A few weeks ago I came up with a somewhat wacky idea. I’ve always enjoyed roller coasters and thrill rides and particularly liked the mechanical aspect of them. I thought of it’d be a neat idea to have a control panel for a computer similar to control panels for rides (just much more simplistic) so that I could perform keyboard shortcuts with big push buttons instead of the keyboard. For example, by holding two buttons I could restart the computer, maybe a big e-stop button would lock my computer, etc.
What would be the best way to go about doing this? I know microcontrollers like Arduino exist but is this overkill for something that I’d want to do? Or could I just tweak an old keyboard to do something like this?
I have never heard of a replica for a roller coaster control panel being used as a keyboard input but the general idea is done all the time for other types of hobbyists. PC based flight simulators in particular have many commercial and homemade control panels that are very similar to what you are describing. There are a number of projects of that type outlined on the web so you could just modify what they did to fit your goals. It isn’t especially difficult to send secondary keyboard information through USB. However, you will probably need some keyboard mapping software to trigger the command combinations you want through your panel. You have to decide whether you need to work with keyboard inputs (even a secondary number keyboard) to base it on or on some type of joystick. Either way could work.
Here is an article with links on how to build customized panels for a flight simulator. Yours is a very similar idea.
What you are asking for is actually very easy to do, especially with a small amount of experience with electronics and soldering.
First, start with this list of standard windows hotkeys. These are keystroke combinations that are globally built into Windows. If you require more functions, install AutoHotkey and set up the keys you need.
At this point, you now have a set of automatic functions that you can trigger with your computer keyboard. Now we add in the control panel.
Go buy a cheap keyboard USB keyboard or use one you have lying around. (Please do not use a nice keyboard, like an IBM Model M or Unicomp for this!!!) Build your control panel, then disassemble the keyboard and solder your control panel buttons and switches onto the terminals for the keys you set up above for AutoHotkey/the standard built-in functions. If you do it well, you now have a control panel with a USB interface to the computer, courtesy of the donor keyboard.
I haven’t seen a reset button in years, at least not on purchased systems (versus the build-it-yourself cases)… And the point of this is to have a control panel with big light-up push buttons. I’m fully aware it’s for novelty effect only.
Thanks for the tips everyone! Looks like I have some homework to do…
I know this thread is a little stale, but I’ll go ahead and chime in.
What you’re talking about is basically an arcade control panel and there’s an entire community dedicated to building they’re own. Yours truly included.
Here’s all the basic information you need to get you started. Arcade Controls.
Links to buttons, plain and lighted. Keyboard encoders and instructions for hacking up keyboards with stuck keys but that the electronics are fine in.
All sorts of bonus stuff. Centipede style trackballs for mouse input. Joysticks for cursor keys.
