Where can I buy those joystick encoders?

I hope this project is still alive, those detail-oriented visualizations are rare.

Around how expensive would the pcb be?
I wanted to design a case for a keyboard and since I wont be able to afford this case+pcb i might as-well try designing a case for this keyboard.

Thanks

As much as I am a huge open-source adept, I must say that I strongly suggest you talk to Nathan (the Evolv's designer) before designing a case around this PCB.

Evolv
Designed By Alpha Studio

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---

Welcome to the Evolv2, and evolution of a crazy idea.
Read the post below OP for information about the design philosophy behind the revision.

IC FORM: https://forms.gle/1xVWXXrjzgP9LGRDA

The Arrows

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Beginning with the layout, the Evolv opts for a 1.5u right shift over the 1.75u shift widespread in blocked 75 layouts.
By doing so, the arrows line up neatly with the right mods, allowing for a continuous .25u bezel.

The Rotary Joystick

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In the upper-right corner of the board, utility wins the battle over aesthetics.
No badges or logos; instead, the Evolv features a design evolution to the knob: the rotary joystick.
With users able to assign macros to five unique positions* and rotation, the Evolv packs functionality in a small space.

The Back

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A teaser to what's inside the board, the bottom piece of the keyboard is a stunning visual accent.
Created through a process known as generative design, the Evolv can support a truck without breaking, all while looking fantastic.

The Plate

Render pending, the Evolv redesign will still feature a generative plate, however, it will be available as an extra during GB

The Assembly

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To top off the design, the Evolv features no visible seams or screws once assembled.

The Specs

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Angle: 8° (Half a degree more compared to v1)
Material: 7075 Aluminum + Cast Aluminum
Colors: TBD (Black + Raw and Black + Gold confirmed)
Plate: Full isolation mounted carbon fibre plate, considering adding more options.
PCB: Custom designed PCB: solderable, QMK, VIA, integrated USB-C port.
Weight: ~1.5Kg
Price: TBD, not as high as the first iteration of the Evolv
PCB compatibility, fixed layouts TBD:

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Render Gallery

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Social

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Acknowledgements

LBaron, this board wouldn't exist without him. From the minor details to the design of the plate, he was always there to provide invaluable feedback
Abec13, for teaching me how to render
Yangsta, for teaching me about vibration
Fropsie, Stef, and my Discord Server, for all the love and support
The Top Clack Community. Love you guys <2

Update History

5/6/20 - Introduced a More Organic Base to v2 Based on Feedback
5/1/20 - Prototype Writeup and Board Redesign
4/9/20 - First Proto Pics Posted
3/24/20 - First Proto Completes Production
3/10/20 - Black + Gold Wins Color Poll and First Proto is Ordered
2/11/20 - Color Poll Went Live
2/6/20 - Generative Plate Writeup Added to IC
2/4/20 - IC Launch

Old Version 1 Renders

More

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Notes:

*: The five unique positions for the rotary joystick are (N, E, S, W, and pushed down)

i like it!

Quote from: Gondolindrim on Wed, 03 November 2021, 19:40:39

Quote from: Transistor on Wed, 03 November 2021, 19:20:02

Around how expensive would the pcb be?
I wanted to design a case for a keyboard and since I wont be able to afford this case+pcb i might as-well try designing a case for this keyboard.

Thanks

As much as I am a huge open-source adept, I must say that I strongly suggest you talk to Nathan (the Evolv's designer) before designing a case around this PCB.

Oh wow, thought that Nathan left the community after leaving the project in SK hands.

You are in for a treat! Nathan didn't leave the community nor did he leave Evolv in anyone's hands!

Complexity aside, I'd much rather the directional input be available on the encoder, something much more useful and unique than the usual bog standard EC11. If people don't want to use the inputs there's nothing stopping them sticking to rotation and click. I can see a lot of use from the extra input.

So much for Nathan coming back and this project not dying. Oh well. This keyboard was too good to be true I guess.

I still have total confidence in this project entering into a group buy do to the massive positive support and interest. COVID has delayed things but by keeb standards we sometimes wait 3 years for good news so this is nothing.

the number of times I check up on this post just to make sure I don't miss anything...really hope it does hit GB

Guys in 45 minutes I'll open stream designing the Evolv revision Beta PCB

http://twitch.tv/gondolindrim_

Quote from: Gondolindrim on Sun, 13 March 2022, 18:17:47

Guys in 45 minutes I'll open stream designing the Evolv revision Beta PCB

http://twitch.tv/gondolindrim_

How many more revisions are there going to be before this project actually hits GB? It seems like the manufacturing of the actual case has been more of a problem to figure out than the PCB...

No idea — Nathan is working on the logistics with vendors too. There's a lot to figure out in a GB that is not only related to design but also production and fulfillment, but I hear they are close.

Any word on this? Is this project dead? Love the design and if not I can't wait to see the finale.

i haven't heard anything about this basically since gondo's stream but i'm kind of out of the loop so who knows

GB numbers are in the ****ing toilet lately so they might be holding off

but given how much of a logistical nightmare the last GB was, it may just be taking some time

Quote from: Puddsy on Thu, 21 July 2022, 18:51:16

Quote from: PuNkShoO on Thu, 21 July 2022, 17:44:06

Any word on this? Is this project dead? Love the design and if not I can't wait to see the finale.

i haven't heard anything about this basically since gondo's stream but i'm kind of out of the loop so who knows

GB numbers are in the ****ing toilet lately so they might be holding off

but given how much of a logistical nightmare the last GB was, it may just be taking some time

Project not dead, PCB and case updates are finished, we are waiting on protos. Should hear from us soon

thanks king

Eying your work for many years now, glad the project is alive.

Ok guys, huge update incoming!

So we are on the final stages of designing the new version and we should have prototypes soon, but I just wasn't able to refrain myself from posting some of the awesome progress we have made so far on the PCB.

Aesthetics


Following the alien-looks-theme of Evolv, we have reworked the overall aesthetics of the PCB to something out of this world. Nathan has come up with a weird indeed image replicating the cozy moonlight of an alien world.

Under the hood

The Evolv75 revision Beta PCB will use an ARM STM32F401 MCU for its availability and price (silicon shortage means nothing in alien worlds). It will support a wide variety of layouts, including ISO (yikes). PCB will feature QMK/VIA support.

The Beta PCB will use  a USB daughterboard with JST connector this time around.


Functionality

The main characteristic of Evolv, at least functionality-wise, is the usage of a rotary joystick, that is, an "encoder that can also click on the four directions".

We gathered some feedback from the Evolv CE folks and on this IC page. Some people pointed out that the joystick was maybe too much for them and they wish they could just use a run-of-the-mill encoder with no directionals. Other people said that the joystick is a welcome novelty, and while I belong to this second roster, I still think people that just want a simpler thing also have a point.

So why choose?



The Release Beta PCB will support both encoder AND joystick, so both people are happy. Evolv will also have the "encoder modes" feature which allows for multiple functionality of the encoder with a simple holding of the encoder!

There is a downside to this, however: the joystick and the encoder do not support the same knobs, so both will need their own.

For the CE people

For the CE guys, we understand that the first support was lackluster and we are probably retrofitting the Alpha PCB with these all-new changes so our first backers are not left thinking they were simple beta-testers. Me and Nathan are working on supplying these PCBs soon.

Disclaimer

Of course guys this is just a "teaser update" and the renders here are just that, renders. There are still changes to be made, so the renders are not 100% reflective of the final product but pretty close as far as we can tell right now.

What about case protos, GB dates, pricing...?

Case prototypes will arrive soon and first testings are scheduled. For now we have no tentative GB dates or pricing, but we are steadily getting there. Hopefully we will have some more set-in-stone info soon!

omg too exciting

Ok guys, huge update incoming!

So we are on the final stages of designing the new version and we should have prototypes soon, but I just wasn't able to refrain myself from posting some of the awesome progress we have made so far on the PCB.

Aesthetics

Show Image

Following the alien-looks-theme of Evolv, we have reworked the overall aesthetics of the PCB to something out of this world. Nathan has come up with a weird indeed image replicating the cozy moonlight of an alien world.

Under the hood

The Evolv75 revision Beta PCB will use an ARM STM32F401 MCU for its availability and price (silicon shortage means nothing in alien worlds). It will support a wide variety of layouts, including ISO (yikes). PCB will feature QMK/VIA support.

The Beta PCB will use  a USB daughterboard with JST connector this time around.

Show Image

Functionality

The main characteristic of Evolv, at least functionality-wise, is the usage of a rotary joystick, that is, an "encoder that can also click on the four directions".

We gathered some feedback from the Evolv CE folks and on this IC page. Some people pointed out that the joystick was maybe too much for them and they wish they could just use a run-of-the-mill encoder with no directionals. Other people said that the joystick is a welcome novelty, and while I belong to this second roster, I still think people that just want a simpler thing also have a point.

So why choose?

Show Image

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The Release Beta PCB will support both encoder AND joystick, so both people are happy. Evolv will also have the "encoder modes" feature which allows for multiple functionality of the encoder with a simple holding of the encoder!

There is a downside to this, however: the joystick and the encoder do not support the same knobs, so both will need their own.

For the CE people

For the CE guys, we understand that the first support was lackluster and we are probably retrofitting the Alpha PCB with these all-new changes so our first backers are not left thinking they were simple beta-testers. Me and Nathan are working on supplying these PCBs soon.

Disclaimer

Of course guys this is just a "teaser update" and the renders here are just that, renders. There are still changes to be made, so the renders are not 100% reflective of the final product but pretty close as far as we can tell right now.

What about case protos, GB dates, pricing...?

Case prototypes will arrive soon and first testings are scheduled. For now we have no tentative GB dates or pricing, but we are steadily getting there. Hopefully we will have some more set-in-stone info soon!

any update's available haven't seen anything post in a few months?

Anything new about this one? Seems like a really cool concept, would hate to see so much time and innovation go down the drain!

Quote from: antiserious on Mon, 14 August 2023, 22:27:10

Anything new about this one? Seems like a really cool concept, would hate to see so much time and innovation go down the drain!

New prototypes were made, keyboard will run. Not sure what model (unlimited GB, instock, whatever) but it is going to happen. We are currently making a revision of PCB, should be in final steps.

Some proto pictures:

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God bless you, can't wait to hand over some of my money!! Proto pictures look amazing too!

https://archetypemade.com/evolv-interest-check/

IC is up!

Wow, I've been following this off and on since the IC went first went up. Haven't looked at GeekHack in probably half a year, and just popped in today on a whim. Imagine my surprise to see the IC form up. Glad to see this moving towards the finish line, and huge congratulations on the milestone. Hope to get my order in for a Relic or Remnant.

Is there a one color option? Would like one of these for the office and I need basic all black.

Maybe send archetype a message on their Discord or an email?

is the only vendor going to be archetype, i mean there other keyboard still hasn't delivered and the coming up on 8 months late now

So apparently pre-orders are live.

I received an email this morning.

https://archetypemade.com/evolv-is-here/

It feels weird that the OP has not updated this thread or created a GB thread.

After the announcement was made in Archetype's Discord server, the site received and insurgence of views and crashed. So Archetype decided to hold a little on marketing. Lots of interest for Evolv 

But yes, the preorders are live. You can check the configurations and options in the website already!

Well that was a quick approval. Thank you so much to the GH moderation team for getting it through quickly!

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=122525.0