Click on images to enlarge.

The second version of the macropad project has many physical differences from the first. The microcontroller was changed from an Arduino Micro to a PJRC Teensy 3.2, the rubber membrane buttons were changed to mechanical keyboard switches, an SD card was added to store bitmap images for the keycaps, and a PCB was designed to streamline the connections made throughout the device.

This project was my first experience with PCB design, and though the result is not perfect, it was functional and easily fixable (a green breakout board for the microcontroller can be seen in fig. 1). This version improved on the first with the addition of the PCB and digital storage, but the reliability of the display/switch assembly suffered. I plan to design a new mechanism for the displays and switches, and to replace the individual high-gauge wires with a flexible cable to connect the displays to the PCB.