One of its nice features is the ability to extend the features with Node.js based plugins.
So naturally, that got me to thinking - how could I use it with Node-RED. And UIBUILDER for Node-RED of course.
First thing that came to mind was a plugin that would allow you to pass custom data to a custom MQTT topic! You could then easily use the bar to trigger Node-RED flows (and much more of course - direct control of MQTT connected IoT devices!)
Well, you can bet I'll be doing that.
The possibilities seem endless and I've loads of ideas. But let me know in this thread if you can think of something interesting. I will, of course, share any plugins that I develop.
Presumably it uses the usb for comms, so standalone it wouldn't be able to talk to anything else ?
For something other than a keyboard addon, there are lots of ESP powered touch screens on the market these days.
e.g.
@TotallyInformation when you get it perhaps you can figure out if it might be possible to interface it to an ESP, could be an interesting form factor for a smart home interface
Oh yes - totally sure! I do have a MacBook Pro though with a bar - it has a very naff keyboard. It very rarely gets used. I can't even be bothered to put Windows on it as it has the very weird Apple UK keyboard.
Yes and no. A lot of features such as the custom plugins require the Designer app to be running on the desktop.
There is a pro version now on Kickstarter that will maybe do more as it is more powerful (and bigger). Haven't had a chance to look at the cost yet though. The battery would power it though. And you can certainly connect it to a phone. Albeit with more limited capabilities.
It has some native capabilities and you can run it in HID mode so it is quite versatile in that sense.
What really caught my eye is that the Designer uses node.js for the back-end and VueJS for the front-end on the bar. So eminently hackable for the likes of us.
Well, if you have an ESP with a USB interface and a HID driver, you could at the very least send keyboard clicks to the ESP so that should be perfectly possible with a bit of lateral thinking.
I'm afraid though, that this one is going to be wedded to my PC.
I've long wanted some physical device on the PC for things like video recordings, music, extra keyboard, etc. There are plenty of dedicated devices out there but they are too expensive for me, this came in at a decent price along with the massive flexibility.
I think it has been disabled. Probably to free up space for the other programming. I'm going to see if I can dig into the FlexDesigner code though. There are some features that don't need FlexDesigner running but your own custom plugins do need it.
