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I created a device with a small circuitboard with a pluggable user interface, such that it can take several buttons, a pad matrix, or an encoder and a couple of buttons, like that. It has a 1.18" color screen, a USB in and a USB out. It also has an SD reader.
Inside the thing is a little MCU where the magic happens. Therein you can create firmware to intercept USB signals from a device, like a keyboard, mouse, gamepad, MIDI keyboard, or whatever and modify the signals into something else, like injecting macros.
The box could be cheaper to manufacture, but it's not terrible. This is my first endeavor into creating a fabbed PCB circuit board on my own (for paying gigs I have an electrical engineer I work with)
My prototype works so in theory the board will work but I won't know until I get it back from pcbway.
Anyway, I started circuits before I ever got into software, but I put it down for most of my life once I got into software. Now I'm full circle, but using them in tandem.
I will say this about actual physical development. It's deeply satisfying to create something you can hold in your hands.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I suppose I'd feel the same way if I could ever get into it. I have no clue when it comes to electronics & circuitry. I have a former colleague who worked on an arduino-based art project (T,E.D.: Transformations, Emotional Deconstruction[^]) for which he designed a custom PCB, and even though I had nothing to do with it (other than that I helped solder the boards up for the finished product) I thought it was way cooler than just some software.
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Congrats. You definitely have the zeal. The hardware <-> software combo creation can be a real turn on (no pun intended).
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Quote: I created a device with a small circuitboard
I know almost nothing about DIY circuit boards but to get all that USB capability I assume you had to use prefabricated clusters of CB components. You can`t have USB with so many options (or a SD reader) built with raw CB components. My guess is the SD reader and the USB aren`t just the socket, there`s some circuitry next to the socket that allows connectivity with other (complex) CB components.
modified 13-Aug-22 2:51am.
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I only did that to prototype.
I then took the schematics (and datasheets) for those components and integrated the bits that make them up directly onto my board.
For example, I have this little widget called a USBHostShield I used in my prototype. I also have the schematic. It uses a MAX3421E to do the heavy lifting, so I integrated that MAX chip right onto my board, along with any necessary pullup resistors etc.
An SD socket is actually just a socket. the SD card itself is an SPI device, and as such can communicate directly with the MCU without intermediary circuitry. You can actually solder an SD card right onto an ESP32 and it will use it quite happily.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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honey the codewitch wrote: I will say this about actual physical development. It's deeply satisfying to create something you can hold in your hands.
I can print my source code and hold a stack of papers in my hands...does that count? 
I never got into electronics/circuits at that level. Needless to say, this impresses the (elephant? sunshine?) out of me.
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wrap it in a post on codeproject.com and we will share the same the happiness as yours...
diligent hands rule....
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It's the Prang articles. I won't have the board design finalized and tested until I get a working copy back from PCBway and I'm loath to publish it until I've tested it. However, currently, the project itself can be wired completely from components sourced off of Amazon.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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your ideas will fascinate lot of people I think...
diligent hands rule....
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Southmountain wrote: your ideas will fascinate lot of people I think...
Another thing is to be able to follow or to understand them  
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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By some coincidence, I just ordered my first "real" pcb (not just a practice run) from jlcpcb. It might even work, who knows.
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honey the codewitch wrote: It's deeply satisfying to create something you can hold in your hands.
I think parents say the same thing. Though quite frankly, the mom does the vast majority of the creation work. 
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I used to do some electronics decades ago and rekindled my interest when I came across a PSU I'd built from a magazine article that had been collecting dust. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could download a copy of the article so could check out the circuit.
The second surprise was that "basic" electronics these days seems to assume an MCU, usually an Arduino.
Circuit 1 is a button, a resistor and an LED in series.
Circuit 2 has a button connected to one pin of an MCU board and the LED plus resistor on another pin! 
I agree about the sense of achievement when a circuit you've designed, built and programmed works even if it's just for my own use.
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Wordle 420 5/6
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩
🟨🟩⬛⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"
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Wordle 420 5/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 420 6/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 420 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
That third one was a lucky guess - I was going to go with what (to me at least) seemed like much more likely words, but changed my mind at the last second.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Wordle 420 4/6
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 420 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Third starter is usually an eliminator.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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Wordle 420 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Tricky one
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Wordle 420 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Too many choices!
Wordle 420 X/6
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Wordle 420 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
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Wordle 420 6/6*
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I got lucky in the end. I still had one more it could have been.
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Wordle 420 6/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Not a word that I expected until very end
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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