Input Club Silo
Silo is a yet unreleased switch family being in development by Input Club and Kaihua.
Contents
Description
The switch uses hall effect sensing, with the goal to have "analogue" adjustable activation point (but not adjustable tactile point). Because it has no electric connection, it would be hot-swap capable through a plate.
It has Cherry MX mount for compatibility with existing key sets,but the planned shape of slider and housing does not offer support for silencing with O-rings or clips.
The switch has a LED opening (probably for SMD LEDs) in the bottom and a clear top for backlight of OEM-profile keycaps when switches are mounted LED side north. An additional opening on the opposite side is planned for light when switches are mounted the right way around under thick Cherry-profile keycaps.
The first switches are intended to be launched first in the Keystone "Analog Mechanical Keyboard" family. Individual switches and schematics for a reference design are planned for release around when the keyboard launches, so that people could design custom keyboards. The reference design will be based around a Microchip ATSAM4S (ARM Cortex-M4) microcontroller — 8-bit AVR is believed to not be powerful enough.
Variants
Silo Clicky
A simpler clicky switch, based on the click bar mechanism in Kailh BOX White, apparently as a stop-gap measure after the original Silo Beam design had issues with metal fatigue.
Silo Command
Will use a "metal leaf similar to Alps".
Silo Control
Linear.
Silo Beam (Cancelled)
Was supposed to be a parabolic and clicky switched, patterned after the IBM Beam spring. After many hurdles and delays, it was ultimately cancelled.
Availability
The Keystone keyboard, and sets of Silo Beam switches are available for crowdfunding on Kickstarter until Thu, August 15 2019.
External links
- Kono store blogs—The Silo Beam Switch, by Jacob Alexander. 2019-04-18.
- Kickstarter—Keystone Development Update #1
Forum threads:
