There was a long summer break, but I'm still working on this project. So let me give you an overview of what happened.

RGB Light Diffusers

Maybe these look like nothing, but they do a good job of making the RGB light more ambient. It's a bit of a pain adding these to every key, but apart from the better lighting conditions, these little pieces make the plate more dustproof, so why not add these?

Software Refactoring

Why? Because of inconsistencies around how different languages displayed characters that can be pressed in combination with the right ALT (Also Alt Gr) key. While this does not exist on a US keyboard, for almost every European layout, there are some extra glyphs like ¼, ½, or €, that can be pressed together with the right ALT key.

Some examples on a Greek layout:

I did display them already, but it was not uniform across different languages, and these required some tricks in the spreadsheet, which I addressed now. The spreadsheet looks a bit different now and contains some configuration values for displaying characters.

Apart from that, I now added an outline (clearing pixels) when displaying overlays, so that those icons stand out a bit and are not connected to the letters/glyphs. In the code, I called that courtyard clearing. Maybe I can make that even a bit thicker. See here:

And the same without overlays:

CE-Certification Preparations

In order to sell the PolyKybd in the EU, it needs to be CE-certified. For that, I do have some homework to do, for example, checking if every component I used is RoHS compliant (does not contain bad stuff like lead, halogen, etc). In case the manufacturer's datasheet does not mention conformance, I need to look for an alternative part that is certified. Another point will be the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) test, to make sure the keyboard does not harm/interfere with its electromagnetic environment. This is a bit of a pain point, and I'm already in touch with a consultant to prepare as much as possible.

Video!

Apart from that, I made a video that has been uploaded to the crowd-supply YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/pXc64xxlNH0?si=81lD2oQMmqeYyKZz

I had no idea how to start, but I wanted some camera moves around the keyboard. After a bit of meditation, I decided to abuse the kids' Lego train to do that, and I put that rig together:

After some trial and error, I came up with a slow and steady moving contraption (the Lego locomotive is too fast), and thanks to the stabilization feature of my smartphone, I got a stable video when the camera moved. The close-ups are still not as sharp and dust-free as I wanted them to be (oh my god, I really cleaned it and got rid of grains with the compressed air spray, but..). In the end, I decided that it was good enough and I'm quite happy with the result. It is even available in 4k :) Here is another picture of the tower for the static takes:

What Else?

Thanks to my supporter jkolo I have some more research hardware to look at, but this is a thing for after the first release of the PolyKybd...

Best, Thomas