A Big Red Button for All Seasons

So, I went ahead and purchased an arcade push button in every possible size I could find and assembled them into a box with an Arduino inside.

This contraption acts as a plug and play keyboard with a single button. You can read more about the technical details, source code and all the instructions on how to make your own in my previous article.

Now, I'll be focusing on the different sized buttons and how they fit into different sized boxes. With LEGO minifigures for scale!

A Big Red Button for all seasons.

Big Red Button (regular)

Starting with the regular size, this is a 60mm arcade button, the most common type with a flat push surface. It just about fits the box.

Button eBay search: "60mm arcade push button red"
Box: G366 (82 x 80 x 55 mm) by Gainta Industries Ltd. (datasheet)
My article with schematics and source code.

Big Red Button DOME

Same as the regular, but with a dome-shaped push button. This one comes with an optional collar, which could be omitted, but unfortunately then the button won't fit into the box by mere 5 millimeters and I could not find a box that's just that much taller.

Button eBay search: "60mm round arcade push button red"
Box: G366 (82 x 80 x 55 mm) by Gainta Industries Ltd. (datasheet)

Big Red Button MEGA

This is the mother of all Big Red Buttons, the 100mm button. Which is technically just 96mm, and that is the diameter of the collar, not the button itself, which is even smaller. What a scam! But it's very cool still. It has an optional collar, same as the DOME version, I had to include it on this one as well, because it was also too tall just by half a centimeter.

Button eBay search: "100mm arcade push button red"
Box: G386 (120 x 120 x 60 mm) by Gainta Industries Ltd. (datasheet)

Big Red Button MINI

That just sounds like Small Red Button but with extra steps. This one is a 28mm button with an embedded mechanical switch instead of a microswitch, the kind you'd find in expensive gamer keyboards. It has no clicking sound and has two LEDs inside for extra light. As a matter of fact, this one is the brightest of them all by default. Despite its size I have still managed to squeeze in all the electronics, including the two program selector switches, but for that I had to saw off parts of the button's body.