I'm making a macropad with 8 keys, 1 rotary encoder, 1 OLED Display, and a few WS2812B LEDs, with a custom Firmware. I plan on using 4 keys for a WASD constellation, because I don't have that good arrow keys on my laptop for playing games like Celeste, then use the remaining 4 Keys for shortcuts in various programms, and use the Leds for underglow.
Designing a PCB for the first time is interesting to say the least, especially when you don’t yet know what excactly it is going to look like.
I experienced some difficulty getting everything into a position I liked and then routing the traces in a way I liked and that I thougt made sense.
I decided to do the LEDs last as I had no idea where to put them exactly, but by doing so I then had the problem that when I finally did do it, it messed up the already existing traces, so I had to redo some of them.
But before I finally put the LEDs where they are now, I first had to find out where exactly to put them, cause how are you supposed to know they are supposed to be put directly underneath the key switches?
I’ve created the Schematic for my macropad, and began making the PCB.
At first I had difficulties understanding KiCad and Lapse, but it ended up working out.
At first I also had no Idea what exactly i wanted to create with my macropad, but I found that one out quickly enough.
