Hello my fellow nerds.

TL;DR version:

How well does the Teensy 3 + Teensyduino work for keyboard emulation? As I understand it, it can be programed just like a regular Arduino? Is that correct? Did anyone try to talk to the board with a custom software, ie, written by your self?

The long version:

I'm working on a project here, the idea is to have a multi-purpose, keyboard emulating, 48 keys panel to have radio commands to talk to the AI.

They way it works is you slide a printed... erm, slide? on top of the keys with the layout you want for a specific game and you also have a profiling software that lets you create and load said profile to the thing. You know, like any other joystick: you have one for Falcon, one for IL-2 and so on and you load them before you play.

Originally I thought on using an Arduino Leonardo because that's what I have more experience with and it emulates a keyboard just fine and I want an all-hardware approach (no need for drivers, HID device as seen by the OS and games, you know it's gonna work anywhere even with old games)

Now, the problem is memory. The profiling "language" I created is quite neat if say so my self, it allows you to do simple stuff like specify a single key press, a sequence of keys, delay, assigns variables and evaluate them later on... I got a little carried away :), but the bottom line is, the device needs memory to store all this information for each of the 48 keys.

I wrote a profile for Falcon BMS and it's something like 350 bytes + some 20 for the variables table and some extra for indexes and stuff, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that small...

The Leonardo has 2.5 KB of RAM, which is simply not enough to guarantee that all the info I need to store will actually fit. I solved that by using an SD card as memory (with the added benefit that it doesn't get erased when you power off), but I then discovered this Teensy thing and it's got 64 KB of RAM... and that's sexy as hell.

So I was wondering... since I have another panel on my mind for the near future, what I were to use a Teensy instead of a Leonardo? I really like how the Arduino works, so I wouldn't want to switch to something different only for the RAM...

BTW, before you answer "you should try X product". Maybe I should, but I can't Very limited availability of products you know... third world and all that stuff. Lucky I can get the Leonardo and the Teensy.

(Told you it was the long version!)

Have you looked at the various things on the Teensy's web site?

https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/index.html

https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/teensyduino.html

https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/teensy31.html

I can't speak from personal experience with it, but Teensy 3.1 (I don't see a 3.0 + ) looks to be pretty Arduino compatible as far as keyboard emulation goes.

Yeah, looked into it, and it looks peachy from a distance but you know, it's all fun and games until you find out it doesn't do something you wanted.

I guess wouldn't mind if it's not 100% compatible with Arduino, after all if I'm gonna write code for one board I can write it for another, the problems I fear are more of the "operational" variety. Its quirks and little details that can make your life harder.

Say, for example, with the Arduino UNO, once you burn your keyboard firmware it becomes a keyboard, not a prototype board, and you can't communicate with it through normal USB and you have to use an external programmer to load to it again.

I hear you. It sounds like you have the know-how to make it work, but I can certainly understand wanting to avoid a gotcha that makes you work harder.

Good luck with it!

And yet, I can't help but ask: Have you tried voice recognition software?
I'd recommend VoiceAttack in particular; It's very flexible because it allows(though not requires) you to "script" certain things and have complex command structures.

Personally, I use it for just about everything from commanding crew to pressing buttons that I can't reach with both hands on the controls, but because it's voice operated, it works particularly well for radio communications.
It's much more natural to tell your wingman "Wingman, attack ground targets", than having to press a bunch of keys to navigate a radio tree(Or in your case, having to look at a keypad for the correct command).

If you're interested in trying it, there is a 21 day limited trial version available(try the beta download, as the main one is slightly outdated). And the full version is only $8!


Note: I'm not affiliated with VoiceAttack aside from being a customer.

I have considered it, yes. But a hobby is a hobby, part of the reason (or actually, 100% of the reason) I'm building this stuff is "because".

But hey, thanks for the suggestion.

I have gone through your discussion and want to ask that have you tried voice recognition software for this?
You must use the VoiceAttack in particular because it is very flexible and allows you to script certain things and have complex command structures.
You must use it for just about everything from commanding crew to pressing buttons it works particularly well for radio communications.

http://www.7pcb.com

Toooo late. I have the basic prototype working: