In-Development Custom E:D-Controls-Keyboard

Fett_Li

Fett_Li
wnka0s0
Dear CMDRs,

tl;dr

What? - You can use any keyboard for custom macros to be used in ED
How? - Have a keyboard and an Arduino and my code
Why? - It's cool
Contribute - I'd like to get help with designing icons for ED-controls
​
Click to expand...

​What?
I developed a some code that let's you use any USB-keyboard with an arduino uno and remap buttons arbitrary. I like to use this for ED with a second keyboard that is used for Elite: Dangerous-commands only.

How to?
There are three hardware requirements:
  1. A keyboard
  2. An Arduino Uno micro controller
  3. USB-Host-Shield
There are two software requirements:

  1. Have python installed
  2. Have the the Arduino IDE installed
The arduino parts are also available in cheaper versions. Also, you don't need to solder and no special electrical-skills are required; it's just plug'n'play (and configure). Code and further instructions can be found here. As I'm studying Computer Science I often overestimate what non-techy-people know about programming. If you don't understand parts of my instructions feel free to ask questions!

Why?
I tried out three solutions for mapping my ingame controls but weren't satisfied with any of them which led to many re-configurations. Here are my cons to each of them:
  • Use my keyboard - bad because you might want to use them for other purposes or find them hard to remember
  • Use my HOTAS system - often HOTAS button's are few or switches which aren't supported that well by ED or are hard to remember or badly layouted for ED
  • Use another keyboard and macro scripts (like luamacros) - bad because ED intercepts keystroke on very low level
And there are some pros as well: The hardware is accessible and can be easily reconfigured and expanded! Also I always wanted to have a set of custom buttons for ED that are correctly labeled!

Contribute
Of you can just propose new features directly to me or implement them on your own and open up a pull request on github but I'd also like your help and ideas with a specific topic:
I'd like to start a collection of command-icons that visualize different ingame actions like targeting a wingmate, deploying your hardpoints, turning your ship lights on/off to print them out and stick them on the keyboard. I'll start to design them on my own soon but I'm no pro in that and some of the icons might be quite hard to visualize. Any ideas are highly welcome!

See the iumgur album bellow for impressions and my current layout; the upper-keyboard is my normal​ one whilst the lower is connected to the arduino:
[IMGUR]aw66D[/IMGUR]
 
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