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Building a
keyboard
from
scratch Jesse Vincent
jesse@fsck.com
http://keyboard.io
@obra / @keyboardio
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Why?
Wednesday, April 24, 13
My boss stole
my keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
I couldn’t find a
keyboard I wanted
Wednesday, April 24, 13
I tried
Wednesday, April 24, 13
So, you want to
make a keyboard?
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Tools you’ll need
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Soldering
Iron
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wire
cutter
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Tools you’ll want
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wire
cutter
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Solder Sucker
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Fine-tipped
tweezers
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Multimeter
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Hot Glue
Gun
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Parts you’ll need
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Keyswitches
Wednesday, April 24, 13
IN418
Diodes
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Magnet
Wire
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Rosin-core
Solder
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Microcontroller
Wednesday, April 24, 13
PJRC.com Teensy
(Atmel Atmega)
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Key Caps
Wednesday, April 24, 13
A Case
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Parts you’ll want
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Jumper
wires
Wednesday, April 24, 13
MiniUSB
cable
Wednesday, April 24, 13
A bit more
explanation
Wednesday, April 24, 13
The
case &
layout
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Design your own!
Wednesday, April 24, 13
14mm square holes
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3+ mm apart
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Top plate:
1.5 mm
thick
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Edge & bottom
plates:
Much thicker
Wednesday, April 24, 13
I designed my first
keyboards in
Omingraffle
Wednesday, April 24, 13
14mm
14mm
3+mm
3+mm
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Prototype
with paper
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
3D Printer for
crazy designs
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Diodes
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Key Ghosting
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Credit: @pdcawley
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Credit: @pdcawley
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Credit: @pdcawley
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Credit: @pdcawley
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Putting it together
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Try the keys & keycaps
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Start Soldering
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Flat pin:
Connect Diode
Square pin:
Connect wire
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Connect
the keys in
each row
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Solder the
diodes in
columns
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Connect
them in
parallel
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Connect the
black ends
to the keys
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Solder a wire
to each row
& column
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Connect those wires
to the microcontroller
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Install avr-gcc
pjrc.com/teensy/gcc.html
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Teensy
Loader
pjrc.com/teensy/loader.html
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Configure some
keyboard firmware
Wednesday, April 24, 13
github.com/humblehacker/keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
% vi config.kspec
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
% make
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Install your firmware
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Test your
keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
(This is why
you want
a multimeter)
Wednesday, April 24, 13
What didn’t I
mention?
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Printed
Circuit
Board
Wednesday, April 24, 13
You do not
need one!
Wednesday, April 24, 13
My experiences
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 1 Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
shell from
ergodox.org
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 2 Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 3 Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 4 Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 5 Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Mark 6
Keyboard
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
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Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Wednesday, April 24, 13
Thanks!
http://keyboard.io
Wednesday, April 24, 13

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