Thanks again Darrel. Okay, I can understand that situation very well, since I tend to be a one-man band. However, it seems like with that much going on, he'd hire a spare geek or two to handle the front end.
Getting back to the subject....

I am building a proof-of-concept prototype (aren't we all!!) that will sit between the keyboard and host. When the end-user types in a certain character string or key combination, the microcontroller will send a control signal to another receiving device to start and stop a motor. Should I make this a keyboard HID, a generic device HID, or none at all and somehow pull information off the wire?

Regards,
Kirt