 Hey what's up folks, in this project we'll show you how we made an emoji keyboard with the Adafruit QtPie RP2040 and the 1x4 NeoKey. Emojis are pretty easy to use on a mobile device, but they're actually kind of annoying when you're on a desktop or laptop. This project takes the macropad approach and lets you press a single key to make those emojis happen. One button press sends a keyboard shortcut, searches for the desired emoji, and then uses the return key to append it. On macOS, the emoji pop-up window lets you pick and search for emojis. Using arrow keys, you can navigate and use the return key to choose your emoji. The Adafruit QtPie RP2040 is the perfect little circuit python board for this project. There's no soldering required and you just connect the 1x4 NeoKey with a Stemo Qt cable. With KL sockets, you can easily swap out the keys for your favorite Cherry MX compatible switches. Our little 3D printed enclosure is a minimal design that snap fits together and keeps everything compact. The Circuit Python demo code for this project, by Liz Clark, uses the NeoKey and the USB HID library. You can customize the key codes and dedicate each one to a different set of commands. Liz put together a code walkthrough in the learn guide so you can get a nice breakdown. There's two different versions of the code, one for Windows and the other for macOS. macOS Big Sur treats the pop-up differently so there's additional delays needed to properly search and pick emojis. A really cool feature is the NeoPixel LEDs will light up a different color for each key and stays lit while the emoji is being activated. This works as a nice indicator so you're less likely to spam the keys, which can definitely still happen. These keycaps are relegionable so you can add little inserts to decorate each key. I used Carter Nielsen's PDF template to print out a sheet of my favorite emojis. Using an Xacto and my Digi Key Ruler, I carefully cut out each square making sure to trim along the inside of the dashed lines. This is a pretty easy way to add that extra level of polish to your project for fairly low effort. Using a full color insert with emojis directly on them is a pretty sweet way to label your key switches. Each keycap is two pieces, the top cover is clear plastic that's not fits over a grey keycap. I found it easy to remove the top covers when the keycap is secured to a key switch. Just fit your fingernail underneath the top cover to pop it off. These inserts are sized to perfectly fit inside the top cover. Once inside it's easy to press fit the covers back onto the grey keycap. They're actually symmetrical so you can orient them in whichever way you like. If you're looking to design and 3D print your project, be sure to check out our 3D models of Adafruit boards and components. Here I'm using a model of the QDPie and the 1x4 NeoKey which features all of the onboard components. They're available on Github so feel free to download them and use them in your projects. To build this project you'll need a few parts and hardware which we have listed in the description of this video and in the learn guide. The 1x4 NeoKey has 4 mounting holes which make it easy to secure to an enclosure using M25 hardware. I like to insert a single screw through one of the mounting holes and then fasten the standoffs while holding them in place. Repeat for all 4 holes just be sure to install them on the correct side of the PCB. Once the hardware is installed just line up the mounting holes on the bottom cover with the standoffs. Like before start with just one screw and work your way through all 4 mounting holes. The standoffs and screws are both really short so the PCB has a pretty low profile when secured to the bottom. I designed a built-in holder for the QDPie so it's easy to install with a little snap fit action. Start by inserting the board at an angle so the PCB fits under these little clips in the corner. Slightly flex the cover to fit the QDPie underneath the second set of clips. This will keep the PCB secured so it won't pop out when connecting a USB cable. Then all that's left to do is connect the Stemacutee cable to the 1x4 NeoKey and plug it into the QDPie. This is my favorite part of the project. The frame snap fits over the bottom cover with the large opening lined up with the QDPie's USB-C type connector. The 4 key slots on the top cover line up with the 1x4 NeoKey and just snap fit into place. You'll want to orient the key switches with the sockets so the pins are going straight into the sockets. Lastly, you can add your favorite keycaps to each of the switches to finish this up. I really like how just about everything in this project is modular including the code, switches, and even the keycap inserts. I hope this inspires you to check out CircuitPython in your next project and share your projects with us on Adafruit's weekly show and tell.