FiNCH: Thumb Keyboard

Description

How many times have you wished for a small, convenient keyboard while setting up your HTPC for your TV or tinkering with your Raspberry Pi? Or perhaps you find touch keyboards not convenient enough for serious typing on your phone or tablet?

This project aims to develop a handheld keyboard designed for thumb typing. With the power of QMK (Quantum Mechanical Keyboard firmware), I believe we can achieve this goal!

Details

Key Features:

Optimized for Handheld Use: Designed for easy and comfortable thumb typing.
Clean Ortholinear Layout: Ensures efficient and ergonomic typing.
Fully Programmable: Customizable with QMK firmware for a personalized experience.
Thumb Keys and Shoulder Buttons: Enhanced usability with additional control options.
Hot-Swappable: Switches, keycaps, and the controller board can be easily changed without soldering.
Pocketable: Compact size makes it easy to carry.
Cute Design: Attractive and appealing appearance.
Beginner Friendly: Easy to assemble with no complicated soldering required, making it an excellent project for learning about custom keyboards.
Built-in Pointing Device: Mouse emulation with a thumbstick. After all, what’s the point of a pocketable keyboard if you don’t have a mouse in your pocket too?
Wireless (TBD): The Arduino Pro Micro can be easily replaced by a compatible wireless developement board like the nice!nano.

Components

1 × Arduino Pro Micro microcontroller board based on atmega32u4 chip for keyboard control

50 × Omron B3F-1050 Tactile Switch with square plunger

50 × A44 or A66 Tactile Switch Cap 8x8x4.4mm color round or square button caps ror 6*6*7.3mm square head

1 × PSP-1000 thumbstick or FJ08K-N PSP style slyding rocker potentiometer

1 × Mill-Max 801-47-010-002000/012000 low-profile pin header

Project Logs

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Finch Evolved: New Boards, New Case, and a Thumbstick!
Alex • 09/06/2024 at 17:38 • 1 comment

Good news, everyone! I’ve successfully completed a new design for the project. In this post, I’ll give a brief overview, with more details to follow in the next project log.

Read more »
Making FinchBoard Legendary: Printing the Custom Legends
Alex • 07/14/2024 at 14:24 • 0 comments

On a full-size keyboard, I can type using blank keys, but the FinchBoard is a different matter. Sure, I could memorize the layout or write it on the keycaps with a permanent marker, but I wanted something more aesthetically pleasing.

Since I couldn’t find suitable keycaps with lettering on the market, I came up with the following solution.

Using a laser printer, I print the letters onto a sheet of glossy magazine paper and use solvent to transfer the toner to the surface of the caps. The keycaps are made of ABS plastic, which becomes soft at 100°C and melts at 300°C. They dissolve well in acetone, and the 647 solvent I use dissolves the caps to about the same extent as acetone.
Read more »
I assembled a prototype on a PCB from PCBWay
Alex • 01/29/2024 at 11:40 • 0 comments

It's been quite a while, but I have some updates to my project.

First, a big thanks to PCBWay for providing me with high-quality PCBs for this project!

Read more »
First try
Alex • 07/12/2022 at 13:32 • 0 comments

Finally, I’ve created something that I can actually use to get a feel for the project.
It looks like the cheap switches I used are problematic; they feel inconsistent, with some being clicky and others mushy. There might also be issues with the keycaps or the case contributing to this.

My plan is to learn how to touch type on this keyboard. Perhaps I should put tactile marks on the keycaps to help with this.