deskthority

Nothing like a rough surface PBT!

Yeah, I wasn't trying to say the material of the keycaps has any effects on the programmability. Simply that
your configurator allows to choose colours for the body, which has naught to do with the programmability either.I really like the thinking behind this keyboard and hope it gets completed. But PBT caps seem to have a rep for being more hardwearing and just more purty!

Ah, got it. Have to do another search and will keep this in mind.

2nd CNC case:

sweeeeeeet

Want!

Oooh, shiny! And expensive?

I hope not :/

Well it looks a bit more complex than your average poker case. So it'll probably won't be cheaper...

Destroyer of dreams...

^^^ Thanks for the comments!

Can't say anything on pricing yet.

Still working our way through the revisions. Revision 'C' of the controller pcb came on Monday. So, two days ago parts were soldered and it wouldn't work.

Then yesterday, after a small correction, for the first time EVERYTHING WORKED. A good day.

7 months so far.

Had some problems with the case too which means I can't brush and clear coat it. So this one will be white which was on my list anyway. Will take me a few days to get paint etc.

Also, I soldered my first SMD controller board yesterday. Much easier than I thought. Smaller parts were 0805. We switched to 0603 in the meantime but I see no problem there too.

lowpoly wrote: ^^^ Thanks for the comments!

Can't say anything on pricing yet.

Still working our way through the revisions. Revision 'C' of the controller pcb came on Monday. So, two days ago parts were soldered and it wouldn't work.

Then yesterday, after a small correction, for the first time EVERYTHING WORKED. A good day.

7 months so far.

Had some problems with the case too which means I can't brush and clear coat it. So this one will be white which was on my list anyway. Will take me a few days to get paint etc.

Also, I soldered my first SMD controller board yesterday. Much easier than I thought. Smaller parts were 0805. We switched to 0603 in the meantime but I see no problem there too.

Just out of curiosity: when you put the project on hiatus around 2012 or so, what was the progress back then? I remember seeing some prototypes back then already? Did the scope of the project change/did you do a redesign? Or are the parts you were looking at back then no longer available?

I put it on hiatus in 2010. At that time I only had the mod I built in 2008. Then in 2011 I revived it but nothing came out of that - again. So, the 'board I'm talking about in the last post is the first real thing since 2008.

There were always rumours I had more "prototypes" and I got several mails from people wanting to buy them. But those rumours never were true and I have no idea where they came from.

A question: I am a big user of the alt keys with my thumbs, both for characters in other languages, and because my text editor of choice (emacs) heavily relies on them (emacs pretty much demands that the keys closest to the spacebar be ctrl
and alt). Would I be able to set your swirl keys further away from the spacebar and
swap them with alts? I guess what I'm asking is whether the swirls are also configurable. I could live with having to access
the swirls with my pinkies, for example.

All is configurable, even the mouse switches.

(drools)....must...have....keyboard!! Finish....the keyboard already!

I know there will be no release date / window, but...
Is there a to-do list for the actual release?
So it is better for us to check on the progress?

While my whole life is a todo list (formerly in ListPro, now MyLifeOrganized), I'm not very good at keeping one for this project. Well I was until a few months ago but then had to make some money here which took me off the project.

One of the two developers working on it left at end of November which is not good. He left me a long todo list, mostly programming stuff. I should be able to do that, at least in parts. So just out of my head:

Rev C:

- finish painting the case (I built a makeshift painting cabin. Painting the case with 2K epoxy primer, base coat and 2K clear coat. In 2008 I used rattle cans - never again). Hope to finish that today. All white!
- mill the mouse buttons
- solder matrix board Rev B (came yesterday)
- assemble everything
- test
- make some feet as my chinese inquiry for gray self-adhesive silicone will take some time ...
- fix the code for Rev C controller and Rev B matrix board (should be easy)

So I hope this will be done in a few days. The electronics work so far. Rev D is mostly detail and emc related changes.

Rev D, already started:

- have Rev D controller pcb manufactured
- update BOM, update parts inventory, order parts
- solder controller pcb
- do matrix pcb Rev D design changes (jumping a Rev here)
- have Rev D matrix pcb manufactured
- adapt software to FFC cable pin changes
- finalize case design
- machine new case
- brush and powder coat it
- hopefully put waterjetted feet on it
- hopefully no more hardware issues
- continue with the node webkit host software
- write the code that will replace the matrix
- finish the firmware
- lots of testing

Much missing in this list.

I am really impressed by all the work you are doing and I realize how lazy I am

^^^ Well, I do that during work time. Otherwise I'm lazy too. OK, last days went well into the nights.

I f*cked up the paint job (as always). Too much clear coat and it ran to the case edges. Too much paint, but before that the "sprinkles" wouldn't "merge", hmm... Not enough air pressure or something. Have to figure that out and do the paint job again.

Almost everything put together for the first time. Electronics worked (partly) out of the case but right here and now - not. Still some space issues for the FFC cables to figure out.

The mouse buttons lean out a little, so when pressed, the thumb doesn't touch the corner of the space bar cutout. Not too happy with how it looks right now, I'll try "thicker" next time. Clearcoat missing on those too. But the click feeling with tight fitting buttons is really good - unlike the 2008 prototype which was always lacking this.

Putting the problems aside - I'm really happy with how it looks and feels.

(Front pic slightly retouched because the bad paint was too distracting.)



Case radii will be sharper in the next version:



Feet should be gray with the white case but I don't have the material yet. Most of the holes will be gone in the next version. This was designed for tapping which is much easier with through-holes but now the plan is to use self-cutting screws.

Nice...really, really nice.

that thing is amazing i want it

Looking really good. When you mention radii, do you mean the sharpness of the corners,
or the thickness of the case itself?

Sharpness of the corners. A little too soft now (esp. the one that is 1cm from the top, around the case).

Very impressive work lowpoly, keep it up!

I'll be honest, I don't really care how much this costs when done, I've been waiting for it for so long I'm buying one on general principle.

uh this seems really cool, does anyone cares to tell what will be the target price or possible eta? thanks!

No final feature list yet and therefore no prices.

Possible eta: well, this has always been a problem with this project. I lost one of my developers late last year which slowed down development significantly.

...awww...
...and here I was thinking 2015 would finally be the year the miniguru would
finally ship! To hope, perhaps to dream, eh?

lowpoly wrote: I lost one of my developers late last year which slowed down development significantly.

7bit headhunted them? That would explain the sudden appearance of the HyperMicro…