Hi,
In this tutorial we’re going to create a DIY 3×4 Keypad. This keypad is perfect to use in your Arduino projects and a great project to practice etching.
Parts Required
- x12 Pushbuttons – Click to see on TaydaElectronics
- x3 4700 Ohm Resistors –Â Click to see on TaydaElectronics
- Pin Headers –Â Click to see on TaydaElectronics
- PCB –Â Click to see on TaydaElectronics
- Jumper Wires Female /Male –Â Click to see on TaydaElectronics
Schematics
- Click to download a PDF with the Schematics that you need print in order to etch your own PCB.
- Click to download the KiCad files for these schematics to design your own Keypad.
How to etch a PCB
If you don’t know how to etch a PCB please watch the YouTube video below created by a YouTuber called JumperOneTV. He explains really well the whole process.
Pictures of my Keypad
This Keypad is great to use with the Arduino and I’ll post a project using this Keypad really soon.
Did you enjoy this project?
Please leave a comment down below!
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Dear Rui,
may I make a tiny suggestion, it would be nice to see an example of code how to use this great DIY keypad project in combination with Arduino…..
Cheers….
BTW keep up the great work!
Hi Vladimir,
Thanks for your feedback!
This Arduino example works just fine with this keypad: instructables.com/id/Arduino-3-wire-Matrix-Keypad/
Hello Rui,
after your tutorial and from the video JumperOneTV i did etched my first pcb. It is not so difficult, but I made serval tries with the hot iron and diffrent paper befor I got nice black stribes on the pcb.
greetings from Denmark
Gregor
Hi Gregor.
You are definitely right.
You need to make several tries until you find how much time is needed for your iron to transfer the schematics to the PCB.
Thanks for trying my project.
Rui
Can you extend this along the same lines to accept an alpha-numeric keypad? Is the limit bound by rows and columns (for example, what we have now is 4 rows and 3 columns. Can we extend this to 15 columns, say, and 4 rows? Does that overwhelm the Arduino?
You can’t, because you wouldn’t have enough pins in your Arduino to support that number of columns and rows. You could use an IC that can expand the number of ports of your Arduino (as Steve suggested in an earlier comment) to control more rows/columns with less Arduino pins.
Can you give a better picture for the connection points from the 3×4 keypad to the Arduino?