Overview
Outwardly this version of the MacroPad will not look any different than my last version (except for the new color scheme or should I say lack of color scheme). The inside will however be much cleaner than the rats nest of wires of the previous using the same components.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/7407231699556748554.jpg)
Here are the KiCad designs for the PCBs that will make this happen.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/3854071699491083068.jpg)
Obviously not to scale relative to each other but these PCBs give you an idea where I'm going with this.
I now have the PBCs in hand and have printed all of the parts I need to make my new more robust MacroPad With Tile Holder Buttons.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/8584921699491228521.jpg)
Before I start putting this all together I have to solder the SMD versions of the Hall effect sensors to the Tile Holder PCBs. I have never used SMD parts in a project so this will be a bit of a learning curve for me. Fortunately I am able to tap the expertise I need to get started from some of the great people at my local maker space Kwartzlab.
Montage
Picture a montage of me printing and soldering and building all at fast-forward speeds. At this point, given the background and design described above, I went ahead and finished my MacroPad 3. If you are interested in the details of how this happened I would strongly encourage you to have a look at this project's logs for the complete picture. Here is a handy link: Project Logs. Make sure that the SORT BY: is set to Oldest to get a chronological view.
Final Thoughts
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/7970551702844388133.jpg)
Well the last few months have been interesting. Over that period of time I have created three similar tile based MacroPads. As each project wrapped up I kept thinking of improvements that I had to try. Fortunately for me, MacroPad 3 finally felt "done" but I'm not sure I'm completely done with tile based interfaces. We'll see I guess.