Add foot pedals or ergonomic buttons to your computer keyboard

Step 2 Make a foot pedal

A foot pedal is simply something sturdy and springy that holds a micro switch with wires that connect to the wires hanging out of the keyboard.

A simple pedal can be made by zip-tying a microswitch to something sturdy on the floor.

My third pedal is a switch tied to a loop around my foot. The switch is upside down on top of my foot. A second loop goes from the switch lever to my big toes (it's a sensitive micro switch with a one inch lever hanging off the side). Twitch my toe down for shift.

My first pedal is more of a pedal. This might make it too nonergonomic for some people. Razors make great microswitch bases, though--and there's an extra Razor hanging around MITERS right now!

Clay found a razor on the street the same time I was making this. Razors are kiddie scooters with a back break that is a metal piece with a spring attached. The rider pushes down onto the back wheel to increase friction. I used MITERS's bandsaw to hack the bottom of the scooter in two, salvaging the back part with the break for the foot pedal.

I removed the wheel. I tried putting on the spacers +- wheel bearings and using a switch with a lever arm in order to reduce wear on the switch (the harder one presses the more it rolls). In the end, the clunker of a switch I found fit nicely into the break piece. There's room yet to add a lever. And/or a spring.

I expected to spend a couple days getting used to ctrl-ing with my foot, but I found no problem making the apparently intuitive switch.

Adding shift and tab was immediately intuitive, too.