deskthority

Controller (MCU) is the heart of the keyboard - the electronic chip running firmware scanning keyboard matrix, debouncing and reporting changes to PC over USB. https://deskthority.net/wiki/Keyboard_controller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller Most keyboard projects use ATmega32U4. But yo...

The things you cannot avoid is: 1) a controller (e.g. ProMicro will do most of the time) 2) switches and keycaps (possibly from a donor board) 3) either a plate or a PCB (if you have plate then you can hand wire and leave out PCB, if you have PCB and PCB mounted switches then you can leave out the p...

I think standard stabilizers must work as well since Cherry ML travel is 3 mm (lower than Cherry MX travel of 4 mm). Edit: Actually probably not. PCB mounted Cherry MX stabilizers may not fit because Cherry ML is lower. But plate mounted Cherry MX stabilizers should work if you mount them on PCB wit...

If you interested in the many ways how to scan a keyboard matrix then check:
http://www.openmusiclabs.com/learning/d ... -scanning/

I indicated that the STL files of the case may be eventually free.
It is true for the K80CS version now.
You can download the K80CS STL files here.
Some electronics info is here.
The firmware source code is in on github.

The usual argument about TKL > full-size can be used here: that it allows moving a mouse on the right side closer to the middle, but here without losing the numpad. I think that having more keys on the left side to move around between could help another problem: that of holding the left forearm too...

I could see the picture.

The layout: There is no significant improvement compared to standard keyboards. Get an ergonomic keyboard with thumb clusters (Kinesis Advantage, Ergodox, ...).

@kelvinhall05: Give it a try if you are going to enjoy the project. Just do not assume some kind of market for it. It is not about the price of magnets. You almost for sure can make it with springs, coils and iron cores only. It is more about how complicated the electronics and the firmware will be....

Why latency? Lets assume that the key press time takes 10 ms. That is very on the quick side of typing. A standard 8 kHz PWM control loop will do easily. You will need at most 2 ADCs channels per key. It may be doable with one ADC per key. I'm not sure. The bigger problem will be probably the number...

Recommendations in the order of importance: set the printer z-height and the first layer thickness better to minimize the problem while still having good bed adhesion chamfer the bottom of the model before printing it use an utility knife to cut/scrap the rim off (this is typically not needed if you...

I have previously spent an idle moment speculating as to whether a pneumatic 'spring' could be used in keyboard switches. No, it would be too expensive. You would need precise components and good seals to avoid air leaking. And even with them you would need to add pressure from time to time. Moreov...

OK, I do not care that much about switches. I think the overall keyboard shape and the layout are more important but some people do care about switches a lot and this may be interesting to them:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cherr ... ard-budget

Interesting. Application notes I read recommended to place EMI and ESD protection (diodes and low pass filters) as close to the source as possible (i.e. near the edge of PCB where signal enters). Only power distribution network requires also decoupling capacitors and those should be as near to the M...

Almost all electronic parts have EDS protection built in up to 2 kV at least. Human body model. I doubt you need more.
As for as ussage: do not touch the metal parts of the keyboard USB connector when you suspect you may be charged. Touch a ground wire of your electrical outlet first.

Actually, 10 points for switches and 10 points for a layout have some value. Keycaps have some value as well ... probably not full 10 points ... but still ...

Unsplit: -1000 Horizontally staggered: -1000 Flat: -10 No thumb keys: -50 MX mount: -100 Less than 2mm travel: -500 +1 Ergonomics is completely missing for the KeebScore. It is a score which needs to be introduced so that we can somehow differentiate keyboards which are already almost the same anyw...

Which firmware to use? Chris' firmware: https://github.com/chrisandreae/keyboard-firmware or my branch of it: https://github.com/hercek/keyboard-firmware Features: Almost no community. Chris did respond to my questions when I had any. I can respond to questions about my branch. Uses LUFA or vusb (s...

Interesting.
How many photos were used for one scan?

An European company must ship it to you without VAT. You will pay price without VAT at the time of ordering. If here are any import duties for keyboards in USA then you will be paying them when the keyboard arrives to USA. There is no VAT in USA so you will not pay any VAT but import duties may be a...

If you send only one pulse to a piezo-buzzer then it sounds a bit like a click. It is rather silent though.

So, my pc chassis should be connected to earth through the 3 pin plug. Yes, that is protection by grounding. It is required by law ... probably in about every country. Should I expect the exterior of the usb ports (== the shielding ground, as I understand it) to have continuity with the chassis? Ye...

In other words: if your keyboard requires a shielding ground to be connected to anything then you are likely having some other problem which this connection somehow mitigates. An example is a poor connection on the signal ground.

There are two grounds on an USB connector: Signal ground. This must be connected to the MCU ground . Shielding ground - this should be connected to the shielding of your keyboard case if it has any shielding at all. Most cases do not have any shielding (e.g. because they are plastic). In such case, ...

Well, maybe people do not use it because there are more comfortable alternatives and even cheaper ones (definitely when you want to make it from $20 teensy). But you can go with ProMicro for $4 and a bit of soldering, firmware burning and rather awkward waveform extraction. Or you can buy $6 Saleae ...

FreeCAD is quite usable. Considerably slower than commercial alternatives though. By slower I mean that there is still too much manual work which could be done automatically by the program (e.g. it does not guess the right constrains when drawing sketches). Also the OpenCascade (on which FreeCAD is ...

...different layouts that you want on different layers... The problem is that language-layout is interpreted by the host, not the keyboard. That is only a problem if one cannot get a generic super set of all layouts working. Like Compose key or unicode hex input. Then you can issue any key using th...

Not without a a custom driver. You can write some macro which will do it for you or an application which will switch the layout after some special input (e.g. on F13). And you can use something like Compose key or Unicode hex input to simulate changing layouts. Compose key support is native in linux...

You did not say which Teensy it is. Different versions have different MCUs. Anyway I drive a piezo buzzer directly from an MCU pin and it works ok. I'm still using only about 1/3 of the pin current capacity. Compute the maximum current your buzzer will need and if you are bellow the pin current rati...

Splitting space bar is a move in the right direction!

The arrow key is the best!