Whether you’d like hardware shortcuts for video editing, custom layouts for gaming, or an extra number pad – the Raspberry Pi Pico 4×4 Macropad can greatly expand on your keyboard. It’s reprogrammable, customisable, and has a polished design that fits perfectly on any desktop setup.
Macropads are like a power-up for your keyboard! They work by having user-defined sets of key bindings referred to as ‘keymaps’. Keymaps assign macros to each key, and macros can be programmed to do multiple actions from a single keypress. An example of this would be for the ‘copy’ command. Usually, copying is done by pressing the control key and the C key at the same time – but with a macro this action can be assigned to a single key.
Shortcuts like copy and paste, fighting game combos, and software commands are often controlled by key combinations. A macropad speeds up your workflow by creating dedicated keys to simplify these input sequences. In the past, people have even created macros to play full levels of Mario!
The Raspberry Pi Pico 4×4 Macropad is both easy to assemble and incredibly customisable, with professional stark white PCBs and black detailing. This board was designed for use with CircuitPython or MicroPython, and comes with keyboard firmware – found on the BlueMicro website.
Once assembled, you can start building your custom keymaps using CircuitPython and truly tune this piece of hardware to your needs. I think a custom shortcut pad for audio editing sounds fantastic, but I’m convinced you’ll discover even more ingenious ways to use this clever device.
BlueMicro is an independent DIY electronics company based out of Saskatoon, Canada. They ship almost anywhere in the world, and sell a variety of Macropads for many uses – why not check out their Wireless Video Editing Macropad and Jog Wheel!
