1/21/2026 4:36 PM - doing reasearch

I have just started the project and i am currently doing reasearch on the components, since i am a beginner this part will take me a while
i have found a photo of keyboard units.

1/21/2026 4:54 PM - chose layout

I have made my keyboard layout, I decided to use a 75% layout as I like to have FN keys but while keeping it compact as I want more desk room, I think the layout came out great.

1/21/2026 8 PM - keyboard matrix

I have chosen my microcontroller- rasberry pi pico. I have also made my keyboard matrix and added leds.

I will now make the layout using the keys, also added hotswap switches

1/22/2026 - started routing pcb

I have finished doing the pcb layout and i added the leds, rasberry pi pico and started adding diodes, I also decided to add a 0.91 inch oled display

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1/23/2026 5 PM - routed matrix

I have finished wiring the keyboard matrix and leds, this was quite time consuming as i had to not get stuck haha

I found this way to wire the leds as they kept getting stuck

1/23/2026 6 PM - finished pcb

I have finally finished my pcb and i think it looks great, It has 1x rotary encoder, 1x 0.91 oled, about 78 keys, hotswap sockets, and uses a mcu23017 for gpio expander. i am going to do the case next.

Ik the mounting holes are random but thats where i had space :D

1/24/2026 1 PM - started the case & BOM

I have almost finished the BOM
I also started designing the case, and finished making the plate, this took a while because the switch measurements were weird.

1/24/2026 4 PM - FINISHED CASE

I have finally finished building my case, the usb c port thing is removable because sometimes i get measurements wrong and its cheaper to print a small part instead of big part

1/24/2026 6 PM - Finished everything

I finished the BOM and also created my github repo, i am quite happy with how it came out, hope it gets accepted so i can build, managed to make it sub 100

1/25/2026 12 PM - re-routed pcb

i got some tips to remove the matrix from the mcp23017, so i rerouted everthing, now the mcp23018 is only for the rotary encoder, i have also added 3 resistors, 2 for i2c and 1 for the leds.

1/25/2026 2 PM - updated pcb

i have updated the pcb and added all the files to github again as i forgot to update then b4
i dont think there is anything else to do so i pretty much finished :D

2/15/2026 1 PM - rerouted leds

I have spent about 2 hours rewiring all the leds as i used the wrong ones.

I also removed the gpio extender as it wasn't needed and moved the rotary encoder to the switch matrix

I also changed the case a bit so the plate is the top part of the case.
now i need to change the leds again as i used wrong ones. :C

2/15/2026 3 PM - rerouted leds once again

I had to re-wire leds once again as i did the wrong ones(sk6812 mini instead of mini-e), this leds were ALOT harder to route as they have a hole in the middle which means i cant put a wire in it.

I am now re-doing the BOM as i want to use pcba since i cant solder smd

3/4/2026 - Getting started

Today my PCB finally arrived after about 2 weeks, so now I have every part u need to get started soldering, I have begun soldering the sod-123 diodes, but it's taking a long time, already took 3h for half of the diodes, as I have never done soldering this small ever, and now my back also hurts. I also cleaned my desk so I can keep everything organised and printed the case frame.

3/21/2026 - ALOT OF THINGS HAPPENED

Part 1

ok, so i finished soldering all the diodes about a week and a half ago, and started doing the leds. HOWEVER the leds were not working after the second ones, I tried fixing for about 30 minutes. But it ended in me breaking the pads while trying to desolder them. . and so I decided to attempt to desolder the controller, which didnt work, and stupidly i then bought a mini hotplate to try desolder it, which of course didnt work, infact it broke the microcontroller :/

and therefore i just bought a new one(with my own money) and more diodes.

Part 2

While i am waiting for it to arrive, i decided to get a esp32 c3 mini microcontroller and connect 3 wires to it, 5v,gnd, and a pin to the ledinput.

I used this to test the leds while i was soldering, and ALL THE LEDS WORKED!!!!!(Made me happy :D) some of the grounds werent connected in pcb so i had to connect wires to them.

and then i soldered all the diodes and the hotswap sockets.

Then i cleaned it all which took about 30 minutes
Once the microcontroller arrives i will solder it(correctly hopefully) and code it :D

3/23/2026 - new case

I have fully redesigned the case, now it looks quite good i think, and it is ALOT easier to print and assemble. the plate is part of the top case and the base is just the base.

3/29/2026 - finished the code

i have assembled it all, and most keys work alright, the case fits perfectly and i think the keyboard looks very good. I am quite happy with the result. It took me a while to assemble as i had to change the case as switches where to tight to fit. Also soldered the screen.