Microcontroller

I recently built a DZ65RGB keyboard to replace my TADA68 and I’ve been thrilled with it, but it is lacking one major feature: it has no underglow support. So I undertook a challenge to add high quality LEDs to the underside of my favorite TADA68 case, powered through the DZ65RGB PCB, and controlled by the keyboard microcontroller (an STM32 ARM Cortex) running the QMK firmware. While underglow is a configuration setting in QMK for many AVR microcontrollers, it is not supported out of the box for the STM32 ARM microcontroller, and it conflicts with the individually addressable RGB LEDs. This is a detailed tutorial on the hardware and software required to enable additional dimmable lights to any STM32 keyboard with full production-quality integration.

My previous TADA68 build mysteriously bit the dust, so I decided to build a new keyboard and reuse my TADA68 aluminum case. Thankfully I found a fantastic (nearly) drop-in replacement PCB: the DZ65RGB. It is another 65% keyboard like the TADA68, and has my most desired improvements over the TADA68: individually addressable RGB LEDs, USB-C, hot-swappable switches, and a lovely purple and gold color scheme!

As I learned more about the world of mechanical keyboards, I wanted to experiment with new switches, play with new keycaps, and most importantly try my hand at building my own.

I’ve been interested in making some nice electronic music and sound effects for my games. I tend to find the UI of different VSTs frustrating, so I was interested in getting a MIDI controller that could help speed things up. I’m also interested in the possibilities of rigging the MIDI knobs to variables in the code so I could tweak different parameters in real time. Like any good (over-)engineer, I researched what it might take to put one together myself. For whatever reason I find this sort of controller hardware fascinating.

A pneumatic nerf turret, controllable via a flash interface over the internet. It holds six shots, has a webcam for aiming, LEDs for use in the dark, an approximate range of 20 feet, with hundreds of shots between tank refills.