Foot pedals

• Any pedal made from a USB/Bluetooth keyboard

• Any pedal made using an Arduino, ESP32 or BlueFruit board (sometimes requires AirTurn mode for long press actions)

• Most AirTurn pedals (you will likely need to switch on AirTurn mode for long press actions).  AirTurn Ped Pro works, but not particularly responsive on some surfaces and can be slow to detect presses according to some users

• Lekato / M-VAVE / CuVave wireless foot pedal (some versions require switching the pedal to iOS mode or mode 2 to send key events).  Unsure if long press action is detected

• Donner Wireless Turner

• Coda wireless turner and Coda stomp

If you have any information on working/not working foot pedals, please let us know via the forum thread.

If you fancy having a go at making a Bluetooth foot pedal, you can do this without spending too much money.  It's also a relatively straightforward project if you know how to use a soldering iron and can follow simple instructions and wiring diagrams!

Unfortunately the Bluetooth board I originally used (AdaFruit EZ-Key) is not currently available, but thanks to our amazing community Leo gave me some tips to build an alternative using a ESP32 WiFi/Bluetooth development board.  It's also a lot cheaper.  I've since rewritten the code and changed the set up slightly.

#include <BleKeyboard.h>

// Set up the pin numbers for the buttons

const int pinButton1 = 12;

const int pinButton2 = 14;

const int pinButton3 = 27;

const int pinButton4 = 26;

const int pinButton5 = 25;

// Set up the pin numbers for the LEDs

// const int pinLEDOnboard = 36;

const int pinLEDPress = 33;

const int pinLEDConnected = 32;

// Because we connect to GND we use reverse HIGH/LOW logic

// HIGH = off, LOW = on

// Set up the pin states (track changes)

int button1State = HIGH;

int button2State = HIGH;

int button3State = HIGH;

int button4State = HIGH;

int button5State = HIGH;

int connectedLEDState = HIGH;

int pressedLEDState = HIGH;

// Variables for blinking the Bluetooth LED

// The last time LED was updated

unsigned long previousMillis = 0;

// Interval at which to blink (milliseconds)

const long notconnectedInterval = 200;

const long connectedInterval = 1000;

// First param is name

// Second is manufacturer

// Third is initial battery level

BleKeyboard bleKeyboard("PageFlip", "OpenSongApp", 100);

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(115200);

  //pinMode(pinLEDOnboard, OUTPUT);

  pinMode(pinLEDPress,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(pinLEDConnected,OUTPUT);

  pinMode(pinButton1,INPUT_PULLUP);

  pinMode(pinButton2,INPUT_PULLUP);

  pinMode(pinButton3,INPUT_PULLUP);

  pinMode(pinButton4,INPUT_PULLUP);

  pinMode(pinButton5,INPUT_PULLUP);

  digitalWrite(pinLEDPress,pressedLEDState);

  digitalWrite(pinLEDConnected,connectedLEDState);

  bleKeyboard.begin();

}

void loop() {

  // Check the key press state

  int new_button1State = digitalRead(pinButton1);

  int new_button2State = digitalRead(pinButton2);

  int new_button3State = digitalRead(pinButton3);

  int new_button4State = digitalRead(pinButton4);

  int new_button5State = digitalRead(pinButton5);

  boolean ispressed1 = (new_button1State == LOW);

  boolean ispressed2 = (new_button2State == LOW);

  boolean ispressed3 = (new_button3State == LOW);

  boolean ispressed4 = (new_button4State == LOW);

  boolean ispressed5 = (new_button5State == LOW);

  // If we have pressed a button, light the LED, otherwise turn it off)

  triggerPressLED(ispressed1 || ispressed2 || 

    ispressed3 || ispressed4 || ispressed5);

  if (button1State != new_button1State) {

    // We have changed the button state, so need to do something

    button1State = new_button1State;

    if (new_button1State == LOW) {

      // We have pressed the first button (left arrow)

      Serial.print("\nButton1 pressed");

      sendKey(KEY_LEFT_ARROW,true);

    } else {

      Serial.print("\nButton1 released");

      sendKey(KEY_LEFT_ARROW,false);

    }

  }

  if (button2State != new_button2State) {

    // We have changed the button state, so need to do something

    button2State = new_button2State;

    if (new_button2State == LOW) {

      // We have pressed the second button (right arrow)

      Serial.print("\nButton2 pressed");

      sendKey(KEY_RIGHT_ARROW,true);

    } else {

      Serial.print("\nButton2 released");

      sendKey(KEY_RIGHT_ARROW,false);

    }

  }

  if (button3State != new_button3State) {

    // We have changed the button state, so need to do something

    button3State = new_button3State;

    if (new_button3State == LOW) {

      // We have pressed the third button (up arrow)

      Serial.print("\nButton3 pressed");

      sendKey(KEY_UP_ARROW,true);

    } else {

      Serial.print("\nButton3 released");

      sendKey(KEY_UP_ARROW,false);

    }

  }

  if (button4State != new_button4State) {

    // We have changed the button state, so need to do something

    button4State = new_button4State;

    if (new_button4State == LOW) {

      // We have pressed the fourth button (down arrow)

      Serial.print("\nButton4 pressed");

      sendKey(KEY_DOWN_ARROW,true);

    } else {

      Serial.print("\nButton4 released");

      sendKey(KEY_DOWN_ARROW,false);

    }

  }

  if (button5State != new_button5State) {

    // We have changed the button state, so need to do something

    button5State = new_button5State;

    if (new_button5State == LOW) {

      // We have pressed the fifth button (home)

      Serial.print("\nButton5 pressed");

      sendKey(KEY_HOME,true);

    } else {

      Serial.print("\nButton5 released");

      sendKey(KEY_HOME,false);

    }

  }

  connectedLEDPulse();

  // Allow for flickering on/off as connection is made

  delay(50);

}

 void connectedLEDPulse() {

  // check to see if it's time to blink the LED; that is, if the difference

  // between the current time and last time you blinked the LED is bigger than

  // the interval at which you want to blink the LED.

  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();

  int interval;

  if (bleKeyboard.isConnected()) {

    interval = connectedInterval;

  } else {

    interval = notconnectedInterval;

  }

  if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {

    // save the last time you blinked the LED

    previousMillis = currentMillis;

    // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:

    if (connectedLEDState == LOW) {

      connectedLEDState = HIGH;

    } else {

      connectedLEDState = LOW;

    }

    // set the LED with the ledState of the variable:

    digitalWrite(pinLEDConnected, connectedLEDState);

  }

}

void triggerPressLED(boolean ispressed) {

  pressedLEDState = ispressed;

  if (ispressed) {

    digitalWrite(pinLEDPress,HIGH);

  } else {

    digitalWrite(pinLEDPress,LOW);

  }

}

void sendKey(int keyCode, boolean keyDown) {

  // Only try to send the command if we are connected

  if (bleKeyboard.isConnected()) {

    if (keyDown) {

      bleKeyboard.press(keyCode);

    } else {

      bleKeyboard.release(keyCode);

    }

  }

}