Send a remote signal for an Arduino device to type on the keyboard

Other Hardware Robotics
1

Hello guys,

I'm looking to create a simple project. It goes as:

  • A remote user (John) will type a key on the keyboard(John can be anywhere not just LAN)
  • John's keypress signal will be sent to an arduino board.
  • After receiving the signal, Arduino will trigger an action in a location far away fron John's location (say Alice's place).
  • The arduino board is at Alice's place.
  • The arduino at Alice's place will intercept that signal and exert pressure on a physical keyboard on at Alice's place resulting in pressing of the similar key as John pressed from his location.

It's basically remote typing using, say a stick to press the keys at a remote location.

The keyboard configuration will remain the same. Arduino will not use imaging to see and identify the keys. Rather, a linear motion device will use coordinates of the keys of a fixed sized keyboard to achieve pressing all keys.

How can I go about doing this?
Can someone provide any idea to go about it?
How much time it may take?

2

Perhaps the old fashioned "sneaker net" would work.

3

Can you please elaborate a little?

I'm unaware of the jargons if any.

4

A Leonardo (and others) can 'emulate' a USB keyboard.
Would Alice be ok with that?

5

Emulated keyboard is not required. There is a need to have the actual keys pressed on the physical keyboard using a stick of a small force which is controlled using a device(say a motor and a combination of a linear motion) which is controlled via the Arduino.

6

Is that part ready to go?

7

Hi @mitch9000 ,
Welcome to the forum..

Simple project, yeah ok..

Install a key logger into Johns system and configure it to transmit to Alice's public ip..
Configure Alice's router to route this incoming traffic to your Arduino board..
The Arduino board will then activate a solenoid that is directly above the key needed on this remote keyboard..
Of course you have to make the solenoid setup..
I'm leaning this way with 1 solenoid per key mostly because I do not know how fast John can type..

but the basis is the same as playing a piano..

Arduino Paino Player..

How much time??
Most time spent will be making the rig to press the keys..
but still I would just give my usual canned response, 2 weeks..
they spent 10 years making the piano player..

good luck.. ~q

8

What is "it"?

9

Hello @runaway_pancake , no nothing is ready yet, I'm just exploring ways to arrive at some design.

10

I'm sorry, I didn't make it very clear there. "It" refers to a linear motor device that will be controlled by the Arduino and will make the keypress possible on a physical keyboard.

11

Hello @qubits-us , thank you so much for your response.

For now, my concern is not the speed with which the keys can be pressed but just to press the keys.

Are you also working on something similar? Perhaps, we could connect.

12

Getting the key clicks from John's terminal to Alice's will be the easiest part.
If you can click a pushbutton on terminal A and light a corresponding LED then --
the rest is duck soup (as our algebra would say).

13

You're welcome..

no, far from it, porting windows server code to rasp pi..

speed is not the only reason..
should probably track key down, key up and multiple key downs at once..
could get tricky depending on requirements..

curious to see how it progresses and i'll chime in if i think i can help..

good luck.. ~q

1 Like
14

That will be the hard part, so build that first. But, curiosity overcomes me: why do you want to build such a Rube Goldberg thing?

Not that you would be alone!

Arduino Controlled Piano Robot

Capture

15

@runaway_pancake thank you, I have taken feedback from your responses.

16

Thank you @qubits-us . I will surely keep you posted about any future developments.

17

@jremington thank you!

Doing it as a hobby project. For now, I'm looking to get a plan laid out. I saw the piano thing and it's cool.

18

That means you send someone to go push the key!

19

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