This Banana Macropad Seems Apeeling

You may have heard of a banana phone, and perhaps even using a banana for scale, but what if the project itself is a realistic banana replica? Such is the case for this 3D-printed macropad. This device, printed in an 'apeeling' yellow, features a top section in which eight switches/keycaps are placed, and a bottom portion where an a Pro Micro controller is stored.

Wiring is fairly simple, with one leg of each of the eight switches wired to an input pin of the Pro Micro, and the other connection pulled to ground. This enables the keys to be defined as INPUT_PULLUP pins, doing away with the need for using pullup/down resistors. The example code allows you to spell out “Banana!” with the touch of a few buttons, and can be modified to whatever inputs are needed for your particular fruit-input setup.

As for the question of “why create a banana macropad?” author dbostian simply notes that, “It ap-peeled to my sensor of humor.” Nice. There's even a Chiquita sticker on it to finish up the build. Beyond its keyboard duties, it’s a fairly nice banana replica.

On a practical note, given it’s bright yellow coloring, you should be able to easily pick out where the “pad” is at all times. Certainly beneficial when you need to quickly enter keystrokes.