Show HN: Arduino guitar foot pedal controls shipping at Thanks Machine

This is kind of overengineered. Why not just stuff the guts of an old USB keyboard into the enclosure and wire the switch to the Enter key?

could also play around with voice commands, then you wouldn't even need a physical interface

Always the best reason for ever doing something. Nice hack.

The user is important. In a related vein, back in the 1990 time frame when I was in a lab trying to remove film from the radiology business, among the deal breaking, must have or it can not be used, was that we had to use a foot switch to move from one set of four "films" to the next. Nothing else was acceptable.

I've been away from that field for 20 years, I wonder if radiologists have learned to use something other than a foot to advance the films in the reading room.

EOM

The following line intersects the article at precisely one point…

Radiologists are bizarre creatures who have rebuilt their brains into sophisticated, hard wired image processing and analysis systems. You do not screw with their mojo.

If you are ever compelled to be a radiologist you need to do this:

1) Look at the pictures.

2) Say aloud "Normal chest".

3) Put a $100 in your pocket.

4) Tap the foot switch.

5) Repeat.

You'll probably be right for 90% of cases too! Though, the 10% that die a premature painful death might not appreciate that fact.

The enclosure and switch are the same parts used to make guitar effects pedals.