Stream Deck / Macro Keyboard — Dante

• Source: https://www.printables.com/model/269757-stream-deck-macro-keyboard
• Category: inspiration — auxiliary macropad form-factor reference
• Role for KN-86: inspiration for an optional auxiliary macropad module that could sit beside the Ferris Sweep inside or alongside the Pelican-1170 chassis — bound to KN-86-application shortcuts (TERM, mission accept/reject, focus mode, aesthetic-mode cycle, etc.).
• License / caveats: Printables per-model license; check before remixing or printing-for-distribution.

What it is

A free downloadable STL by Dante for a small Stream-Deck-style macropad — typically 6 to 12 keys in a compact slab, each key labeled with a software-rebindable function, intended to sit next to a main keyboard as an auxiliary input for shortcuts, macros, or domain-specific actions. The Stream Deck genre comes from Elgato’s commercial product line; the open-source Printables version captures the form factor in printable + commodity-mechanical-switch form.

For KN-86 this is optional auxiliary input territory — not part of the canonical deck (the Sweep + 31-canonical-functions is the canonical input commitment), but a plausible companion module for operators who want a dedicated row of physical shortcuts to KN-86-application verbs.

Key takeaways for KN-86

• Optional auxiliary macropad as a sanctioned KN-86 accessory. Not v0.1, not part of the canonical deck commitment, but a reasonable v2+ accessory module — a small slab of 6-12 mechanical keys, USB-connected to the Pi Zero 2 W, with key-mappings configurable from nosh-config.toml to bind keys to KN-86 verbs (slash-menu codes, focus mode toggle, aesthetic-mode cycle, mission accept, dispatch send). Worth knowing the form factor exists as community-standard.
• The labeling problem maps onto KN-86’s keycap-legend manifest (ADR-0022) but at smaller scale. If KN-86 ever ships an auxiliary macropad as an accessory, the key legends need to be in the same Press Start 2P + CP437 typography family — physically printed (silkscreen, dye-sublimated keycaps, or printed top labels). The auxiliary macropad should look like part of the KN-86 visually, not like a generic stream deck.
• 6-12 keys as the natural size. Larger than that and the macropad starts competing with the main Sweep keyboard for thumb reach; smaller and it’s not differentiated enough from just adding another layer to the Sweep. Six keys (e.g., dispatch primary actions) is the floor; twelve (e.g., function-key parity with the Sweep’s 14-FN layer) is the natural ceiling. Park as a sizing reference if the accessory ever gets scoped.
• USB HID is the right protocol. Same model as the Sweep’s USB connection to the Pi; same QMK keyboard firmware can run an auxiliary macropad; same hotswap socket pattern works at small scale.

Image

Printables cover image showing the assembled macropad — small slab, mechanical-switch keys laid out in a compact grid.

Notes

• Cross-link ferris-sweep.md — the canonical input device the auxiliary macropad would complement.
• Cross-link keyboard-decision.md — the keyboard scope; the macropad is outside this scope as an optional accessory.
• Cross-link cyberdeck-adamow.md and cyberdeck-technik.md — for the broader STL-distributed-print-it-yourself ethos the macropad sits in.
• Defer to v2+. Not v0.1. Recorded here so the idea has a home in the corpus when the project gets there.