August 2, 2006
Big Red Buttons & Keyboard Controllers
I found a suitable "big red button" for our whiteboard capture system in the Staples Easy Button (TM). Instructions how to gut one of these and use it as a general purpose momentary switch are documented in a Flickr set.
You can then connect the button to d.tools, Phidgets or some other interface kit. Another solution is to hack a keyboard controller and have your button send normal key presses to a PC. Following the directions at Instructables I took apart an old Dell PS/2 QuietKey keyboard and made a custom breakout board that exposes the numerals and some function keys:
I just finished designing a nicer breakout PCB (see below), when I discovered that folks from the Arcade game community sell keyboard controller boards like the I-Pac or the KeyWiz for $20 to 30. Oh well.
