1.

I’ll probably hash out a few things with the board but now moving onto the final stage (again), I’m going to design my board in SolidWorks this time. I’ve been using OnShape since I’m familiar with it, but I want to learn SolidWorks with this too now so it might double my CAD time… BUT it’s all for the learning anyways amiright!

super awesome macropad devlog 6 (final)!

I believe this macropad project is basically complete on the digital/design side after about a month. This is the second design of my macropad, the initial one being much smaller but lacking many aspects. The reason I upgraded was to get more functionality in a smaller module to be able to play around with much more through programming, etc.

Macropadsuper has the following functionality:

• bluetooth connection
• battery management & internal power
• voltage booster (3.3V->5V)
• audio amplifier

and components include:

• 9x key switches
• 2x joysticks (pressable)
• rotary encoder switch (pressable)
• OLED screen
• 3pin servo port
• speaker
• camera
• RGB LED

It’s a bit bulkier than I would have hoped, but using this project as a foundation, I hope to improve my pcb design skills and learn a few things I hadn’t practiced in this project like 4 layer pcb boards and overlapping components for compact fit. At least this empty space on the board can be used for decoration!

Through this project I have learned:

• C++
• KiCAD & electronics

and as I submit this project and am waiting to build it, I will try to redesign the case in SolidWorks to try a more professional CAD software (this was done in OnShape)

This was a very fun project!

crazy monster macropad devlog5?

So I did PCB editor…
and I feel like from a professional POV that this is the most disgusting thing anyone has ever seen. I hear tips like don’t run lines parallel or too close but fitting all these components into as tight a space as I could to the design I wanted was tough.
If anyone had any tips or advice I’d be happy to here it though!
In the end its a start although I hope it actually works…

wow monster macropad devlog4!

I just thought this screenshot would be a nice checkpoint. Swapped out 1 Servo Port for an RGB LED so I can use it as a camera flash and at least play around with LEDs once I transition to programming. I hope I’ll get super programming experience with this!

Monster macropad devlog3

While my previous macropad was basically complete from my last devlog, I thought of adding a battery so that my macropad wouldn’t need to be wired to run and I could upload a game like the google dinosaur game to it and play on its on… but this led me down a path of wanting to add more and more.

This new macropad (if it works) features these:
9 Standard Keyboard Buttons
2 Joysticks
1 Rotary Encoder Switch
1 OLED Screen
2 JST Ports
1 Sound Speaker
1 Camera

To accomodate these features I used:
1 Seeduino XIAO ESP32 S3 PLUS (lots of ports & camera capabilities)
1 I/O Expander for even more ports (it was needed.)
3 Low Dropout Regulator (LDO) - drops voltages
1 Voltage Booster - raises voltages (for the servos)

And along the way I learned about:

• physical pullup resistors
• inductors
• different grades of diodes
• I2C communication
• Battery Management Systems / Circuits
• when to use different ratings for components
• all of the above in this entire post

Currently I haven’t added the JST connectors for servos nor the speaker but I will do so in the next session.

Also I ran ERC and got a bunch of errors so I will need to figure out why as well. I haven’t been able to get my schematic checked yet…
Having done my first version of the macropad makes this process much faster though!

Super duper cool macropad devlog2

Some improvements were made with the pcb schematic and pcb design, but the main objective of creating a the macropad case was completed!

I’ll probably change a few things with the macropad design to try to make it look nicer… maybe space out the 4 buttons better. Already knew how to use OnShape so at least this part was all calm compared to making the pcb.

I was wondering if I could play the google dinosaur game, but then I realized that it would need power throughout. I wouldn’t want it to constantly be connected to my laptop or portable charger so it might just be time to learn about final boss #2 battery management circuit.

Although it would probably require a major overhaul of all the work I’ve done so far… but its all for the learning!

Super awesome macropa devlog1!

I wanted to make a macropad that I could use for almost anything so adding onto the original are the components:

Joystick
Rotary Encoder Switch
OLED Screen
+1 Standard Button

The Rotary Encoder Switch and Joystick also have their own built in buttons that I accounted for!

So far, the biggest challenge was working the logic for a matrix that would not only support all 4 buttons, but allow the rotary switch encoder’s button to act as a “shift key” and change the voltage read through INPUT_PULLUP leading to different analog values -> different implementable functions. Also the rotary can swap through multiple different presets which sounds great in terms of options.

Next session, I will try to figure out a way to add header pins/sockets to offset some heights like spacers & make things more modular.

Learning KICAD and electronics/circuits was tough but tbh its kinda fun!