Australian electronics agency Zoid Expertise has designed a “rugged” macropad which presents a per-key customizable RGB LED backlighting system for jogging your reminiscence as to which of the 4 buttons does what: the Matrix.
“A rugged macropad with a per-key customizable ultra-bright RGB backlight, Matrix is a robust device for streamlining repetitive duties with pre-programmed keystroke sequences,” Zoid Expertise writes of its gadget, which presents a easy 2×2 key format. “Matrix can be good for these events if you want just some further buttons.”
The Matrix is a CNC-milled rugged macropad, internet hosting a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and the QMK firmware. (📷: Zoid Expertise)
When the corporate says “rugged,” it means it: the Matrix’s enclosure is machined from aluminum and anodized in black, whereas the buttons themselves are constructed from sturdy translucent silicone — permitting the RGB LEDs situated beneath to shine up by means of the entire of the important thing cap, somewhat than merely round it as with conventional plastic caps.
The pad is constructed round a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller with 2MB of QSPI flash, and comes pre-programmed with a fork of the open-source QMK firmware — which means it may be configured for single-key operation, macros, emulate a joystick or mouse, or act as a MIDI controller. The firmware additionally consists of what the corporate calls an “intensive library of lighting results” for the per-key RGB LEDs.
Extra info on the pad is out there on the Zoid Expertise web site, whereas fully-assembled Matrix pads may be bought from the Seven Crumbs Tindie retailer for $85 every. The QMK fork’s supply code, in the meantime, is on GitHub below the reciprocal GNU Common Public License 2.
