this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

Rules

Keep it ergo

Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

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PCB Designed! (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by excitingburp@lemmy.world to c/ergomechkeyboards@lemmy.world
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Now I have to patiently wait for them to ship. I'm not shy about the Sweep inspiration.

The goal is to have it be modular, with a central controller board. I'm going to eventually use these with paracord cables to hot-plug different types of keyboards (the first will most likely be a gaming keyboard on the left). I'm looking for less bulky magnetic connectors if anyone knows a source. Definitely not considering a TRRS, as I don't think my GPIOs should be mainlining 5V during hotplugging.

The controller is still being prototyped on a breadboard. I have already experienced the woes of hot-plugging I2C on the prototype boards (stuck bus and all), so I'm going to experiment with the TCA4307.

The firmware is being developed in Rust, though haven't pushed it anywhere yet.

https://codeberg.org/jcdickinson/octoboard

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[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What is the advantage? Or is it just for fun?

[–] Polyester6435@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I assume they wanted a sweep with a thumb cluster they find more comfortable. Plus I think those controllers provide easier flashing and programming

[–] excitingburp@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

It's 99% the thumb cluster: I wanted an extra button.

Also 99% for fun.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah Pi Picos are better than arduinos now for 70% of applications (battery-powered being the exception. It has horribly high sleep power consuption)

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Better in what way? And what is an Arduino? Just the ATmega328P?

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most of the atmega chips that are frequently used in the hobby space are pretty damn old. They work completely fine, but somethings show their age. Something like the H7 is way better, but I'm talking about normal entry level low-cost boards, mostly the 328p, but possible also the atmega2560.

Rp2040 has a higher clock frequency and much more SRAM, 12 bit vs 10 bit ADC. Programmable IO, MUCH cheaper price, and 100x the availability. It can use both arduino and its own C SDK as well as micropython which is pretty neat. Overall a great chip and personally I would consider it the modern successor.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The ESP32 is better in essentially every way compared to both the old ATmega chips as well as the PI Picos RP2040. MicroPython is the one thing where the Pi Pico has an advantage. Am I missing something? Last time I looked at the Pi Pico I was... disappointed.

I am also very happy with my teensy boards, can only recommend them.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Nope, ESP32 is better in every way except that it costs 2x as much due to the integrated BT and WiFi. The chip only for the RP2040 is 0.92€, supporting components bring it to about 1.50€ compared to the standard ESP32-WROOM module for 2.50€. If you don't need WiFi/bt, then volume production will make a difference there.

Otherwise yeah, fully go for the ESP32. The DACs are much more linear too due to a bug in RP2040.

Though the RP2040 does have integrated USB which makes it compatible with QMK for hobbyists.

Teensy boards are one of the most powerful hobbyist microcontrollers readily available, but they also come at 10x the price.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Okay, I think I understand you. Thank you for the feedback. To me, higher prices are essentially irrelevant when I only need like 1 or 2 new per year, the rest gets recycled. Hence I am looking for features instead of lowest cost.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it easier than: plug USB in -> upload?

[–] Polyester6435@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretty sure it allows you to drag and drop the firmware file in the file browser instead of flashing through the terminal/qmk toolbox or whatever. Not an advantage to me but hey, some people use a file browser a lot I guess

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Good point! That is indeed easier.

[–] flubba86@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

That's looking very similar to the Avalanche v4 kit I bought and built last year.

[–] yes@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

you could add an rj18 ethernet port to make it even more weird XD

[–] nydas@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m assuming you downloaded an stl of the switches and the controller? Where did you dl them from?

[–] hazel@keeb.lol 2 points 1 year ago

GrabCAD is where I usually start my hunt.

[–] excitingburp@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have retained the original library names in repo. Keebio-parts and ScottoKicad - both on GitHub.

[–] obosob@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Even better would be to use git submodules for them rather than copying the into your tree.