I am trying to build a programmable USB controller to provide 10 to 15 keys surface mount buttons to a slate tablet 'modbook." However I am very new to electrical engineering. I am wondering if anyone can recommend a tutorial, or what to purchase to put this together. This is further complicated by the lack of mac support in the world of software and hardware. Currently I have stripped and rewired a usb numpad with low pro switches, but the macros get confused resulting in software receiving original key gesture followed by macro. It is also somewhat bulky. I am trying to make the board itself with as minimal footprint as possible. Please any advise would be of great help.
A UBW with some extra software (could even be written on the Mac) could scan a matrix keyboard of that size without too much hassle. Sparkfun has a number of nice tutorials on their site covering how to design circuits and PCBs. They even provide a parts library for Eagle that will accelerate your design.
You need to decide how you want the computer to see the data. The default UBW firmware uses a virtual serial port, it looks like a normal COM port to the computer. You can also set it up to look like a keyboard and send keystrokes into the computer.