RoleSchool clubsCurrent·Assistive tech · HMS collaboration
Penn ADAPT
Hardware Engineer · ADAPTLab
Building an assistive button with ADAPTLab so disabled students can type through presses that map to space, tab, and other keyboard actions.
Executive summary
On Penn ADAPT's ADAPTLab team I work as a hardware engineer on an accessibility button for disabled students, in collaboration with HMS schools. The idea is simple to say and hard to get right: one physical press should become a reliable keyboard action (space, tab, and similar), so typing is possible without a full conventional keyboard. That means thinking about switch debounce, mapping, and a path that actually works for the students using it.
- Hardware engineering on an assistive input button for disabled students in an HMS schools collaboration.
- Mapping physical presses to keyboard actions such as space and tab so typing can happen through the button.
- Working inside ADAPTLab's product loop: accessibility constraints first, then the electrical and firmware details that make presses trustworthy.
Assistive hardwareAccessibilityEmbedded inputHuman-centered designADAPTLab
Proof
Pictures and demos from the role
Visual evidence first; deeper engineering write-ups live on the related project pages.