✨ Glen Akins (@bikerglen) writes about converting a vintage button panel to USB:

Converting a Vintage Grass Valley Button Panel to USB Using the Silicon Labs EFM8UB1

In this project, I convert a set of illuminated push buttons from a vintage Grass Valley video mixer into a custom vendor-defined USB HID peripheral. Like the USB analog panel meters project, this project uses a Silicon Labs EFM8UB1 microcontroller for USB connectivity. Unlike the panel meters project which only received data from the USB host, this project needs to send data back to the USB host too.

In this write up, we’ll reverse engineer the button panel, decide on a strategy for reading the keys and controlling the LEDs, build a board, then write both embedded and Linux software to interface with the button panel. If you want to build your own device like this but don’t have this specific switch panel, don’t worry–the ideas presented here are applicable to any generic 3×4/4×3/4×4 matrix keypad with or without LEDs.

Design files for this project are in my usb-led-switch-matrix repository on GitHub.

My latest blog post looks at how to turn a matrix keypad into a USB peripheral using a @siliconlabs EFM8 USB micro. Also control a bunch of LEDs from a PC over USB using the @TXInstruments TLC5916. @oshpark https://t.co/iYGhieMPu0

— Glen Akins (@bikerglen) November 9, 2020