“A macropad built around the xiao footprint.
Introduction
After successfully trying to build my own mechanical keyboard using other people PCB design. I want to try to design my own keyboard but before I go there I want to start to design something simple. So I try to design a macro pad 1st.
My requirement for the macro pad are it need to be 4x4 switch to replace the numpad for my 60% keyboard.
Material and Component Selection
By the time I am making this project we are in a chip crisis situation, so for this project I choose the RP2040 chip because its still in a stable stock situation. And because for this macro pad I don’t need a lot of pins I choose the Xiao RP2040 for its size and easiness. Also the RP2040 already support a few keyboard firmware like PRK and KMK
The switch I am using for this project are Cherry MX based switch. There a bunch of 3rd party vendor that make these kind of switch.”