BBR Button Board Documentation

First run#

Plug in, bind a key, check it registers.

1. Plug it in#

Connect the tiles into a chain and plug the main module into your laptop with a USB-C cable. The power LED comes on immediately.

The laptop should find a new game controller by itself — no driver, no install. On Windows, joy.cpl (Start → Run → joy.cpl) shows it.

2. Open the config app#

Go to https://configure.buttonboard.buildingblockrobotics.com in Chrome or Edge and press Connect. The browser shows a list of serial ports; pick the Button Board.

Chrome or Edge only. Firefox and Safari do not support Web Serial, which the config app needs. The page tells you if your browser is not supported.

The Connect screen then shows what the board is: firmware version, serial number, how many tiles it can see, and which USB personality is active.

3. Check the board sees your tiles#

Switch to Diagnose. Every tile in the chain should be listed as online, with the tile kind and how many keys it has.

If a tile is missing, work through Troubleshooting. Check first for a cable not clicked fully home.

Press keys. Diagnose shows presses live, before any binding, so you can check each switch works.

4. Bind a key#

Go to Configure. The chain is down the left; pick a tile and it is drawn the way it physically is, keys in the right places.

  1. Click the key you want to bind.
  2. In the inspector, choose the logical button it should be — 1 to 32.
  3. Press the key. The board confirms it.

Repeat for as many keys as you need. Unbound buttons never press.

5. Save#

Press Save. Until you do, the configuration lives in RAM and is lost on the next power cycle. Saved configuration survives unplugging, reboots and firmware updates of the tiles.

6. Point the Driver Station at it#

FRC: the board appears as a 32-button joystick. Assign it a port in the Driver Station the way you would any joystick.

FTC: switch the USB personality to xinput on the Connect screen, then unplug and plug back in. The personality only changes when the board is replugged. The Driver Hub then sees an Xbox-style gamepad, and Start+A / Start+B binds it as gamepad 1 or 2 as usual.

Nothing works and nothing shows up? Hold the CFG button on the main module while you plug the USB cable in. That forces a known-good configuration personality, whatever is stored.

Testing without a robot#

The Diagnose screen can make the board report button presses that no one is touching — one button at a time walking 1 → 32, one button held, or all of them at once. Use it to check the Driver Station end works before any tile is bound.

Test mode ends when you disconnect.