Finally after a marathon session of work, I’m all done. It took me a while to figure out what layout I wanted to go with, as there were 3 key things I wanted to balance, functionality, “coolness”, and dynamism. I wanted something that had a lot of inputs so I decided to go with a 3x3 matrix of buttons and a rotary encoder with pushdown enabled. By having a large number of inputs I have lots of freedom and don’t feel as constrained about what I chose to use the inputs for. I also decided to have LEDs under each of the keys, this served two purposes. Firstly, the LEDs add to the “coolness” factor of the macropad, this is also by I tried to create a sleek and minimalist design. Secondly, they can be independently controlled and will light up in different colors depending on what the key does. This adds to the dynamism as I plan on making the macro pad aware of what’s on my screen and able to adapt its actions based on that. The LEDs will also change color to adapt to the new set of actions. I’m also thinking of making the colors semantic, so certain types of actions across apps can be the same color, but this idea still needs some thought. In terms of hardware, I am now all done, and I just need to submit my project for funding. As of now I’m going to use the QMK firmware once I’m done building and then start building either a custom firmware or a software layer above QMK to add in the adaptive feature.