Yet another keyboard post, or, introducing ErgoNICE
val.packett.cool
val.packett.cool
PCBs are incredibly cheap to print (<$25 shipped for me to print at https://jlcpcb.com, IIRC), and he shows you how to do some mods to the schematic using KiCad [1].
BV also has some crazier minimal keyboard designs like this 18-key split one with lots of layers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNOGEtqn85o
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqpBKuEVinw [1]: https://www.kicad.org/
https://wiki.ai03.com/books/pcb-design/page/pcb-guide-part-1...
Once you build your first little macropad, and verify that your design is generally correct, you can fork the repo you created and pretty much copy/paste your MCU region, and build a new grid of keys around it. The guide also gave me good tips on what to have assembled, and what to hand-solder, to be able to cut some costs.
It's ultimately the same process I used to create my Analog Hall Effect Keyboard that was reviewed by Chyrosran22 recently: https://youtu.be/iv6Rh8UNWlI
The other piece of the puzzle for me is curvature. On a flat keyboard there is more stretching or physically moving but adding in a bit of curvature helps cut down on that.
For a few years now I have been using a hand wired Dactyl-ManuForm [1] and it has been great. At least for writing / programming. I go back to a regular keyboard for gaming purposes.
I don't know that I'm a fan of the complete split like this, but I definitely agree with your overarching point.
I 3D printed adapters for my chair arm rests so the keyboards sit at the front of each rest, right where my hands naturally want to be. I can then recline my chair a bit and type for hours without sitting forward/hunched over the desk.
I've designed my own as well but just went with the traditional key matrix with a diode per switch. Works well enough for the current size.
Searching again, looks like zmk added support for the common 595 shift register: https://github.com/zmkfirmware/zmk/pull/1325
Edit: You could avoid using diodes, but diodes increase the number of switches possible via a matrix more than shift registers do by giving you more gpio. I’d imagine one can use both together.
I made two videos talking about how I design my analog keyboard PCBs and how I'm using analog multiplexers here: https://youtu.be/TfKz_FbZWLQ
They do avoid having a diode per key, in exchange for needing a chip for N keys, where n is the number of of parallel inputs in your parallel to serial shift register.
They can also save IO lines. Obviously with if using chainable shift registers, you can have an unlimited number of keys with just 3 IO lines.
More realistic of course, would be to use several IO lines in parallel. For a 64 key matrix, one could say use 8, 8-bit shift registers, each connected to one input line, plus one output latch line and one output clock line (for a total of 10), vs the 16 lines needed traditional matrix.
8 input lines is nice, because if you pick the I/O lines right, retrieving the values is just a single port read. Making the procedure: latch, (toggle clock twice, read port, write to next location in memory buffer) x8.
There are of course downsides, like shift registers needing more board space than tiny surface mount diodes, but this is not necessarily a deal-killer.
Bucking-Springs
split-keyboard
WHITE backlight under the keys (I can touch type, but after 35+ years I still "gaze unfocused" and take in all the keys)
The tactility is very well defined, and the tactile mechanism (click bar) is IMO better than Cherry-style click jackets, like seen in Cherry Blues.
A split keeb with a white backlight that accepts MX-footprint switches should be simple to find.
> This is my gold-tier wish list:
> Bucking-Springs
> split-keyboard
Model M M15: it's split. It's a collector item though.
Drool over this:
https://youtu.be/oNnW4wED4uU
Similar to the touchpad on the 'Ultimate Hacking Keyboard v2' but standalone without the pogo pins coupling part? [0]
Probably not "small", but it fits between the two halves of my Moonlander quite nicely :)
That thought felt weird in the beginning, but trust me: it works.
I personally just built a keyboard with an integrated trackball however. It’s great!
I'd say if you look at a layout like miryoku https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku .. in miryoku, the [] keys are one row up from home row, accessed on a layer. Whereas, putting [] on outer columns, your hand has to move and reach over two rows.
That is, I'd emphasise layering brings more keys to within easy access of the fingers (at the cost of added complexity to use the keyboard, - which not everyone has the taste for).
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/8b8dcd36c0abcc... https://gist.github.com/rollcat/8b8dcd36c0abccf430b4160ad899...
For two-hands-on-keyboard tasks, relying on layering is good.
For gaming, I make use of a number row.
I remember using AutoHotKey back then to swap caps lock and CTRL (or was Backspace in there somewhere?) to cycle through my hatcheries and spam larvae injects, since they weren't queue-able at that time.
Backspace (next base cam) inject is still a thing, but it's not really recommended: it tends to send different queens towards different hatcheries, delaying the injects. Again I didn't play WoL so I don't know which keys were re-bindable in the client at the time, but currently you can use almost anything for anything (except you can't change the modifiers like ctrl, shift, alt); those who use base cam inject will sometimes bind it to space.
So you can have keys like escape, enter, ctrl or similar right on the home-row.
For those not familiar, to get down to this low number of keys, some layouts will place modifiers (ctrl, shift, alt, meta) as secondary actions (when the key is held down vs. tapped) on home row keys (asdf, jkl; on QWERTY). The problem is to distinguish a tap from a hold, there's a minimum delay before the key is sent, making it very annoying for fast typists as there may be visible input lag when hitting one of the home row keys.
Another option is moving those keys to bottom row, or moving layers to combos to free thumb keys to for mods or move mods to combos as one shots.
So what I'm saying is use home row hold/tap just for layer selects that will only affect the other hand, and use hold/tap modifiers for programming symbols.
I forsee a minor surge of full-size split ergos and that's a great thing.
The ones oriented like a mouse wheel, but wide (as opposed to the ones sitting like a volume knob on a mixer) are very natural to use and unobtrusive.
I tried this a while ago, but never used it much. I end up leaving my system volume at predictable levels most of the time, and ended up rebinding my arrow cluster's extra layer for Prev/Next song, which got much more use.
Currently due to many sources (PC, console, occasional synthesizer, BT receiver) I just have small mixer between my PC and speakers and it is super convenient. I actually considered hacking something akin to 3-4 encoders with display showing current app making sound and giving option to change the volume of that app
I also use an ortho layout, but find the whole community trying to justify it as better for you ergonomically to be unconvincing. There’s little data that says ortho has any health benefits over staggered. We have data on the position and alignment of the wrist being the biggest factor, and you can achieve this with either style.
> This is the physical layout, so you see QWERTY here. I actually type on Colemak though!
How do you know if someone uses an alternative key layout? They’ll tell you.
You may also be interested in https://southpawdesign.net/collections/all as they have a few small, ergonomic keyboards.
Sure.
But the standard row-stagger is asymmetrical; the way a hand types with the left hand is not mirrored by the right hand.
I'd be very surprised if that was as ergonomic as a symmetrical layout.
How is it asymmetrical? Unless you consider the right hand typing on the numpad/cursor keys.
So ortho fixes this, but could it then introduce problems for other pairs? It seems hard to believe that there is a layout which is 100% better for all combinations.
Regarding symmetry, our hands are already asymmetrical due to handiness (left-handed, right-handed), and the brain naturally adapts, and there is also the risk of Hawthorne effect if you A/B test ortho/staggered. Some real studies on layouts would really be useful.
Ortho layouts are also most often used on compact boards, and the Preonic (5x12 grid, '50%' form factor) is probably the most 'plug and use' friendly ortho I've come across.
On the LHS, the index-finger RFV. The finger rests on the homing key F, with R to the left.
On the RHS, the index-finger column is UJM. The finger rests on the homing key F, with U also to the left of F.
I'd consider (say) a Katana keyboard to have a symmetrical row-stagger.
The Zlant is a uniform-stagger board I got once as a fun project, but you'll see the stagger difference right away: https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/keyboards/zl...
The body is complex, and movements build on top of that. It's hard to reason about it as a system in this way.
For now though, what matters is it's more fun to type on an ortholinear keyboard. I wish the focus was on that aspect and not health benefits until there's data.
As an anecdote, I'll say I find my ortho keyboard using a Dvorak layout much more comfortable to type on than row-stagger QWERTY; and certainly looking at videos show that the latter looks much busier at the same WPM.
The main thing I'd argue is that many of the design features of a standard keyboard (asymmetry; big spacebar; row stagger, with different stagger for each row..) don't seem to be good design decisions compared to even a grid of keys all the same size.
If you're curious enough to get into designing your own, there are much simpler guides than the OP here, if you know what you want to accomplish.
At home where I can spread out I'm quite content with my Ergodox. But for travel, I find my 2x2u Preonic quite comfy... all the keys you need, none that you don't, with only a minimimum of layers needed.
It is a post about a keyboard; if you don't want to hear about keyboard related topics, maybe consider reading different posts.
I type at work far more than at home.
The patreon is currently mostly empty, seems like a good candidate if you're into keyboards and other nerdery. :)
I can type near 150wpm, but it is a completely random style that mostly only follows using whatever finger happens to be closest to the next key regardless of which hand it is after leaving every finger wherever it was last used.
After a month or so at most, I was back to full speed. It did ruin me for laptop keyboards, though, I can't type on those at all anymore.
In case anyone is interested, there are also people who hand-wire keyboards. This lets you explore funky custom layouts without having to learn the circuit design and manufacturing side. I came across this pretty detailed guide recently. https://www.crackedthecode.co/a-complete-guide-to-building-a...
The below PCB is meant to be 'like a Preonic, but with 2x2u spaces, and full 5x12 grid'. Diode placement is aesthetic, but serves as a way to fill the 'dead space' between the main halves.
https://i.imgur.com/Krd3dfE.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/78KWmuV.jpeg
Whether you use 2d design to make a stacked/layered case, or 3d printing, you could probably jank-design a top cover to go along with your own custom build.
I have an assembled proto, and while it was rough around the edges, it was fun to use. The case was made of laser-cut sheet metal bolted together with standoffs, and the switch plate had a cutout in the center to show off those banked diodes.
This kind of article just shows me what I will become in a few years if that first experience indeed succeeds.
So far it's been good, but there's a couple things that are taking some getting used to:
1) The spacer bar is wider than on either the Apple keyboard or any of my HP laptops. I hit space with my pointer fingers, sometimes right sometimes left, and I keep accidentally hitting the Command key along with space, and popping up Spotlight on top of whatever I'm doing.
2) The delete key is in a funny position. I almost wish it was where the backlight key is. I guess if I'd gotten the Pro keyboard I could remap it.
3) The lack of eject key means I've lost my Ctrl-Shift-Eject shortcut for immediately blanking the screen. Not huge, but I liked being able to do this on demand.
Otherwise, it only took a few days to get accustomed to the greater key travel and I think I like it. Although I have half a mind to return it and get the Pro now, just to fix the Delete key... And maybe I can make the backlight key be some combo, and I can restore eject?
2) Yea, I'll have to see if I can develop an intuition for the delete key. I don't use it super much. In general I am positively surprised how many of the keys I hit pretty consistently without looking, given that it does have a different layout for all the top right stuff. I also realized how much I relied on the spacing between different key groups, e.g. between ESC and F1, or ESC and ~, to find stuff. Now those gaps are gone and I am having to use a different mental mapping, haha. But it's been better than excepted, tbh. I also didn't even realize there was a backlight key up there. Nice, thx!
3) I've mapped this to meta-shift-ESC. Should be easy enough to find a different key combo?
Question for you: do your key caps have translucent letters so the backlight can shine through? The pro does not, which makes the backlight kind of.. useless? Because I can't see the letters on the keys anyway :D
Hope you enjoy the keyboard :)
And yes, the keycaps do seem to be translucent to some degree. I almost say too much because when the light is on bright it's like the sides of the caps themselves glow, but the letters do as well.
I bought mine from the Keychron store on Amazon, and when I got it I noticed a greasy fingerprint on the bottom of the box, but all seemed good. I'm now realizing that it's missing both the keycap and switch puller, and the keycaps on my (white) model match the colors that the RGB should have.
I'm wondering if maybe I should return it and order the pro directly from Keychron? I guess I could sort out pretty much everything that way...
Interesting re. mismatch. I got mine from Keychron directly, they ship very fast. 4 days or so from China.
The keycaps on my Pro aren't translucent at all, so the LED lighting is useless in the dark. It's quite silly. But oh well, at this point I know where most of the keys are.
I think it should definitely come with a key puller and extra caps, almost sounds like they sent you a previously sold one that was sent back or something.
IANAL, but if they have a trademark for "NICE" in relation to keyboards, yours may be in violation.
Custom firmware, choice of key switches, and choice of keycaps are not going to be available if you apply the hacksaw method to cheapo $5 boards.
Thank you.
The homebrew market is ready to be disrupted by someone who sells injection-molded components for curved keyboards, so that it can move out of this local optimum. Maltron sells separate cases, but the design is dated.
Until then, I agree, just get an Advantage or maybe Glove80.
Noticing a lot of used Advantage 2s on the market for cheap now that people are buying up the 360/pro.
That said I will not purport that Dvorak is better in any technical way that the other alts.
For me the switch was to force me to break my bad typing habits and learn to touch type.
Without that it took me like two weeks of it actually being painful where I was closing my eyes and mentally moving each finger deliberately. After about 6 weeks I got to 30 WPM which I felt was sufficiently fast to work as a developer unimpeded. 2 years later I'm up to 60 WPM which is faster than I ever was with QWERTY. What I do is three 120 second long sessions of www.MonkeyType.com at lunch each work day.
>not cupped
Probably better off going with a Matias then.