FTDI Community

General Category => Discussion - Hardware => Topic started by: MattAn on November 04, 2019, 06:18:39 PM

Title: Is FT260 the correct solution?
Post by: MattAn on November 04, 2019, 06:18:39 PM
Can someone please confirm for me if I've chosen the proper part for my use case?  My device will be based on an arm processor and will appear as a HID keyboard when plugged into a Windows or Apple PC via. USB, and I need to send keystrokes from my device to the PC.  The connection will be USB 2.0, though we will do it through a USB-C connector.  Is the FT260 the proper part for this? 
Title: Re: Is FT260 the correct solution?
Post by: FTDI Community on November 06, 2019, 04:04:01 PM
Hello,

The FT260 would appear as a HID class device but not exactly like a keyboard.
It doesn’t use FTDI drivers but uses standard HID class drivers.
Feel free to evaluate using the UMFT260EV1A (https://www.ftdichip.com/Products/Modules/DevelopmentModules.htm#UMFT260EV1A).

The other real keyboard solution we have is FT90x (https://www.ftdichip.com/Products/ICs/FT90X.html) / FT93x (https://www.ftdichip.com/Products/ICs/FT93X.html). This has a programmable USB device controller. We have already produced a keyboard example in AN_360 FT9xx Example Applications (https://brtchip.com/wp-content/uploads/Support/Documentation/Application_Notes/ICs/MCU/AN-360-FT9xx-Example-Applications.pdf). See USBD Example HID . This is a bigger MCU though.

Best Regards,
FTDI Community
Title: Re: Is FT260 the correct solution?
Post by: MattAn on November 06, 2019, 04:15:53 PM
Thank you for the reply.  Is it possible for our own MCU to send commands via HID over I2C to the FT260 to make it appear as a HID keyboard? 

Also is the source code for the keyboard example available?  We would like to use the FT260 if at all possible due to cost, but may fall back to one of the chips you suggested if that's the only solution.
Title: Re: Is FT260 the correct solution?
Post by: FTDI Community on November 11, 2019, 04:44:14 PM
Hello,

The FT260 can't be made to appear as a keyboard.

The source code for the keyboard example for the FT9xx MCU is available. It's included as part of the FT9xx Toolchain (https://www.ftdichip.com/Firmware/FT90xToolchain.htm):

C:\Users\Username\Documents\Bridgetek\FT9xx\2.5.0\Examples

Best Regards,
FTDI Community