I love articles like these, this stuff isn't that hard and its way more fun than other ways to spend time (my opinion of course). Making a PCB for a keyboard is really really straight forward too. I bet we could do that on Upverter.
I really like the idea that you could use something like an iPad. (or better two iPads) rest your hands on the screen in what are your natural "home row" position. Then touch type text that appears on a screen in front of you while the iPads are busily figuring out how far your fingers are moving and 'tuning' where the other keys should be done. Once you've done like 50 words error free it beeps and send that off. Shapeways makes the cover, Albert PCB makes a circuit board, and you order key switches and diodes from a distributor. Boom a custom keyboard designed by you for you.
The PCB is the easy bit. Making the firmware which delivers your keypresses down a PS2/USB pipe is not. You have to consider things like n-key rollover and ghosting/blocking particularly when using matrix encoding/scanning which are a bastard to code.
I've thought about doing something like that. Though I believe that what you want to be doing is using hand measurements and a slightly more standard design. I want to get a few of my own keyboard designs under my belt before I start making promises, though.
Keys - $0.80 x 78
Diodes - $2-$3
3D printed shells - $240 from Shapeways. Cheaper from a friend with a makerbot
Keycaps - Cheapest when harvested from a board found at goodwill. Otherwise, $35 or so from WASD
Teensy++ - $24
I'll leave the "priceless" joke to the peanut gallery.
ChuckMcM|13 years ago
I really like the idea that you could use something like an iPad. (or better two iPads) rest your hands on the screen in what are your natural "home row" position. Then touch type text that appears on a screen in front of you while the iPads are busily figuring out how far your fingers are moving and 'tuning' where the other keys should be done. Once you've done like 50 words error free it beeps and send that off. Shapeways makes the cover, Albert PCB makes a circuit board, and you order key switches and diodes from a distributor. Boom a custom keyboard designed by you for you.
meaty|13 years ago
obrajesse|13 years ago
WhaleCormbit|13 years ago
lytfyre|13 years ago
Could you ballpark what the cost to build one would be?(ignoring tools like the soldering iron?)
obrajesse|13 years ago
Keys - $0.80 x 78 Diodes - $2-$3 3D printed shells - $240 from Shapeways. Cheaper from a friend with a makerbot Keycaps - Cheapest when harvested from a board found at goodwill. Otherwise, $35 or so from WASD Teensy++ - $24
I'll leave the "priceless" joke to the peanut gallery.