Designing a custom keyboard
April 19, 2020 - Dieter Brehm
a concept render of the keyboard
This semester at Olin, I'm designing and producing a mechanical keyboard as an exercise in manufacturing, computer aided design, electrical design, and embedded firmware programming.
The first step was to sketch model a prototype macro pad.
mid soldering progress
done for now! the next step is the controller
Once we had it constructed, Sam Daitzman and I cadded up a case for it to fit in!
Using platform-io, we programmed the necessary matrix functionality, and added
keybindings so it could say some silly phrases whenever we pressed a key.
Our next step is to go full speed ahead on the full-size keyboard now that we better understand the inner workings of the typical hardware and firmware of a mechanical keyboard.
picture of the big case cad prototypes
In the past week or two I've now drafted a potential option for the keyboard case. Alternatively it could offer a mood or motivation for future iterations.
keyboard render without top case
keyboard render with top case