building a keyboard from scratch

Building a keyboardfrom scratch Jesse Vincent

jesse@fsck.comhttp://keyboard.io

@obra / @keyboardioWednesday, July 24, 13

Wednesday, July 24, 13

My boss stole my keyboard

WARNING

There are no more cat pictures in this talk

I couldn’t find a keyboard I wanted

I tried

So, you want tomake a keyboard?

Tools you’ll need

SolderingIron

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BRC2XU

$5+ ($86)

Wirecutter

Tools you’ll want

Wirecutter

http://www.adafruit.com/products/147

Solder Sucker

http://www.adafruit.com/products/148$5

Fine-tipped tweezers

Wire-wrappingtool

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006C43VJU

Multimeter

http://www.amazon.com/B000EVYGZA/

Hot Glue Gun

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009XTPAO

Parts you’ll need

Keyswitches

Cherry MXKeyswitches

http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/key/mx.htm

$0.80/ea

Key Caps

http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/87-key-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html

Don’t makeyour own

26-30AWGEnamel-insulatedmagnet wire

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082CUQEIWednesday, July 24, 13

Rosin-coreSolder

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DEYEAW

Teensy 2.0Microcontroller

http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy.html

ArduinoPro Microis also ok

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11098

WARNING

There is no more Arduino in this talk

MiniUSB cable

Parts you’ll want

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006C4ABR0

26-30AWGKynar-insulatedwire-wrappingwire

Jumper wires

IN4148Diodes

$12...for 500

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1N4148-T/1N4148DICT-ND/160623Wednesday, July 24, 13

Parts you’ll make

The case

Design your own!

14mm square holes

3+ mm apart

Top plate:1.5 mm thick

I designed my first keyboards inOmniGraffle

14mm3+mm

Prototypewith paper

Use lasers to cut out the pieces

Use CAD to model the weirderstuff

openscadmodule key(x,y,rotation) { translate([(x*key_spacing),(y*key_spacing),-0.01]) { rotate(rotation) key_inner(); }}

module key_inner() { union() { translate([0,0,-3.5]) key_support(); cube(size=[keyswitch_x,keyswitch_y,keyswitch_plate_thickness], center=true); }}

module key_support() { difference() {

cube(size=[key_spacing-2,key_spacing-2,6], center=true); interior_bevels(); }}

openscadmodule keyColumn(x,y) { translate([(x*key_spacing),(y*key_spacing),0]) { key(0,0); key(1,0); key(2,0); key(3,0); }}module hand() { rotate([0,0,-9]) keyColumn(0.5,-0.05); rotate([0,0,-13]) keyColumn(0.1,1.4); rotate([0,0,-15]) keyColumn(-0.2,2.7); rotate([0,0,-20]) { keyColumn(-0.2,4); keyColumn(0,5); key(2.2,6); key(3.2,6); } translate([165,24,0]) thumbKeys();}

What didn’t I mention?

Printed Circuit Board

You do know how to design and etch PCBs right?

Can you teach me?

Putting it together

Try the keys & keycaps

Start Soldering

Flat pin:Connect Diode

Square pin: Connect wire

Wire-wrap the keys in each row

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wire_Wrapping.jpgWednesday, July 24, 13

Solder the diodes in columns

Why Diodes?

Key Ghosting

Credit: @pdcawleyWednesday, July 24, 13

then trim the terminal wires

Connect them in parallel

Connect the black ends to the keys

Don’t solder the diodes to each other

You want thewire-wrapping wire

Solder a wire to each column

Solder a wire to each row

Connect those wires to the microcontroller

Firmware

Install avr-gcc

pjrc.com/teensy/gcc.html

InstallTeensyLoader

pjrc.com/teensy/loader.html

Configure some keyboard firmware

github.com/humblehacker/keyboard

% vi config.kspec

% make

Install your firmware

Test your keyboard

(This is why you want a multimeter)

My experiences

Mark 1 KeyboardWednesday, July 24, 13

shell from ergodox.org

Mark 2 Keyboard

Mark 3 Keyboard

Mark 4Keyboard

Mark 5Keyboard

Mark 6 Keyboard

Mark 7 Keyboard

Mark 8Keyboard

Mark 9 Keyboard

What have I learned?

Hardware is not scary

3D printers are almost there

Iterating on hardwareisn’t much harder than iterating on software

Patching hardware is a lot harder

Patching hardwareis a lot more satisfying

Keyboards don’t have to suck

Make one

...or nine

What’s next?

Figuring out a mousing solution

Learning aboutPCB design

Learning aboutcontract manufacturing

Learning how to makea Kickstarter video

Questions?

Thanks!

Jesse Vincenthttp://keyboard.io

jesse@fsck.com /@obraWednesday, July 24, 13

building a keyboard from scratch

wire cutter http

key caps http

microcontroller http

tool http

multimeter http

solder sucker http

jumper wires http

soldering iron http

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