8-Button front panel for relay controller

thingiverse

This is a front panel for an outdoor lights controller box with 8-channels. The panel has 8 numbered push buttons, each with a corresponding LED. Buttons state can be read by a microcontroller using a serial SPI like protocol. Using the same protocol, LEDs can be turned on or off independently. The electronics is based on 74HC595 and 74HC165 shift register circuits. There are two 3D printed parts which must be printed with supports. The buttons on the yellow piece are "floating" and the support beneath them needs to be carefully removed not to break the flexible arm holding the button. I could have designed this in a different way, because removing that support material required me to clamp each of the two columns of buttons in a vise and use a cutter and a screwdriver to get it out without breaking the button. I inserted this buttons panel in the face of a wiring box, as part of a larger project, to create an 8-channel outdoor light controller. I included a frame for the electronics inside the box. There are two pieces, one for all the modules and one for the power supply. This one requires supports too. You can find more details about the electronics on my website: [Front panel for 8-channel relay controller](https://www.onetransistor.eu/2022/09/light-controller-outdoor-frontpanel.html).