Keyboard hacking

[Schwinn]

I read an article and decided to give it a try. It was so easy it wasn't funny. I am excited at the possibility of the number of inputs that a keyboard hack can generate and all for about 10.00 :pilotfly: I will post some pics of what I have done tomorrow.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Awesome love to see it as I'd thought of this too but the board always throws me off!

[Schwinn]

I ignored the film carbon contacts and just soldered a wire to one of the contacts on the board then just touched the other contacts one at a time to see what it did lol =) It quickly showed me about 10 keystrokes. Its a bit of work but it is kinda cool. I will see if I can dig up the link I used.

[Schwinn]

Here is the link I followed. You can trace the circuits if you want to but I opted for the more dangerous approach of just solder and test =).

http://gmame.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/keyboard-hacking/

 

this is kinda what I want to end up with. Cleaner tho hopefully.

 

Here is what I did to test it. If you see the ZIF sockets (I think thats what they are called) flip the board over and solder a wire to one of the pins. Then connect the USB keyboard and just touch the other end of the wire to the other pins one at a time recording what they do. I opened Start -> Run so I could see which letter/number popped up. That particular pair of pins yielded the letter "n" lower case.

Edited July 10, 2009 by Schwinn

[Swetrekki]

hi there i tried it both ways but the hassle of testing ever key drove me nuts as i didnt have a propper keylogger, and the F1-F12 keys amongst others dont show of any input in the normal sence, so i ended up tracing all the letters on the plastic films and playing connect the dots with a multimeter :)

 

nice breakout board!

good luck

[Alex_rcpilot]

Curious, what's the ATMEL chip on the PCB? And the Cypress chip also looks interesting to me, coz normally I'd choose Cypress as the USB interface vendor and ATMEL chips for other issues. Of course Cypress also produces chips for other purposes, they just look really professional with USB. :)

Edited July 13, 2009 by Alex_rcpilot

[Kuky]

hm... would it be possible to then have 1 switch/botton press multiple key strokes (such as SHIFT+CTRL+some other key) aaaaand say with wireless keyboards could you have cockpit setup with these switches wirelesly????

[Schwinn]

hm... would it be possible to then have 1 switch/botton press multiple key strokes (such as SHIFT+CTRL+some other key) aaaaand say with wireless keyboards could you have cockpit setup with these switches wirelesly????

 

The Ctrl+Shift+any key is something I am trying to figure out as that would enable this setup to activate every switch in the cockpit (300+ combinations from one keyboard) Wireless KB I don't see why it wouldn't work. I would think it would be a pain using batteries =).

 

Curious, what's the ATMEL chip on the PCB? And the Cypress chip also looks interesting to me, coz normally I'd choose Cypress as the USB interface vendor and ATMEL chips for other issues. Of course Cypress also produces chips for other purposes, they just look really professional with USB.

 

The particular keyboard I used was the Ideazon ZBoard keyboard where you can swap new keys in and out for different games. It does have USB inputs on the board =)

 

http://www.steelseries.com/us/products/keyboards/zboard/information

[Alex_rcpilot]

The particular keyboard I used was the Ideazon ZBoard keyboard where you can swap new keys in and out for different games. It does have USB inputs on the board =)

 

http://www.steelseries.com/us/products/keyboards/zboard/information

 

wow this keyboard looks cool! Do you mean the PCB you have in hand is actually from this product? That should be powerful enough for a lot of things.

 

In the first place, I thought you made the board. That's why I went so specific with chip models. Anyway, I'm still curious about the chips, would you mind if I asked for the text lables on those two chips? I mean the ATMEL chip in TQFP32 (Quad Flat 32-pin) package, and the Cypress chip in SSOP48 (small outline 48-pin) package, thanks.:)

[Kuky]

The Ctrl+Shift+any key is something I am trying to figure out as that would enable this setup to activate every switch in the cockpit (300+ combinations from one keyboard) Wireless KB I don't see why it wouldn't work. I would think it would be a pain using batteries =).

 

If you get this key kombinations to work like this let me/us know as that would kick ass if it works :thumbup: As for wireless being pain in the ass I'd say not as I've had (and still have) wireless keyboards and mouse and bateries last a long time... even if you had to replace them every 1/2 year (but actually they can last longer) it still beats having to have cable going around on the floor :smartass:

[Schwinn]

Your sig makes my eye twitch...LOL. My wife just hit my screen a few minutes ago =)

[Schwinn]

OMG IT WORKS!!!!!!! I wired the "shift" and the letter "h" to the same switch and when I pressed it i got a "H" If I cut the wire for shift it gives me a "h" in lower caps!!!. Now to wire the breakout board and test all the connections.

[Kuky]

OMG IT WORKS!!!!!!! I wired the "shift" and the letter "h" to the same switch and when I pressed it i got a "H" If I cut the wire for shift it gives me a "h" in lower caps!!!. Now to wire the breakout board and test all the connections.

 

THAT'S BLOODY AWSOME! It means we don't need any of the USB controllers to run any switch, all we need it PCM of a kayboard! Even better you just gave me an idea to buy wireless keyboard and start connecting switches to it :D

 

Wait, you need to make one final test, connect two swithes, one to only h key, second to h key and SHIFT key, then make two separate commands for it and see if pressing the switch connected to both h key and SHIFT key conflicts with command assigned to h key only?!

Edited July 14, 2009 by Kuky

[Schwinn]

It sorta worked....I got the H but it also gave me a second letter as well...but I think its all in the switches you use. If you can get a switch that with one throw will trigger two separate keys. I don't know if there are switches that can do that?

[Total]

Once you get the matrix mapped, it's pretty easy from there.

 

As far as getting more than one keystroke on one switch throw, that shouldn't be happening. Check your soldering.

 

I've been an electronics/engineering tech for going on 20 years now and, honestly, I got lazy lol! I went with an X-Keys board. 128 key combinations with a really good macro recorder for on release states as well made for a good buy.

[Kuky]

You do have switches that are 1, 2 or even 3 way that you can use to try this but they are more expensive

[Schwinn]

I need to get two different keystrokes at once from one switch throw as I am hacking a keyboard for this and want to emulate "shift n" for example. So a momentary (on) off (on) toggle that would throw "n" when used upwards and "shift" and "n" when used downwards. I think I found one I am going to try these.

 

http://cgi.ebay.ca/2-DPDT-ON-OFF-ON-CAR-BOAT-Momentary-SWITCH-M702_W0QQitemZ300328682689QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item45ecfc04c1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:12|66:2|39:1|72:1215|293:1|294:50#ebayphotohosting

Edited July 14, 2009 by Schwinn

[Joe Kurr]

I tested the use of a keyboard controller a while ago, see Introducing the DFDT Cockpit Project.

Unfortunately the pictures are gone, due to a server crash some time ago.

 

In the end I dropped the idea, because it has some drawbacks:

 

If you use standard switches, you will sticky keys, which might become a problem when you use chords (e.g. Ctrl-G / Shift-G for gear)

I tried to solve this using a small circuit that only gives a short pulse when a switch position changes.

This circuit was needed for every switch in our cockpit.

 

You will eventually end up with an enormous tangle of wires, since every switch or button has to be connected separately, otherwise you may get undesired keypresses.

 

I now use a Velleman K8055 usb board control our in and outputs.

the board comes with a dll which you can use to poll the positions of the switches, and set the values for the outputs.

So no need anymore for pulse generators and the like.

 

Only problem I found with this board so far is that you can't use it together with TrackIR, but that is easily solved by using a second PC for your controls.

[Schwinn]

If you use standard switches, you will sticky keys, which might become a problem when you use chords (e.g. Ctrl-G / Shift-G for gear)

I tried to solve this using a small circuit that only gives a short pulse when a switch position changes.

This circuit was needed for every switch in our cockpit.

 

What about momentary (on) off (on) that way the switch doesn't stay on? I am going to buy one and test it tonight when I get home from work.

[Joe Kurr]

That should work.

I haven't tested that, because it´s less realistic.

If I put the gear up for example, I want the gear lever to stay up until I put it down again, and not spring back to its center position.

 

With the interface board I´m using now, my gear stays up until I put the lever back down.

I can even put it in the ´up´ position during take-off to retract the gear as soon as I'm airborne :)

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

It really depends on the needs and plan of your overall pit design. Some guys try to recreate the look and feel of the real thing which I agree momentary switches only go so far. Personally I'm ok with those sacrifices, as I dont go for the real look. It really depends on what your going to do in the long run and what your willing to live with. Still this keyboard hack here will save loads of cash that could be better spent on switches and other cool things!

[Schwinn]

I found a nice full sized DPDT Mom (on) off (on) switch in town here and then I took it to the counter and asked the guy how much...$16.95 sir...I think that made me crap my pants a little. Hong Kong for switches it will be! LOL

[Schwinn]

It really depends on the needs and plan of your overall pit design. Some guys try to recreate the look and feel of the real thing which I agree momentary switches only go so far. Personally I'm ok with those sacrifices, as I dont go for the real look. It really depends on what your going to do in the long run and what your willing to live with. Still this keyboard hack here will save loads of cash that could be better spent on switches and other cool things!

 

I agree with you Hitch. I want the pit to be comfortable and functional. It can look close to the real thing but I don't need it to have every switch function like the real one.

[Schwinn]

Tested and confirmed with the DPDT Momentary (on) off (on). I was able to generate "n" when I pressed the toggle up and "N" when I pressed the toggle down. I assume (I know thats bad) that if I locate the alt and ctrl as well the same should work. I need to finish the breakout board and then map the combinations.

[Schwinn]

So here is kinda how it was done.

 

 

D - F is n by itself

 

B - D is n

 

A - C is the Shift

 

when D - F is thrown it gives us n

 

when A - C this is thrown B - D is also thrown so "Shift n" = N