The MacroPaw keypads are a line of small yet fully-customizable mechanical keyboards. (The name was originally from my son, years ago when he was young, and the "paw" motif has kinda stuck.) The core of the MacroPaws is a Raspberry Pi RP2040 with 16MiB of flash memory, a USB-C connector, and an attached key matrix and RGB LEDs (which may or may not be under the keys). Some MacroPaws have more capability than others; all are crazy customizable by writing Python code. (Yes. Python. On a keyboard. It's insane and wonderful to live in the future.)
| Assembled KnGXT | KnGXT PCB |
Currently extant MacroPaw boards include:
| Board ID | Description |
|---|---|
| KnGXT | Mostly a proof-of-concept for an RP2040-based USB HID: it has 14 hotswappable MX keyswitches in a 3x5 layout like a number pad (including one 2U key, which is why it's 14 instead of 15), two rotary encoders with pushbuttons, and a bunch of RGB LEDs under the encoders and keys. |
| KnGYT | Mostly a proof-of-concept for double-sided assembly. It has ten hotswappable MX keyswitches in a 5x2 grid, ten RGB LEDs under the keys, and no rotary encoders. It's much smaller than its sibling the KnGXT, because most of the electronics are on the back of the board. |
| Beatboxer KnH0F | A single-sided embedded keyboard controller for use in a custom life-sized drum machine. It has 8 RGB LEDs on the front of the board for hardware test and debugging, and its key matrix is an 8x8 grid that's mechanically arranged as a 16x4 grid of arcade buttons. |
Both the firmware and the hardware of the MacroPaws are open source.
The firmware is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3.0 or later.
The firmware directory within each board's directory includes the firmware
source code firmware and the firmware license (in firmware/LICENSE).
The MacroPaw firmware is based on the KMK Firmware, and on Adafruit's CircuitPython and the NeoPixelBackground class. See BUILDING.md for details about how to build the firmware, including information about the versions of CircuitPython and KMK that are used and how to get them.
Of course, if you don't want to build your own, you can just grab prebuilt firmware for the MacroPaw KnGXT, MacroPaw KnGYT, and MacroPaw Beatboxer KnH0F boards.
The hardware is licensed under the CERN Open Hardware License, version 2.0 or higher, Strongly Reciprocal.
The hardware directory within each board's directory includes the KiCad 7
design files for the hardware, the fabrication outputs used for the official
production runs of the hardware, and of course the hardware license (in
hardware/LICENSE).
The models directory within some boards' directories includes the 3D models
for cases, etc., for the board. Boards without a models directory haven't
had models made yet!
The models are also licensed under the CERN Open Hardware License, version 2.0 or higher, Strongly Reciprocal.