Hi I want to make a ‘push-to-talk’ button that doesn’t use any usa/uk keyboard standard keys. I use all of the standard keys for my voicebot commands e.g. saying ‘reload’ presses the ‘r’ key. I need to have a physical button that doesn’t use a key that a game may use or one that can be changed easily.
I have found a device called X-keys® USB 3 Switch Interface which seems like it would work however their website doesn’t say anything a uk shipping and doesn’t use paypal and on amazon it’s twice the price. I also don’t know if I can use the F13-F24 keys as my keyboard doesn’t have those physical keys I assume those keys are still there in the OS.
I am willing to build it myself and learn what I need to know. I would be grateful of any information anyone can provide.
Note: I am disabled so I use voicebot for accessibility reasons and just so you know im typing with windows osk.
If you can make use of a serial input you can make your own board with custom buttons with an Arduino. That will require some programming and tooling to have a nice finished product but it’s way cheaper than any device.
I would also go with an Arduino. If you are going for a Board which supports USB natively (the Micro does, the Uno does not) you can program it to emulate a HID device. Copy-and-paste ready example code does exist: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/KeyboardPress
Emulating a F13 keypress should work on any OS, the key is found on very few USB-Keyboards, older full width Apple keyboards for example.
a USB to UART adapter, a USB-A to USB internal header, and Python.
They have a graphical IDE that makes it pretty easy to have what’s essentially a functional mockup.
It’s a bit different from what you’re asking, but does the same and allows for detailed visual feedback via the display.
For a PTT key, you may be better served by a button with tactile feedback, but the display is great if you want it to be multifunctional, or maybe flash green when it’s enabled, or whatever.