Custom 100% keyboard
A Custom 100% keyboard that has LED underglow in a custom (most likely wood) case
Created by
Minecraftchest2
Tier 3
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1 follower
Timeline
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
Made the case
i made the case for the keyboard i am planning on doing a Plateless Mount style keyboard that uses the foam sandwich method to keep the keyboard from moving around. doing a plateless mount wasn't originally my plan, hence the pins to hold the top plate in place on the case design, but i didn't want to deal with editing the plate dxf from ai03 plate generator to make it work with my design. like the case for my 8-bit pc it was split in half and each half is the same just needing to be printed twice and rotated 180 degrees.
Now i just need to fit my git repo currently most of the stuff is under git-lfs and try to cut down on costs on my BOM.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
did some BOM optimiting
i did some BOM optimizing with help from ChatGPT (which wasn't much help) so i think now my bom is as optimized as i can make it unless i want to switch to a 3d printed case. it turns out that i only need one pull up resister because the internal pullups in the MCP23017 work according to the i2c standard.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
mostly routed the pcb
spent a little while figuring out the best way to make my matrix fit on the pi or split it so the colums are on the pico and the rows are on the i2c expander. i ended up switching to a 10x11 matrix (10 col x 11 row) witch fit on the pico with out any issues. i have also dropped the rgb because i am planning on using a 2x4x8 and osb to make the case so the rgb probably wouldn't be viable any ways and it makes routing easier because i dont have to worry about routing the power and data for the leds around the traces for the rows and columns.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
changed matrix layout
After i finished doing the 21x6 matrix i realized that i don't have enough GPIO pins to do that so i had to go down to a 19x6 matrix. then i was making sure that i had the correct footpints for the key switches to make sure the spaceing was correct. i looked through like 6 libraries before i realised i had grabed the keyswitch footprint library from the plugin and content manager witch works but it it doesnt have the stablizers mounting holes i need to use a pcb mount screwd in stablizer so that is what i am going to work on tomorrow is the tablizer mounting holes.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
layed out the key switches
i got the switches layout out on both the PCB and the schematic. i was having the schematic side layout out the same to make the traces look better. still looking for a footprint for the stabilizers.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
Laying out the PCB
I started working on laying out the PCB. i made a layout using keyboard layout editor witch i am using to position my keys. I am also wanting each row and colom on the keyboard to match the place in the keyboard (so the function keys are row one and so forth) so i needed to redo my grid on the schematic side witch i am still working on. I also found stablizers that i might end up using that will depend if i can find a kit that will work for cheaper.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
Made the BOM
Finished finding all the parts i will need. turned out the the first hotswap sockets i found even though they where ~$3.40 a pack sense they came in packs of ten they would have been ~$50 of the total price after looking on amazon for some i found a pack of 110 for $12.99.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
Finnished the schematic.
finished making the schematic for the keyboard. the fun part was adding the 108 LEDs plus figuring out if i had the correct pins connected to the i2c exspander i was using.
Minecraftchest2
added to the journal ago
Setup the basics for the keyboard schematic
I got the basics set up. so i have all 108 switches (subject to change) layed out and connected to the Pico. i have gotten most of the way on setting up the IO exstention board i just need to figure out where the ground pin on the symbol is and it is finished. i also have the models for all the symbols but the diodes assigned. i am going with a hybrid hot swap base so i can swap between MX Kalih and Choc switches with out much hassle.
Minecraftchest2
started Custom 100% keyboard ago