This week we show you how to make the Arduino act like a keyboard and/or a mouse so that you can build your own controller for your computer.  In this example we use a joystick as the mouse and 4 buttons to show how you can send keyboard commands.

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/*############### ARDUNIO AS A USB KEYBOARD AND MOUSE ##################
 
 **NOTE: This sketch will only work on Arduino Leonardo, Arduino
 Mico or Duo as it requires special hardware to emulate  a USB mouse or keyboard.
 
 This code is reading the input from an XY joystick and converting
 it into mouse movement that is sent to the computer as a USB
 mouse. Pressing the joystick button simulates pressing the mouse button.

 There are also 4 buttons that demonstrate how to send in USB keyboard buttons.

 For Details on the available keyboard and mouse functions visit:
 http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/MouseKeyboard

 For Details on the special key codes that are available visit:
 http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/KeyboardModifiers

 From: Mike Myers (http://mikemyers.me) @netnutmike
 Let's Make It Episode 34 (http://tech-zen.tv/index.php/shows/let-s-make-it/)

 http://tech-zen.tv

 For the sample code, show notes, contact information and many more
 videos, visit the show page at http://tech-zen.tv/letsmakeit

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################################################################################*/

int xPin = A0; // select the input pin for the potentiometer
int yPin = A1;
int mouseButton = 6;

int xValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor
int yValue = 0;

int xMove;
int yMove;

int button1 = 2;
int button2 = 3;
int button3 = 4;
int button4 = 5;

void setup() {

 pinMode(mouseButton, INPUT_PULLUP);
 pinMode(button1, INPUT_PULLUP);
 pinMode(button2, INPUT_PULLUP);
 pinMode(button3, INPUT_PULLUP);
 pinMode(button4, INPUT_PULLUP);
 pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
 Mouse.begin();
 Keyboard.begin();
}

void loop() {

 // read the values from the joystick:
 xValue = analogRead(xPin); //up and down
 yValue = analogRead(yPin); //left and right

 //check to see if the x axis has changed more than 5 in either direction
 //this is done as a safety because the joystick does not always return
 //to dead center

 if (xValue <= 510 || xValue >= 520)
 xMove = map(xValue, 0, 1023, -40, 40); //map the x axis value to the mouse movement values

 else

 xMove = 0;

 //check to see if the x axis has changed more than 5 in either direction
 //this is done as a safety because the joystick does not always return
 //to dead center
 if (yValue <= 510 || yValue >= 520)
 yMove = map(yValue, 0, 1023, -40, 40); //map the y axis value to the mouse movement values

 else

 yMove = 0;

 //Only move the mouse if there is a need to do so
 if (yMove != 0 || xMove !=0)
       Mouse.move(yMove, xMove);

 //Check if the joytick button is pressed and if so send a mouse click
 if (!digitalRead(mouseButton))
        Mouse.click();

 //Read the first button, if pressed, send a capital A as the keyboard
 if (!digitalRead(button1))
       Keyboard.write('A');

 //If the 2nd button is pressed, send a sequence of characters as the keyboard
 if (!digitalRead(button2))
       Keyboard.print("This is a sequence of Characters");

 //If button 3 is pressed, simulate holding down the left shift button and sending a lowercase b
 if (!digitalRead(button3))
 {
       Keyboard.press(KEY_LEFT_SHIFT);
       Keyboard.press('b');
       Keyboard.releaseAll();
 }

 //If button 4 is pressed, simulate holding down the left GUI (windows key on windows
 // and CMD on a mac) and pressing v for paste
 if (!digitalRead(button4))
 {
       Keyboard.press(KEY_LEFT_GUI);
       Keyboard.press('v');
       Keyboard.releaseAll();
 }

 delay(100); 
}