pi-keyboard-forwarder

Overview

This is a simple script that forwards keyboard input from a Raspberry Pi to a usb connected computer. Plans to also forward speech-to-text recorded on the pi to the connected computer.

Setup

This script is intended to be run on a Raspberry Pi. It has been tested on a Raspberry Pi 4 running Raspbian Bullseye.

Dependencies

• python3
• python3-pip
• python3-venv
• evdev

Installation

1. Clone this repository
2. Create a virtual environment

   python3 -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment

   source venv/bin/activate

4. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Run the script

   python3 main.py

Configure to run on startup [Not Tested At all - writtend by GPT]

To have the script run automatically on startup, you can use a systemd service.

1. Create a new service file in /etc/systemd/system/ with a .service extension. For example, pi-keyboard-forwarder.service.

   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/pi-keyboard-forwarder.service

2. In the service file, add the following:

   [Unit]
   Description=Pi Keyboard Forwarder
   
   [Service]
   ExecStart=/path/to/your/venv/bin/python3 /path/to/your/script/main.py
   WorkingDirectory=/path/to/your/script/
   User=pi
   Restart=always
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

   Replace /path/to/your/venv/ and /path/to/your/script/ with the actual paths to your virtual environment and script.

3. Save and close the file.

4. Enable the service to start on boot:

   sudo systemctl enable pi-keyboard-forwarder

5. Start the service:

   sudo systemctl start pi-keyboard-forwarder

6. Check the status of the service:

   sudo systemctl status pi-keyboard-forwarder

Now, the script should start automatically every time your Raspberry Pi boots up.

Connecting to a computer

1. Connect the Raspberry Pi to the computer via USB-C power-port on the Raspberry Pi.
   • This will power the Raspberry Pi and allow it to communicate with the computer.
   • You may get a low-voltage warning on the Raspberry Pi, this may be an issue but I have no idea. 🤷
2. Plug a USB keyboard into the Raspberry Pi.
3. Plug a USB microphone into the Raspberry Pi.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to tiny-pilot for doing the hard work of getting the this working. This is a simplification of their work, with the goal of reducing complexity for a simpler use case of keyboard and speech-to-text forwarding.