Author Topic: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)  (Read 8943 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« on: Thu, 05 April 2018, 14:22:12 »

Futaba Yoda
[/pre]

I always wanted to have Tex yoda for a long time, but I was not able to buy it because it was expensive.
It costs almost over $ 300 !!


and
One day I accidentally got the Futaba switch at the old electronics store in Seoul.
The switch was expensive. $ 0.6 each.

But. I was able to plug it into a prototype pbc board with a flat bottom surface.
The custom pcb for cherry switch was expensive and there was no desired arrangement.

So I decided to create a mini keyboard with track points like tex yoda with futaba switch.

It is a preparation.
1. futaba switches ( about 80 pieces)



2. Lenovo Thinkpad Compact USB Keyboard with Trackpoint (used)


3.  pcb x2 (1.27mm pitch)
It is plated with gold~


Note!: It must be a pcb with 1.27 mm pitch.
This allows you to precisely match key spacing. It is usually 2.54mm.
so,1.27mm pcb is 2 ~ 3 times more expensive.


4. Board to fix pcb

it's cheap.just 3$.

That's it!
Start production.

Step1:
Extract the keyboard controller from the Lenovo keyboard.

When you disassemble the Lenovo keyboard, you will get two key parts: One is the track point sensor, the other is the keyboard controller.



Step2:
Soldering switch to pcb substrate

Because it is a prototype board, you can place the switch in any arrangement you want.
it's 1.27mm pitch, so possible to mount the switch exactly like a ready-made product.

The stabilizer of the space bar is fixed with epoxy. The stabilizer was obtained from a different keyboard.

Because it is two pcb plates, it fixes with wood.

Then, drill holes to connect track point sensors. With that hole, the track point is connected to the controller through that hole.


Step3:
Controller soldering


Lenovo's keyboard controller is very fragile and has a very small soldering area.
Therefore, solder to a separate small pcb for easy modification.



Step4:
Controller and switch soldering


Yes it is a really hard part.
You put a piece of wood in several places on the pcb board.

below is keymap

You can check the keymap layout by looking at the keyboard film.




Step5:
Mouse Switch


The trackpoint sensor can be screwed onto the pcb board and soldered.

Insert the wiring film into the hole.

The three mouse switches are soldered to a separate small pcb.


Step6:
Making Track Point Stick

The stick is fixed with a cylinder and a square column and finished with epoxy.

They are structurally durable and chemically robust with epoxy.




Step7:
Screw on board


Screw the completed board onto the wooden board. It is safe to drill a hole with a drill and then screw it in.



Step8:
Wrap-up










DONE!!



How cute is it.
« Last Edit: Tue, 30 October 2018, 03:12:58 by imwill »

Offline Blaise170

  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1332
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • ALPS キーボード
    • XYZ
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 06 April 2018, 10:15:58 »
Perhaps one of the coolest builds I've ever seen. I didn't even realize that you could find loose Futabas like that.
I proxy anything including keyboards (キーボード / 鍵盤), from both Japan (日本) and China (中國). For more information, you may visit my dedicated webpage here: https://www.keyboards.es/proxying.html

View my current and past keyboards here: https://deskthority.net/wiki/User:Blaise170

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #2 on: Fri, 06 April 2018, 14:45:55 »
Thanks.
But the keycap is not right. . On the right side, the pageUp and pagedown keycaps do not match the profile. (The switch is soldered correctly, but the height of the keycap does not match.) I will replace it with a dsa keycap.

Offline Blaise170

  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1332
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • ALPS キーボード
    • XYZ
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 06 April 2018, 14:54:46 »
Fortunately the keycaps are not that hard to replace. It would be much more difficult if you had issues with the switches themselves.
I proxy anything including keyboards (キーボード / 鍵盤), from both Japan (日本) and China (中國). For more information, you may visit my dedicated webpage here: https://www.keyboards.es/proxying.html

View my current and past keyboards here: https://deskthority.net/wiki/User:Blaise170

Offline r00t4bl3

  • Posts: 1
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 18 April 2018, 19:22:52 »
This is wonderful. Where did you get the Thinkpad keyboard?

Offline dwarflemur

  • Posts: 166
  • Location: cali
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 20 April 2018, 16:31:25 »
This is wonderful. Where did you get the Thinkpad keyboard?
They can be found pretty easily on ebay.
Camp C225 | Norbatouch | ALF X2 + X3 | Orange TKL | CA66 | Leaf 60 | a bunch of others

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 30 April 2018, 13:42:30 »
This is wonderful. Where did you get the Thinkpad keyboard?

yes you can buy it easily on eBay.
but i used the controller from I used keyboard.


Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 30 April 2018, 13:46:16 »
I made it form wood to acrylic.







led used the keyboard power.

Offline Blaise170

  • * Esteemed Elder
  • Posts: 1332
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • ALPS キーボード
    • XYZ
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 30 April 2018, 14:02:51 »
Looks excellent now! Would totally use it myself.
I proxy anything including keyboards (キーボード / 鍵盤), from both Japan (日本) and China (中國). For more information, you may visit my dedicated webpage here: https://www.keyboards.es/proxying.html

View my current and past keyboards here: https://deskthority.net/wiki/User:Blaise170

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 20 May 2018, 13:43:11 »
A little more traditional style


Offline TalkingTree

  • Posts: 2452
  • Location: Italy (142)
    • My projects
Re: Let's make FUTABA switch DIY keyboard.
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 20 May 2018, 14:08:16 »
Masterpiece.
My opensource projects: GH80-3000, TOAD, XMMX. Classified: stuff

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 30 October 2018, 04:04:18 »
1. Replacing Cable Connectors

I really like the aux connector.
Even though the cable is heavy(coiled, metal socket) or pulled,
the connection will be always tight. And there's no problem with 360 degree rotation.




The coil cable used the cable of the scanner.
It's easy to buy. just search for "scanner coiled cable".

One side is usb and the other side is seems like RJ45 socket.
Change one side to Aux socket.



this is s-video socket.
It is socket to make AUX more beautifully.



ah yeah!
There you can see the beautiful four strands of rainbow wire.
That means it's a USB-capable cable.



This is assembly. The aux socket must be 4-pole.



Done...wait..also need to create a keyboard-side socket.
The aux female socket must also support four poles.


It works perfectly !   ;)

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #12 on: Tue, 30 October 2018, 06:57:40 »
2. Adding a multi function Knob

I love the volume control knob on the keyboard.

Das x50q keyboard

so, I decided to add it to my keyboard.

I found a simple reference.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Digispark-Volume-Control/
It's really easy to follow.
I have not used Arduino for the first time, but I have even added features.

The link below is a sketch that uses a variety of knob button pushes.
https://pastebin.com/zbNt7xr1



This is two key parts.

 - Digispark's Attiny85 (it's quit expensive, I use chinese clone, It's just 3$  :rolleyes:)
 - Rotary Encorder ( 1$ )


Uploading the features you need for Attiny85 is simple.
1. Install Arduino IDE
   https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/OldSoftwareReleases
    I installed 1.6.9. (The latest version had a bug that prevented reading the attiny85 board.)


2. Install Digispark attiny85 driver and setting.
download driver
https://github.com/digistump/DigistumpArduino/releases/download/1.6.7/Digistump.Drivers.zip
and follow this
https://digistump.com/wiki/digispark/tutorials/connecting


3. Install Trinket USB library
https://learn.adafruit.com/trinket-usb-volume-knob/code

4. Uploading sketch
Copy and paste the sketch code from the above page into the new sketch and click Upload.
Then plug attiny85 into your computer. it will be installed.

5. Wire and connect
https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/011/512/medium640/trinket_volume_knob_with_button_wiring.png?1381456294

Connect attiny85 and knob as shown above. Finally, it connects to the keyboard and USB hub. So that all the keyboard attiny85 with a single cable connection works.





it's electric guitar knob. made in japan!
quite expensive. But look at that beautiful metal black color.


I finished. The following functions are available.



1. Turn left and right
   - Volume mode
   - scroll mode:
       The page up key and the page down key have been mapped each time they are turned to the left or right. Simple but very useful. This is very handy when viewing web pages, reading pdf, or navigating through code. and using with ctrl key to move tabs.

2. Turn left and right while pressed
    Switch the program. It behaves exactly like win + tab.
    It works the same in both windows and macOS.
    If there are two or three open windows or programs, it is almost useless.
    but more than that, it helps to switch programs easily.

3. Click
  Mute.

4.  Double Click
   Change modes  between volume/scroll mode.

5. Click and Hold
   OS Sleep mode.



However, there were two modes, and I thought it needed an indicator.
So I put a very small smd led on the rotary knob to show the mode as an indicator.
Red is the volume control mode, and green is the scroll mode.



It is not power mate level, but it is useful.


Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #13 on: Tue, 30 October 2018, 07:11:13 »
Now, It's Version 3.0








« Last Edit: Tue, 30 October 2018, 07:15:23 by imwill »

Offline dubious

  • 쏘쿨
  • Posts: 573
  • Location: shralpin the gnar
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 31 October 2018, 18:27:02 »
I saw this on kbdlab.. So cool!!  ;D what did you use to fill the hole in the spacebar, and where are the leds?

Offline imwill

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 34
  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 01 November 2018, 00:02:59 »
I saw this on kbdlab.. So cool!!  ;D what did you use to fill the hole in the spacebar, and where are the leds?


I have made small led boards with smd led and smd resistor.

Offline dubious

  • 쏘쿨
  • Posts: 573
  • Location: shralpin the gnar
Re: FUTABA switch DIY keyboard (+ Aux cable, Knob etc.)
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 02 November 2018, 16:19:03 »
I saw this on kbdlab.. So cool!!  ;D what did you use to fill the hole in the spacebar, and where are the leds?

Show Image

I have made small led boards with smd led and smd resistor.

You put a lot of work into this, great job!  :thumb: