Easy stealth footswitch / pedal to minimize windows and show Desktop

I spend most of the time at a computer programming, and in a matter of no time I end with all my screen real state filled with windows. Also, most of the time my feet are very lazy, so I took the idea I saw somewhere to do a very easy and cheap foot pedal to hide / unhide all the windows by using my feet.

Also, I had a lot of friends that would like to hide all the IM and youtube screens when the boss passes by, so maybe this will help =P

Most of the modern computer keyboards don't use the "Scrll Lock" (or Bloq Despl in spanish) for anything, so we will use this key to trigger the hiding function in windows.

I hope you have fun doing it as I had fun making it.

BTW, I was a member like for 4 years now, but this is my very first instructable.

Thank you!! and please have a look at my blog for extra pics: my blog

UPDATE: Just to be clear, this instructable is not about hacking your actual keyboard, but hacking and attaching an extra one to your regular computer, so you end using your regular keyboard and also this hacked one, both at the same time. Have fun!

Step 1 The parts

1) An unused old keyboard - for the keys functionality (I had A LOT of unused keyboards at home)
2) A multimeter - not a must, but it really helps to check everything OK
3) An arcade switch - this will be the switch on the pedal
4) An unused cardboard box - I had several unused boxes from AMD processors, U can use one of these boxes
5) A soldering iron
6) A dremel tool
7) Some cable, about 6 ft.
8) The AutoHotKey free windows application that you can find here: http://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Comments

[bbear4]

Love it!

And just mentioning the other project, I had to go check that one out too! I started working on this and got frustrated trying to find the two pins to close the gap for the keys I needed. I didn't think of using a multimeter rather than trial and error with a keyboard button test. It was a cool program though. It'll highlight the keys you press on an on-screen keyboard so you know if they are working. I don't remember its name but a google search will find it along with multitudinous others and might come in handy for someone reading this.

Now that you've shown me a better way to isolate the keys I need, I'm going to make a similar switch.

TY

[eliastorre]

Hey thanks to you for your comment!

Good luck with you project, hope this instructable helps you. Let me know if you need something else.

¡Cheers!

[Tubehacker01]

Yeah, that's exactly what I got.
However, I made this work by simply replacing ''+ScrollLock with Pause. It works perfectly now, so I'm more than happy.

I'm currently running win 7, maybe this has something to do with it...

[Tubehacker01]

Hey! That file doesn't work, it only minimizes and doesn't undo :( Any ideas why?


GREAT INSTRUCTABLE +++++

[eliastorre]

Hi!

mmm I'm not sure why it is not working, do you have this on the file?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
SetScrollLockState, AlwaysOff
 
ScrollLock::
WinMinimizeAll
return
 
+ScrollLock::
WinMinimizeAllUndo
return
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Just delete the dashes, keep the code and let me know

[daneframe]

I've hacked Keyboards before, and usually use a Sharpie to trace the contacts, but this method of finding the correct pins saves a LOT of time and frustration. Thanks for the post! :)

[darklucifer]

would it not be better to have it trigger the computer to "lock" instead of minimizing windows?, or perhaps minimize the windows and then lock?

[eliastorre]

But I guess the idea is to look as if you were actually working =P a locked screen looks more suspicious hehe

thanks for comment!

[kwah]

Just a quick note that a Windows version of AutoHotKey is available (I currently have it installed in XP) - if anything, I think that you have gotten this wrong way around:

""This program is very powerful (sadly, only under linux) and has a lot of functionality, but we will use just the basics. If you want more information you can read the embedded help.""

That is in step 7 and to my knowledge, this is a Windows-only program that can be run under linux with WINE (it stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator) but due to the way that WINE works, AHK has only very limited 'power' - something to do with WINE acting similarly to a sandbox I think but I would advise that you look into that yourself if you're interested.

Anyhow, the point is that AutoHotKey is NOT linux-only.

Other that that minor correction and a couple of doubts re: bringing hardware into the workplace from home (that's not generally isn't commonplace.. is it?), its a Cool first Instructable =]

Keep up the good work!

-- Kwah

[eliastorre]

Awww, you're right!! I dunno why I put that comment about linux, actually autohotkey is only under Windows, my mistake. I will update that ASAP.

Didn't get ur last comment about bringing the hardware =P

Thanks for ur comment!

[kwah]

I didn't read/understand this 100% in depth but from what I can remember reading you are going to modify a keyboard and then plug modified keyboard (with a foot pedal attatched) that into the computer. If you are going to use it at work then you've either got to modify your work's keyboard or bring one in from home.<br/><br/>If its like most offices I've heard / read about, something like this would be frowned upon at least a little (health & safety etc).. It might be worth noting that I'm in the UK.<br/><br/>{....}<br/><br/>I've just skimmed through again and it seems I might have miunderstood slightly - the instructable is for creating a foot pedal that is completely seperate to the keyboard? <br/>I imagined that you were going to short out the path from the scroll lock key to the controller using the foot switch but it seems that you were proposing to build something seperate from the keyboard that has its own USB port - effectively making the computer think that it has two keyboards attached to it?<br/><br/>Meh, maybe I'm wrong here too but my excuse is that I only skimmed through =P<br/><br/>Happy hacking<br/>

[eliastorre]

Yeah, your'e right about the second tought, this instructable is about hacking an extra keyboard, so yes, te computer thinks it has 2 keyboards connected at the same time. I have A LOT of old unused keyboards, I thouhgt this would be a nice end to them. Thanks again for reading!

[berky93]

lol I was just going to use the autohotkey script and modify it a bit to change what keypress hides all windows (and not bother with the foot switch, since I have a laptop and dont usually even have my feet on the gound) but then i read the comment about windows + d useful! still this is a great instructable

[pyrogoth]

i would just like to say that you dont even need to bother with the auto hot key script at all, al ud need to do is find the "win:" and the "D" keys, and u could make a dual switch to press both or you could get one of those switches that are specifically made to be connected to two things at once and u only need to push 1 button, just an idea its a small bit of extra work but its worth it incase some1 pushes the scroll lock while playing a game or something other wise there would b no use to haveing the switch because some1 could just push the scroll key but all in all a good instructable

[eliastorre]

Yeah, you're right. But the idea behind this was to show another use for both the feet and a almost-dead key. And keep the hardware as simple as possible, like with this one switch button.

You can see other approach in the other instructable, where key combinations are used. For this specific instructable I tried to keep the hardware as simple and affordable possible, also this kind of arcade buttons are very sturdy, so it can withstand the stress under your feet.

Thanks for your comment!

[SeanJay]

Hey so doing this for my pre-IB personal project dont have a dremel tool is theyr anyway of doing this without it ??

[eliastorre]

Hi there! Don't worry, the dremel is just to make the work easier. You can use regular sandpaper to clean the tracks of the keyboard microcontroller. Ask for a sandpaper sheet at your local hardware shop. The sandpaper roughness is measured by a number, a bigger number, like 500, means smaller grains and a small number, like 10, means bigger grain. So, ask for a #500 sandpaper and use it to remove the black coating of the tracks. Or just ask for a soft sandpaper, and be careful to remove the black coating but not the copper layer. Hope this help you! Let me know, and thanks for watching!

[Guy.Fawkes]

"add a shortcut inside the "Star" folder under the "Programs" tab at the "Start" button under Windows XP" On the English versions of Windows, the folder name is "Startup."

[eliastorre]

Update made Thanks!

[Guy.Fawkes]

No hay de que. ;-)

[Padlock]

Wow! Perfect use for those old PS2 Keyboards.

[eliastorre]

Haha, yeah! Instead of just catching dirt Thank you!

[admin]

(removed by author or community request)

[gabo83]

A little bit crazy, but well done. Keep working !

[jackbravo]

This stuff is really neat, although a little frightening =P

nice instructable.