Hardware engineers often face significant inefficiencies during device debugging, as they need to frequently switch between multiple devices. This process typically involves manually unplugging and replugging monitors, keyboards, and mice, resulting in a considerable loss of productivity.
After conducting research with several typical users, I found that conventional KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switches on the market do not adequately meet their needs. The reason is that during debugging, engineers don’t simply switch between a primary device and a target device. Instead, they often need to view the screens of both devices (or even more) simultaneously and seamlessly switch between them to perform various operations. What’s more, many are using laptops as their primary devices. A conventional KVM switcher wouldn’t help in such situation.
The ideal solution lies in a hybrid approach that integrates both software and hardware. By creating a “soft KVM” device based on the ESP32S3 and MS2130 capture card, I developed a system that allows the target device to be displayed in a window on the engineer’s primary screen. The control side includes a host computer software responsible for displaying the video feed from the capture card and transmitting HID control signals to the ESP32. This setup enables engineers to effortlessly switch between devices, similar to the experience of using VNC or a virtual machine. This approach aligns more closely with the actual workflow and demands of engineers, offering a significant improvement over traditional KVM switches.
