Morse Code Android Input Device Makes Communication More Accessible

When you think of Morse code, you may envision people communicating from a train station or perhaps someone frantically keying in instructions during a past conflict. While much less common today, this signalling method is still in active use, notably for those who can’t use a traditional keyboard or touchscreen to communicate.

One such person is Tanya Finlayson, who has been using Morse code to communicate for around 40 years. With Google’s recent implementation of this input method in Gboard, it’s now possible to use this with an Android phone as well. In order to get the proper dots and dashes into the phone, Ken “NottLimited” Finlayson set up a device using an Arduino Leonardo, which takes input from three buttons and translates them into keyboard presses.

One button is used to indicate a dash, another for dot, and the third switches modes between text input and navigation for full Android control. An Arduino Leonardo — selected for its ATmega32U4 chip that can emulate a keyboard —translates button presses into keyboard inputs, and sends them to the phone via an OTG USB cable. You can see a demonstration of the device in the video below, and code for this build can be found on GitHub if you’d like to try something similar yourself.