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Show HN: Arduino guitar foot pedal controls shipping at Thanks Machine

34 points by fido 15y ago

illicium 15y ago
This is kind of overengineered. Why not just stuff the guts of an old USB keyboard into the enclosure and wire the switch to the Enter key?
- fido 15y ago
  I guess I could have tried that, but this seems like more fun to me.
  - statictype 15y ago
    Always the best reason for ever doing something. Nice hack.
redact207 15y ago
could also play around with voice commands, then you wouldn't even need a physical interface
JonnieCache 15y ago
I think this might just be the answer to the constant annoyance of switching focus between the browser, the editor and the console. Why didn't I think of that before? With all the effort we put into learning key combinations, why not bring the feet into it as well?
catshirt 15y ago
what about this foot pedal makes it a guitar foot pedal?
- fr0sty 15y ago
  The enclosure and switch are the same parts used to make guitar effects pedals.
  - catshirt 15y ago
    what about the number of foot pedals that aren't used for guitars..? this is a foot pedal. i'm only complaining because i was really interested in an arduino guitar foot pedal.
jws 15y ago
The user is important. In a related vein, back in the 1990 time frame when I was in a lab trying to remove film from the radiology business, among the deal breaking, must have or it can not be used, was that we had to use a foot switch to move from one set of four "films" to the next. Nothing else was acceptable. I've been away from that field for 20 years, I wonder if radiologists have learned to use something other than a foot to advance the films in the reading room. EOM The following line intersects the article at precisely one point… Radiologists are bizarre creatures who have rebuilt their brains into sophisticated, hard wired image processing and analysis systems. You do not screw with their mojo. If you are ever compelled to be a radiologist you need to do this: 1) Look at the pictures. 2) Say aloud "Normal chest". 3) Put a $100 in your pocket. 4) Tap the foot switch. 5) Repeat. You'll probably be right for 90% of cases too! Though, the 10% that die a premature painful death might not appreciate that fact.
HeyLaughingBoy 15y ago
Fix title: this is a Teensy, not an Arduino. Arduino is Open Source Hardware, Teensy is a fine device, but it is not OSW.

34 points by fido 15y ago

This is kind of overengineered. Why not just stuff the guts of an old USB keyboard into the enclosure and wire the switch to the Enter key?

fido 15y ago
I guess I could have tried that, but this seems like more fun to me.
- statictype 15y ago
  Always the best reason for ever doing something. Nice hack.

redact207 15y ago

could also play around with voice commands, then you wouldn't even need a physical interface

JonnieCache 15y ago

I think this might just be the answer to the constant annoyance of switching focus between the browser, the editor and the console. Why didn't I think of that before? With all the effort we put into learning key combinations, why not bring the feet into it as well?

catshirt 15y ago

what about this foot pedal makes it a guitar foot pedal?

fr0sty 15y ago
The enclosure and switch are the same parts used to make guitar effects pedals.
- catshirt 15y ago
  what about the number of foot pedals that aren't used for guitars..? this is a foot pedal. i'm only complaining because i was really interested in an arduino guitar foot pedal.

jws 15y ago

The user is important. In a related vein, back in the 1990 time frame when I was in a lab trying to remove film from the radiology business, among the deal breaking, must have or it can not be used, was that we had to use a foot switch to move from one set of four "films" to the next. Nothing else was acceptable. I've been away from that field for 20 years, I wonder if radiologists have learned to use something other than a foot to advance the films in the reading room. EOM The following line intersects the article at precisely one point… Radiologists are bizarre creatures who have rebuilt their brains into sophisticated, hard wired image processing and analysis systems. You do not screw with their mojo. If you are ever compelled to be a radiologist you need to do this: 1) Look at the pictures. 2) Say aloud "Normal chest". 3) Put a $100 in your pocket. 4) Tap the foot switch. 5) Repeat. You'll probably be right for 90% of cases too! Though, the 10% that die a premature painful death might not appreciate that fact.

HeyLaughingBoy 15y ago

Fix title: this is a Teensy, not an Arduino. Arduino is Open Source Hardware, Teensy is a fine device, but it is not OSW.