The Button Box
The Process of Building My Ultimate Racing Button Box
The Process of Building My Ultimate Racing Button Box
I had craved a button box for a long time. However, after looking online at the prices, I resigned... but not for long. I thought, "Maybe a little DIY wouldn't hurt?"
Next thing I know, I was out comparing microcontrollers. Which one to choose? My choice landed on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2W because of its Python support. I bought a few buttons, switches, and encoders.
The raw components
Written in CircuitPython. It started off easy but became more and more frustrating when I found out nothing was working. One evening, I got so overwhelmed that I just packed it up and threw it in my drawer.
At the end of the summer, I sat down, took a deep breath, and opened the box. I found two YouTube videos doing the same thing I was. I tried the first code—it didn't work. My hopes were at an all-time low. As a last resort, I tried the second code. Surprise! It worked, although not perfectly.
Back to the drawing board
Finally, I got into the flow. One day, I gathered my focus and started soldering the elements together. Funny enough, it worked the first time. Maybe it was pure skill?
I tucked it all inside the box the parts were shipped in. It's finally finished!
The result
I painted it black and hot-glued the wires onto the box. In the future, I'm planning other big projects! Follow me for more... See ya!