Iāve been working on a design for a split keyboard that is a hybrid between a Corne and a Sofle.
So fair the electrical and software aspects work, I still need to sort out the chassis.
Some features:
- Efficient backlight circuit (at 100% it uses 20mA)
- Custom MBK Choc caps from fkcaps.com (the glow is awesome)
- ~250mAh battery (still low profile as thereās a hole in the PCB for the battery)
- Dual EVQ encoders
- Fully wireless using Nice Nanos
- The layout has MacOS and Windows modes
- Choc spacing
Once Iāve got the chassis done and Iāve cleaned everything up a bit Iāll open source it.
Hereās a preview of the chassis design so far:
I love the cyberpunk look the have now tbh.
Agreed - the minimal black frame makes the keycaps stand out, especially with that nice glow.
Being able to see the pins on the displays really adds to the aesthetic.
Itād be pretty easy for someone to take the design and make a more typical ānakedā base plate etc.
I am having trouble getting the chassis to a point that Iām happy with the appearance. I also made some mistakes in the PCB edge cuts that make it harder again. All part of the learning process I guess.
Either way, once done Iād like for this to be at least as robust as any commercial product so that I can put it in a backpack easily/safely
Looking great! What are those displays?
Nice!Views, theyāre incredibly power efficient.
OLED?
Sharp memory display, itās a bit like Epaper in terms of appearance. Most of the OLED panels I could find eat batteries.
More info here: https://nicekeyboards.com/nice-view/
Damn thatās amazing. Looking forward to details.
Beautiful design. I love the casing over the nice view and roller.
Very nice indeed!
i canāt remember their name right now, but these are the custom MBK caps, yeah? Iāve been designing a similar set, where the layer characters are on the caps. I actually printed up transparent stickers in 2020 with this goal in mind.
Also, what do you have the scrollers mapped to?
Nice, I highly recommend the fk caps guys, really happy with them.
I have an updated set of caps that Iāll order soon, Iām currently tinkering with the backlight glyphs. Still not quite satisfied.
I like your caps idea, I toyed with dye sublimation but then decided against that (clear stickers would have been way easier). Then I saw a link to FK caps somewhere and gave it a go.
My encoders are mostly mapped to arrow keys. But, hereās the current map (itās derived from my Corneās map):
I have an updated set of caps that Iāll order soon, Iām currently tinkering with the backlight glyphs. Still not quite satisfied.
Do you know if their system allows to share designs as a starting point? I know you can save for later.
I like your caps idea, I toyed with dye sublimation but then decided against that (clear stickers would have been way easier).
Thanks! I was happy-ish with the result. I created the font from a handwritten script I use when I send greeting cards. I didnāt find a way to keep the ink from rubbing off though, so they never lasted very long. I tried lacquering them, but likely didnāt do a very good job - I can be aggravatingly impatient.
My encoders are mostly mapped to arrow keys.
I think thatās almost what Iād do too - Iād like an easier way to select text when composing email/whatever, so I dream of a single key whole-word select function. Iād map it to a (variable) shift arrow, depending on whether Iām on the MacBook or the windows box.
Side note - I noticed your map has both windows and Mac specific commands - I didnāt know that was possible. Are these separate layers, or is the keyboard somehow aware of the OS it is attached to?
If the GUI key is tapped twice it switches to the windows base layer, double tap again and it goes to the Mac OS (default) layer. This is done using a ātap danceā, look for ātdā in the map to find it.
If you look at the conditional layers youāll see how I accomplished the stacking of key bindings.
Since the board is naked Iāve not really used it, but I was playing with the scrollers and doing text navigation, it was very very nice.
I think you can share layouts from FK Caps:
https://fkcaps.com/custom/HUA582
The above is my current WIP. Hopefully it works, Iād like to share it as a basis for people to customise the Rolio if they want.
If the GUI key is tapped twice it switches to the windows base layer, double tap again and it goes to the Mac OS (default) layer. This is done using a ātap danceā, look for ātdā in the map to find it.
This could easily a game changer for me! My brain warps whenever I require a multi key/layer function, while Iām connected to a windows box from my mac.
I think you can share layouts from FK Caps
Nice, Iām on mobile but will make a note to check this out later.
Honestly, this project, caps, and key mapā¦ I feel like you are me, lol
Glad to be of service. Check out the ālstartā and ālendā macros as a starting point for your single key to select a whole word thing.
I must admit I thought what I was doing here was pretty niche as I couldnāt find anything similar. Even the Bluetooth + Backlight seems a rarity. To be fair routing a 2 layer PCB with the added complexity was a PITA, soldering the resistors was super fiddly (either by hand or reflow).
The fact that it scratches an itch for you is pleasing, it means the added effort of open sourcing may be worth it as a few other people will get some value.
Jesus, you people are crazy, it looks so cool š
Thanks.
The time and cost exceeds any practical advantage, so, yeah, a little crazy is about right I guess.
Not everything needs to be about practicality. Even tho I donāt really understand the world of āergo mech keyboardsā I deeply admire the passion and creativity flourishing from this community. Cheers to you!
Looks super nice. Why did you decide on this design?
Thanks.
I took hand measurements using the following:
As it turns out the Corne is very close to my best layout.
I like the Corne, except it has no backlight, arrows are not very convenient (hence scrollers). I also move between Mac and windows, the extra modifiers on the Sofle make that easier.
In the end Iāve basically got a Sofle/Corne hybrid with scrollers and a backlight.
