Make a Keyboard From a Keyboard - Part 1

Part 2: • Make a Keyboard From a...
Your standard "cheap-o" keyboard, is actually a really impressive bit of engineering. If you were to open one up, you might expect to see a big circuit board, the same size as your keyboard. But you would be wrong! What you will find, is a rubber membrane, a few sheets of clear plastic, and a tiny little circuit board in the corner with a bunch of pins on it. And it's these pins that are the real genius behind the design. Simply by making different combination between the 2 sets of pins, the keyboard is able to communicate all the different characters on the keyboard to your computer.
So, to make a custom controller, all you have to so is wire your own switches to those pins. But how do you know what pins? The answer is on those 2 clear plastic sheets. It's just a matter of locating where each key you want is on the sheet, and then tracing its path back to the pins. At first glance, it may look like a daunting task. And it kind of is, if you set of to do it by hand, but it can be done, it's just very tedious. However, if you scan the 2 sheets into the computer, you can basically just take the 'paint bucket' tool, click on the key/line you want to trace, and it highlights the whole line. Do this for each key you want to map, and in a few minutes, you have the pin combinations.
In this video, I demonstrate that very technique, and show you a previous one I made. Keep an eye out for a future video where I wire up the keyboard circuit, and design some kind of "mini keyboard' enclosure.
Rulof Maker: / rulofitalianmaker
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[@tigrewulph]

You could use the board layout with the colored traces to spell out names or phrases for like wall art. Maybe not appreciated by everyone but techy friends would probably dig it.

[@JinLav]

it's easier to take a multimeter and ring the tracks. the method of coloring with a felt-tip pen is also good, but very laborious and takes a lot of time

[@014D]

This is way cheaper than buying a controller board. Good thinking! I wonder if you can reuse the circuit board-film and somehow making the custom mini-switches out of that.

[@edvedv6803]

thats a great idea ! Im searching now for a while for a cheap keyboard build.

[@IamNickDClements]

Awesome!

[@maxximumb]

Another way is to use a multimeter on it's continuity setting. Place one probe on the key contact, the other you run along the pins. It will beep when you complete the circuit. If you don't have a multimeter, salvage an LED and a 3v button cell (CR2032) and some wire. Connect the led and the battery with a couple of wires to make your own continuity tester that will light the LED when you complete the circuit between the keypad contact and the pins.

[@IamNickDClements]

Yeah, a continuity tester is a great solution!

[@uriva0707]

Thanks for the paint tip!!!

[@nicholas_plaksin]

Awesome! This deserves way more views.

[@IamNickDClements]

Thanks!

[@pepsiplease69]

Scanning was a neat idea

[@eliobrid]

very cool

[@Rajshikari24]

Batman intro damn man

[@technikprimat8575]

Very very COOOL!!! (i give LIKE)

[@stephanieegland9769]

How soon until part two?!

[@Kult647]

can't create a "macro" that does Ctrl+C, it just prints "wx"

[@nobodynoone2500]

Cool when you have a broken keyboard laying around and zero money, but a teensy/arduino is like $5-$25, and is way more powerful. Good vid nonetheless. Always a use for everything.

[@mrfixer6047]

What kind of scanner you used? Is that a special one? How do you import it to a circuit like image? What is the name of the software?

[@IamNickDClements]

Just a normal scanner, the one in the video is just large (and old) but a regular sized scanner will work fine, you just might have to scan it in 2 halves. Honestly you could even just take a picture of it with your phone. I was using Photoshop. But gimp, the free Photoshop alternative would work just as well, or honestly even just Microsoft Paint.

[@JoiIsakYT]

This is a godsend

[@IH1940HAY]

Will making a three button module with a USB keyboard connection work, you mention a PS2 does work, but I would have to use a old PC to use that not a modern laptop. I traced out a laptop KB and kinda ready to test but don’t want to loose the blue smoke, any danger in testing my try?????? Thanks

[@IamNickDClements]

Yeah, USB definitely works. The "Adam's Buttons" that I show at 4:00 was made using a USB Keyboard. I was just using a PS2 keyboard for this specific project because I couldn't access the bios using a USB keyboard on the computer i planed to use it with. - If you are worried about damaging your computer (it's very unlikely - USB circuitry is pretty good at protecting itself.) But you could just plug it into a cheap power brick just to be sure nothing is shorted. Be careful and do at your own risk of course. But like, for example, under normal circumstances, there's no harms in plugging a USB thumb drive into a power brick. It won't do anything, short of maybe light up any indicator lights the drive has. But it won't damage it.

[@IH1940HAY]

@@IamNickDClements thanks for confirming that USB works with this mod.

[@HDelValle142]

Part 2?

[@IamNickDClements]

Thank you for the reminder :) I'll get to work on part 2 soon.

[@YanickFM]

i clicked on this video by accident but i was so interested that i watched the whole thing lol

[@IamNickDClements]

Well thank you very much for watching :) I'm glad you found it interesting.

[@watazumidoyey9411]

Hello everyone Do you think it's possible to make pressure sensitive buttons with this?? I only need two buttons to be pressure sensitive, I thought about potentiometers but I don't know exactly how to do this...

[@IamNickDClements]

Unfortunately I don't think so, the basic circuity on a cheap keyboard is just on or off. You may be able to do it with software... if you look at Rulof's original video, where he made dials, connected to relays, that basically repeatedly pressed a key. You could possibly have some hotkey/macro software running that emulated pressure sensitivity increasing sensitivity each time the key was subsequently pressed. But that is a lot of maybes, and I have no clue how responsive something like what would be. If you want a pre-made solution, Cooler Master has s control pad, with 24 pressure sensitive keys. It's around $90 on Amazon. I own one (I backed the original Kickstarter) and it's a pretty good keypad. www.amazon.com/dp/B08J6J1CZV

[@samircmps7260]

I want it to react after 1 or 2 seconds when I press the keyboard key. how can I do that

[@IamNickDClements]

Easiest way would be to use autohotkey. It's a simple, yet powerful, free macro program.

[@sFeral]

TV remote in a different format

[@fenkum]

sir. can its use mechanical keyboard switch to trigger the button?

[@yash1152]

probably yes, but i dont think that's available as ready made

[@fenkum]

@@yash1152 i already make one. it’s working

[@yash1152]

@@fenkum awesome, wanna share any video of it??

[@fenkum]

@@yash1152 i don’t have one, but I can teach you if you interested

[@yash1152]

@@fenkum yeah, i am very interested indeed. thanks a lot for the offer

[@yash1152]

link of the part 2 video?

[@IamNickDClements]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2ipYZitoJuopNU

[@yash1152]

hey hey! i organically came back to this one again. will definitely watch the part 2 this time.

[@yash1152]

oh, and were u able to find a working PS2 to USB keyboard on amazon? There are tonnes there but how to find one that works?

[@ivanmiranda7730]

part 2 please

[@IamNickDClements]

I'm preparing to film it right now (finally) If all goes according to "plan," it'll be next Monday's video :D

[@ivanmiranda7730]

thankyou! 😁

[@vaisakhkm783]

@@IamNickDClements Did you uploaded it??☺️

[@IamNickDClements]

@@vaisakhkm783 Sorry, not yet, still working on it unfortunately. But very soon :)

[@IamNickDClements]

@@vaisakhkm783 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2ipYZitoJuopNU Releasing tomorrow, but wanted to give you a chance to see it sooner, if you happen to see this reply. Thanks for requesting part two, it really motivate me to get this video done.

[@mdmominulislam]

I need a keyboard and mouse. Can't find anywhere, should be the type of keyboard. Bus Simulator Indonesia to play games. Everything will be controlled with the keyboard and steering will work with the mouse. If you take it to the right, it will go to the right, if you take it to the left, it will go to the left. I haven't been able to find it for a long time, if it is found anywhere, please let me know, please, please, please,

[@yash1152]

can you please clarify?

[@Clickbait.com.]

Some keys like 6 7 Y U H J N M are not working on my keyboard is there any way i can fix them?