Getting a Raspberry Pi to output data by emulating a keyboard

[Jeffrey Warren]

Folks are using the Raspberry Pi, a cheap stripped-down computer available for as little as $5, to connect to sensors, record weather data, and even run a DIY spectrometer. But it's hard to get data off of them easily, and hard to set them up.

But there seem to be ways to get them to "act like a keyboard" and, when connected to a computer by USB, to simply "virtually type" out data. This would work on Windows, Linux, and Mac, and be really simple -- no mucking around with Bluetooth, WiFi, SD cards, etc.

Anyhow, I posted this as a question here, with quite a few good leads for how to do this, but would love folks' input!

https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/04-29-2017/getting-a-raspberry-pi-to-output-data-by-emulating-a-keyboard

Anyone want to take a crack at it?

Jeff

[ggall...@yahoo.com]

I am a little confused by the wording of your posting. You can transfer data via Ethernet, Wifi, USB, I2C, SPI, USART. The primary constraints are the host and the remote need to agree on the medium and protocol. Uploading data thru the USB to a virtual comm port is a common method. If you want more control than supplied by the typical host virtual com port driver you can use the "libusb" interface which among other things allows the user to get the USB vendor and product ID's. 

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[Jeffrey Warren]

Hi George -- it's pretty obscure but it is possible for some Raspberry Pis to essentially play the role of an automated keyboard to any computer, with no custom software or drivers. It then basically sends "keystroke" commands to the computer just as a keyboard would when you type. 

I made some progress on this and updated the post. 

Thanks for your feedback!

J

On Apr 29, 2017 10:24 PM, "ggallant571 via plots-airquality" <plots-ai...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I am a little confused by the wording of your posting. You can transfer data via Ethernet, Wifi, USB, I2C, SPI, USART. The primary constraints are the host and the remote need to agree on the medium and protocol. Uploading data thru the USB to a virtual comm port is a common method. If you want more control than supplied by the typical host virtual com port driver you can use the "libusb" interface which among other things allows the user to get the USB vendor and product ID's. 

On Saturday, April 29, 2017 4:30 PM, Jeffrey Warren <je...@publiclab.org> wrote:

Folks are using the Raspberry Pi, a cheap stripped-down computer available for as little as $5, to connect to sensors, record weather data, and even run a DIY spectrometer. But it's hard to get data off of them easily, and hard to set them up.

But there seem to be ways to get them to "act like a keyboard" and, when connected to a computer by USB, to simply "virtually type" out data. This would work on Windows, Linux, and Mac, and be really simple -- no mucking around with Bluetooth, WiFi, SD cards, etc.

Anyhow, I posted this as a question here, with quite a few good leads for how to do this, but would love folks' input!

https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/04-29-2017/getting-a-raspberry-pi-to-output-data-by-emulating-a-keyboard

Anyone want to take a crack at it?

Jeff

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[Patrick Hixenbaugh]

One advantage to this is ease of setup for the end user, and portability. The pi can be set up beforehand and the end user just needs a text editor to receive data.

The downsides seem like the flexibility of the protocol and how to adjust settings.

On May 1, 2017 9:56 AM, "Jeffrey Warren" <je...@publiclab.org> wrote:

Hi George -- it's pretty obscure but it is possible for some Raspberry Pis to essentially play the role of an automated keyboard to any computer, with no custom software or drivers. It then basically sends "keystroke" commands to the computer just as a keyboard would when you type. 

I made some progress on this and updated the post. 

Thanks for your feedback!

J

On Apr 29, 2017 10:24 PM, "ggallant571 via plots-airquality" <plots-airquality@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I am a little confused by the wording of your posting. You can transfer data via Ethernet, Wifi, USB, I2C, SPI, USART. The primary constraints are the host and the remote need to agree on the medium and protocol. Uploading data thru the USB to a virtual comm port is a common method. If you want more control than supplied by the typical host virtual com port driver you can use the "libusb" interface which among other things allows the user to get the USB vendor and product ID's. 

On Saturday, April 29, 2017 4:30 PM, Jeffrey Warren <je...@publiclab.org> wrote:

Folks are using the Raspberry Pi, a cheap stripped-down computer available for as little as $5, to connect to sensors, record weather data, and even run a DIY spectrometer. But it's hard to get data off of them easily, and hard to set them up.

But there seem to be ways to get them to "act like a keyboard" and, when connected to a computer by USB, to simply "virtually type" out data. This would work on Windows, Linux, and Mac, and be really simple -- no mucking around with Bluetooth, WiFi, SD cards, etc.

Anyhow, I posted this as a question here, with quite a few good leads for how to do this, but would love folks' input!

https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/04-29-2017/getting-a-raspberry-pi-to-output-data-by-emulating-a-keyboard

Anyone want to take a crack at it?

Jeff

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