Numpad galore

[matt3o]

Following our never ending group build I've contacted various manufacturers to get prices, material availability and so on.

One of them (that I won't disclose just yet) seemed very interested in the project and they would be able to help us in the whole process. Talking with them we agreed that we could run a test "keyboard construction kit" for a numpad, and if everything goes smooth we could expand to a full keyboard. Price would be extremely attractive.

So if there's enough interest we could have a very high quality numpad with whatever layout we want. Being smaller we could even try to have the case CNC'd! It would be still a DIY kit, but you'd get everything you need, and the quality would be high-end. Also I may be willing to offer an assembly service if you need it.

These are the preliminary designs, but I'm not an avid numpad user so I'd like to have your feedback!



blanks of course could be anything.

Ideas? suggestions? impressions?

[Jmneuv]

I like the sidekick. I think it's important that the height/angle remains adjustable even if it's only through different feet. Also the outer borders should be very thin so you can edge it real close to your main keyboard.

[matt3o]

if we go CNC the side thickness would be around 3mm. with a layered design we could go almost flush with the caps.

[Muirium]

What will the controller be? Fully programmable?

[matt3o]

to design the PCB I believe it would be $200 (one time), so for few pieces it's better to use a teensy. Like I said this would be still a DIY project. The difference is that you get all the pieces directly from the manufacturer and we don't have multiple shipping-to-me-shipping-to-you fees.

It might be possible to also have the piece assembled, but I we haven't talked about that.

[Grendel]

Hm, I would be interested in the 60% Companion (already got a hacked Scorpius-32), kit is no problem and I already have code for it if the CPU is AVR based. An option to have it all 1x keys would be nice. Personally I prefer the case flush w/ the plate (or where the plate would be if it doesn't have one) and as flat as possible w/ an optional mechanism to raise the back.

[pasph]

sidekick.
I really hope that manifacturer is EU based.

[Madhias]

This is great, DIY perfect. I would be definitely interested in the 60% version, if possible with a big zero key. But probably it's better not to have one zillion of different wishes and desires, but a small great simple designed 'companion' just for testing reasons and of course every day usage!

[photekq]

If you decide to go down the CNC route let me know if you need any help with the case design. I'm happy to do it. Just give me a concept and I'll make it happen.

[matt3o]

sidekick.
I really hope that manifacturer is EU based.

EU indeed

If you decide to go down the CNC route let me know if you need any help with the case design. I'm happy to do it. Just give me a concept and I'll make it happen.

thanks that might be needed!

[pasph]

Un figlio di Albione suppongo

[davkol]

Awesome!

If the price is good and the thing is fully programmable, I'm interested in the sidekick (because it's just too cool) and two 5×5 to turn them into a compact split matrix keyboard.

[matt3o]

of course they are fully programmable and it should be also possible to have the plate that supports both 2u and all 1u keys

[scottc]

Most interested in the sidekick.

[pyrelink]

Sidekick absolutely.

[Stabilized]

Either would be great, but I am leaning to the Sidekick.

Would the long enter and the + be stabilized keys? And would have the ability to choose whether to have the layout of the num pad either way?

[matt3o]

yes the keys are stabilized. I should be able to design the plate so it can accommodate both layouts.

[davkol]

BTW what kind of controller would it use?

[pyrelink]

BTW what kind of controller would it use?

Most likely a Teensy. Small, easy to fit, and plenty of firmware and resources already made for the ATMEGA32U4 chip...

[matt3o]

yeah teensy unless we find a viable alternative

[Ascaii]

What about atmega8?

[matt3o]

indeed it might work, but I need someone who guides me thought the PCB

[Grendel]

Smallest AVR I would use is a ATmega16u2. You don't want to miss that USB module, V-USB is a PITA.

[matt3o]

would you be interested in adding a couple of knobs? (to change FN layer for example, or volume control or scroll wheel) or you'd rather keep it simple?

[davkol]

That would be super cool, but more complicated and expensive too, I'm afraid.

[Muirium]

The smaller the keyboard, the greater the impact of extras like knobs would be. Probably a bad idea for a numpad especially.

I am intrigued, though, about putting maybe very small ones into a compact keyboard. Even nice flip switches could be very useful.

[scottc]

€4 eBay Pro Micro?

They have fewer pins than a Teensy (about 21 iirc), but that's good for even up to 16x5.

[Muirium]

Have you tried using one? I suspect there's a catch… like incompatibility with the Teensy loader app, and being a general pain in the arse to flash.

[matt3o]

€4 eBay Pro Micro?

They have fewer pins than a Teensy (about 21 iirc), but that's good for even up to 16x5.

does it have arduino bootloader?

[scottc]

Have you tried using one? I suspect there's a catch… like incompatibility with the Teensy loader app, and being a general pain in the arse to flash.

I've used one and it's fine. It's currently got Soarer's firmware on it, but I've also used hasu's TMK. It doesn't have a dedicated reset button, so you have to short the RST pin manually after the first flash. It's a bit tricky to figure out the first time, but IMO it's definitely worth it since it's much, much cheaper.

No teensy loader. But on Linux, it's as easy as:

Code: Select all

avrdude -p atmega32u4 -P /dev/ttyACM0  -c avr109  -U flash:w:gh60_lufa.hex

Same for Mac OSX. I don't have a Mac, but it would probably be trivial to reproduce a cross-platform Teensy loader-like GUI app to flash to it if people are really afraid of using the command-line.

I'm just thinking out loud here, maybe I should do that.

does it have arduino bootloader?

I think so, but I really am clueless about bootloaders. You can program it using both the Arduino IDE and with AVRdude directly, so I assume it does. I just know that it seems to work.

You can also replace it with the LUFA bootloader.