Devlog #02

Welcome to the second devlog for Macropad: Stratum!

I owe an apology for the lack of frequent updates! I’ve been so focused on building the macropad that documenting my progress often slipped my mind. Honestly, the logged time for this devlog is probably quite inaccurate. I’d initally start working on something else, then slowly drift back to the macropad, and before I knew it, an hour had passed without setting up my Lookout for a timelapse. Other times, I’d pause the recording, step away, and forget to unpause when I returned.

Despite that, I’ve been steadily chipping away at this project over the past week. I didn’t expect to finish as soon as I did, but the progress feels rewarding. I think the time I did record balances out the moments spent inspecting design aspects, doing side calculations, and reworking components — which I’ll explain below. Let’s catch up on everything I’ve done in the past seven days!

2026/07/16

After posting my initial design outline, I continued refining my PCB schematic and quickly realized I didn’t have enough GPIO pins for my original plan. The design from the previous devlog required 14 pins, but the RP2040 microcontroller provided by Hackpack only has 11 free GPIOs.

So, I went back to the drawing board. I kept the OLED display but removed the rotary encoder and reduced the key count to nine; arranged in a 3×3 matrix. With the revised plan, I completed the schematic and began laying out the PCB, placing components where I wanted them before calling it a night.

I’m posting this now to get my hours logged. I’ll refine and expand on the details tomorrow. Right now, I’m working on my QMK firmware, which will be the focus of Devlog #03!