{"id":959,"date":"2013-05-27T22:06:17","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T21:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andyland.info\/wordpress\/?p=959"},"modified":"2018-09-16T16:25:56","modified_gmt":"2018-09-16T15:25:56","slug":"easy-button-usb-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andyland.info\/wordpress\/easy-button-usb-hack\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Button USB hack"},"content":{"rendered":"

I guess everybody knows the Staples Easy Button.<\/p>\n

[tube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lkaAFObuUrA[\/tube]<\/p>\n

There are numerous hacks out in the wild adding some weird functionality to it. For quite some time I wanted to something similar. This is the documentation of how to make the Easy-Button a MIDI-USB device based on Atmega328 (Arduino).<\/p>\n

Many hacks have in common that they are either relatively expensive (like…involving something with a dedicated teensy device) or rather ugly (due to holes just being sawed into the Easy Button’s case).<\/p>\n

My first goal was to build a device that automatically identifies itself as an HID-compliant USB-MIDI device and gives simple MIDI functionality by using an Atmega328 and V-USB. In order to achieve a correct enumeration and to get a useful starting point I used the demo-versionof USBLyzer<\/a> to get the necessary data from my KORG nanoKey and altered them in various places (Vendor ID etc..). (You will remember this one later.)<\/p>\n

When the button is pressed a ‘MIDI Note ON’ signal is sent. Upon release it sends a ‘Note OFF’ message.<\/p>\n

The second goal was to give it a clean overall look.<\/p>\n

Let’s see…<\/p>\n

This is the Staples Easy Button with the cap and the clicker already being removed (which makes it just a pretty unidentifiable bunch of electronics and some plastic)<\/p>\n

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we don’t need the speaker so it will be gone soon….<\/p>\n

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The black line shows how deep the cap goes when it’s pressed.<\/p>\n

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This is the spot where the USB connector will be placed<\/p>\n

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I might not be the best craftsman around (already mentioned that once before) but after some filing this one looks pretty decent:<\/p>\n

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The plastic on the inside has to be cut as well<\/p>\n

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This DOES look quite well<\/p>\n

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Now I need to add the circuit board. Due to the speaker being thrown out there is lots of space for that now.<\/p>\n

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The circuit is basically a 1:1 copy of the V-USB keyboard example<\/a>. The Button is connected with data pin 6 of the Atmega. It involves some creative soldering of the diodes because I didn’t care too much about the circuit’s layout before I started soldering.<\/p>\n

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Everything’s coming to an end soon<\/p>\n

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It seems impossible for my camera to do any decent shots that contain the color red.
\nAnyway, you might get an idea of how the circuit fits into the structure.<\/p>\n

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Some detail of how the actual button-mechanism is connected to the Atmega (the blue wires, you guessed it)<\/p>\n

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To make future additions a little easier I added an ICSP connector which fits nicely into what has formerly been the battery case<\/p>\n

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Finally… in all its glory.<\/p>\n

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I had this in the back of my mind for ~2.5 years now. Shortly before starting with this built I started wandering whether this might make sense or be worth the money or time invested or…..<\/p>\n

F*CK IT.\u00a0 Never let doubts get in the way of your creativity.\u00a0 If this wouldn’t make sense than I probably wouldn’t have built it. Word!\u00a0\u00a0 =)<\/p>\n

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