keyboard hacking

[dertsap]

ive just got done ripping apart a keybourd to see if i can connect switches to the hot keys , turns out its a simple board with two terminals ,one terminal has 8 connections the other has 20 , so i took a wire connected it to one connection in one terminal then connected it to a connector in the other terminal ,with notepad on and ready to recieve info i kept trying different connections and had results most of the time ,so now its a matter of figuring out the complete matrix and i should be able to make a deadly control panel using one thru the usb port ,


has anyone done this yet ,and or have any info which may make this easier to figure the combinations

curt

[pastera]

How about using a USB keypad?

Aaron

[dertsap]

i ve got one of those but not enough keys for what i'd like

[dertsap]

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_input.shtml#Keyhook

these guys have a piece of software that shows what the key is supposed to be while i connect each different combination , this is too easy , i'll be able to use toggle switches (i hate push buttons) to create a customized control panel for my lil router table ,keyboards are a dime a dozen , its something ive thought about for some time now and finally decided to investigate this , glad i did ,

[lwill]

Here might be some more useful info:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1610432,00.asp

http://www.dribin.org/dave/keyboard/html/

As noted in the one article, there is a limit to how many keys can be pressed at one time.
*If you use toggle switches you cannot connect more than that number (6 I think) at one time.*
More than that and you will need to set up the software to "toggle" each time you press a key.
Also you will generaly need to use diodes with multiple switches.

[lwill]

Here is another good one that has some example key matrix tables that might match yours if you are real lucky.

[BCwanderer]

http://www.electronic-engineering.ch...oard_v1xx.html

http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2protocol/

http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/projects2004.html
Look in august 2004

http://wearcam.org/seatsale/programs...ard/keybrd.htm

[CNCRob]

I made something simular a few years ago when I was more into flightsims. I bought a ton of momitary switches. Im not sure if all the layouts on all keyboards are the same but I will see if I can find the paper I made of the keyboard layout.

[dertsap]

ive got it all figured out now , in the link i posted earlier there is a free software that shows which key has been pressed ,
i ve had some trouble with limit switches on my router ,so that was the first thing i did , i connected the switches so they trip the reset in mach , with an extra push button switch to trip the reset back again ,all three switches work thru the extra one ,
unconventional but it works perfect , the table stops pretty much dead nuts in the same spot each time for homing purposes , beats the heck out of eye balling the cutter to the part if or when i loose steps , i work on fast machines at work so i'm not a patient man when running cnc at home so i tend to push the system beyond the limits and loose steps at times

now i'm hacking another keyboard to make the full controller , ive come to realize i need some serious amount of switches to do what i want to do

[dertsap]

so here is the hack job and some swithes that i have collected , it was simple to find the key combinations , i need to decide what what size of control panel to build and what i will build it out of , the mdf board to mount the electrical on is temporary ,ive added terminals for all the connections

[Kipper]

I see some real potential in what you're doing dertsap one thing I may have missed is does WinXP allow you to use 2 keyboards?

[dertsap]

i know that two will work if one is thru the usb port ,i will be splicing two together to see if it will work ,so i will keep you posted