So, I made a keyboard

Building a keyboardfrom scratch Jesse Vincent

[email protected]://keyboard.io

@obra / @keyboardioWednesday, April 24, 13

Why?

Wednesday, April 24, 13

My boss stole my keyboard



I couldn’t find a keyboard I wanted


I tried


So, you want to make a keyboard?


Tools you’ll need


SolderingIron


Wirecutter


Tools you’ll want


Wirecutter


Solder Sucker


Fine-tipped tweezers


Multimeter


Hot Glue Gun


Parts you’ll need


Keyswitches


IN418Diodes


MagnetWire


Rosin-coreSolder


Microcontroller


PJRC.com Teensy(Atmel Atmega)


Key Caps


A Case


Parts you’ll want


Jumperwires


MiniUSB cable


A bit more explanation


The case & layout


Design your own!


14mm square holes


3+ mm apart


Top plate:1.5 mm thick


Edge & bottom plates:

Much thicker


I designed my first keyboards inOmingraffle


14mm

14mm3+mm

3+mm


Prototypewith paper



3D Printer forcrazy designs


Diodes


Key Ghosting


Credit: @pdcawley


Credit: @pdcawley


Credit: @pdcawley


Credit: @pdcawley


Putting it together


Try the keys & keycaps


Start Soldering


Flat pin:Connect Diode

Square pin: Connect wire


Connect the keys in each row


Solder the diodes in columns


Connect them in parallel


Connect the black ends to the keys


Solder a wire to each row

& column


Connect those wires to the microcontroller


Install avr-gcc

pjrc.com/teensy/gcc.html


TeensyLoader

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 wanta multimeter)


What didn’t I mention?


Printed Circuit Board


You do notneed one!


My experiences


Mark 1 KeyboardWednesday, April 24, 13

shell from ergodox.org










Mark 2 Keyboard









Mark 3 Keyboard









Mark 4 Keyboard










Mark 5 KeyboardWednesday, April 24, 13







Mark 6 Keyboard























Thanks!

http://keyboard.io


Technology

So, I made a keyboard