mooseprSo for anyone not getting my weekly rambling emails, I have been tweaking the keyboard for ever!!! but have finally got it somewhere that I think is good by going back to the way things were for v0.2, and each key has features round its base to give it flex. So I spent months chasing something I had already pretty much nailed in the past!!
I turned my attention to the add-on cards, and things naturally ended up leaning towards a LoRa card and looking to get in on the MeshTastic train.
While I was waiting for PCB's and parts to arrive, I remembered that a few people had mentioned ESP-NOW and I decided to have a look at that.
Turns out it is super easy to get rolling, just register the mac address you want to send stuff to, register functions to run on data sent and data received, and your away!!
Here is a quick and dirty video showing what I came up with
to be continued.....
Discussions
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0. Why not chocolate layout, every keys up/down other. similar https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/drop-olkb-planck-mechanical-keyboard-kit-v6--485474034830311078/
1. Ok tell me why not buyng normal mechanic keys lowprofile?
2. Meybe add a solar panel for increase working time?
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sounds like you are describing a completely different project, that you yourself might want to start?
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sign me up ;)
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My first stab at designing this had an ortho layout, it was ok, but now has bigger and a much more comfortable...
Mechanical keys are much bigger than my keys here. my keys are 8mm apart, and even the smallest mechanical keyboard switch are 15mm x 15mm, so I would have to double the size
Solar is easy, just get a solar panel that can pop its power into a usb-c cable then you can add/remove it at will, and even place it wherever you want!!
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I'm just worried 40+ years of using primarily a standard QWERTY layout is going to make coding on this keyboard challenging (particularly since code uses shifted top row for so many things).
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that makes sense. you could re-map the keys. I probably have a few different face plates available for different language/regions, and the kicad project for the face plate will be available so people could spin their own.
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Have you considered either using dual filament so the key name is on the key cap as well (which might let you put another row of keys in if you didn't need the tags above the keys) or "embossing" the key name on the key cap so that the layers are thinner there so that the backlight can "illuminate" the key cap? (Or just make the keycap smaller ... the numeric keypad on the right already shows four rows is possible)
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I did have 4 rows on the keyboard in older iterations, but in terms of usability, the 3 larger rows feels better
It is possible to have the legends on the keys using the SLS TPU printing that I can get done at the fancy printing place I use. it is just single material though, so its not possible to switch mid print
things are pretty small, so FDM printing would need a 0.2mm nozzle to get the detail for the key legends, but then its much harder to print TPU with a 0.2mm nozzle, although it might be possible to have a TPU base for flex, and harder plastic tops, with a dual nozzle printer
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