I don't have one but musical or guitar communities may have recommendations. Lot of foot controllers in that world.
Wide variety of feel and purpose there.
this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards
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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards
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Are you looking for a bare pedal that you can wire to a controller, or something that's ready to plug in?
For something that's ready to be wired to a controller, I used a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/Momentary-Operated-Controller-Industrial-Anti-Skid/dp/B07KN6GLYD
They're a single firm clicky button, with relatively short travel. I never really had any issue with them being pressed too easily.
I had not even considered the other options! I guess I shouldve added more context.
I was thinking of a foot pedal that plugs in with a USB, that I could map to a keypress.
I've been slowly remapping my laptop keyboard, disabling arrow keys, esc, etc, in preperation for making a full mostly-seamless switch to ergo-mech. (I can't afford to buy an ergo board only to realize I can't handle the jump). Sadly some of my new chords are causing me more hand pain than I was already having. So I'm hoping to add a relatively cheap foot pedal as an intermediate step.
If you can solder, you can quite cheaply build your own ergo prototype, without habing to 3D print or buy PCBs: https://golem.hu/guide/cardboard-prototyping/
I did this, and am very happy. I got to stagger the keys as I like, place my thumb keys nicely, and know I can do it again easily and cheaply if I want something changed. Time's not free of course, but I value the freedom this gives me.
If you are handy with basic soldering and some programming, you could easily wire these to a controller, and program them to a key. That's what I did with the ones I had.
I used the double version of this foot pedal for a while. The software lets you configure what key press it registers as.
I bought mine off aliexpress, it's 3 pedals and was like 30euro. Used it to switch virtual desktops, but now that's on keeb..
Maybe a cheap one until you know it will be used a lot? Mine is used very sparingly...
Can you give us some more context here: What exactly does this pedal need to do?
Plugging in with USB would be nice. Being able to map it to a keyboard shortcut would also be nice. But if it just pretends to be a keyboard or mouse, regardless of what key it defaults to I can make it work with some software of my own.
What about the very, very cheap piano pedals? Those are usually just a on-off switch, which is output over a 6.3mm jack. Connect that to an Arduino or something which emulates a keyboard and Bob's your uncle.