[CUSTOM] EVE-Project

[emenelopee]

I have documented the build in the Making Stuff Together! subforum, and now it's done I thought I'd cross-post into the Ergonomics sub as much of the drive in the design is for ergo/comfort reasons.

The design features and goals:

- Ortho/matrix/columnar arrangement of off-shelf ANSI keycaps - it's my first experience with this layout and I must say I find it much more comfortable than the staggered. Using off-shelf ANSI means spending much less effort in trying to find ortho sets. It makes for a funky ragged left and right sides but I kinda like the look! Though it's certainly not for everyone;
- Left hand numpad and arrows to free the space on the right to bring the mouse in closer to the middle - relieves shoulder ache from the traditional full-size where the mouse is positioned much too far to the right. It also keeps the mouse hand on the mouse and left hand for key functions as much as possible, reducing right arm travel;
- A nod to split - this is more an aesthetic device as the spacing between the two halves is minimal compared with a full split, but it's a nice place to put a pen, but the split space is a feature I fully endorse and miss it when I use a different keyboard;
- Key remaps - to keep hand movement minimal and to take out some of the more useless keys, I have:
     - NumLock = "=" (a godsend when using the numpad);
     - Caps = Return (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, are traditionally mirrored, and the benefits of mirrored Return is at least equally as useful);
     - SpaceCadet "(" and ")" on left and right shift tap;
     - PgUp/PgDn/Hm/End arranged in arrow formation (I never understood why Hm and End are usually arranged vertically);
     - Insert is now backspace (comes in handy when working with the arrows and numpad on the left);
     - Pause/Break is now Ctrl-Alt-Del and Ctrl-Shft-Esc;
     - Media controls on the right Alt-to-Ctrl row as I never actually use those;
- Stub cable connector - allows for a removable cable with multi-direction cable run without stressing the connection socket;
- Dedicated power/sleep button - there was space to add a button, and a useful button to have when not hidden under a function layer.



More images and the full build at the end of this imgur link:

https://imgur.com/a/PMHg3

I'm thinking around a reduced V2 as EVE-Project is quite a large beast but I can't get fully used to having half the keys under function layers - my work tends to need combined mouse/keyboard controls (CAD, Excel, FEA) with a lot of one-handed keyboard use (mouse hand stays on the mouse) so the intent would need to be specific to a two-hand keyboard solution.

There it is.

Happy to hear thoughts and ideas on how to improve, particularly as I think ahead for V2 in whatever form that takes. Thanks for reading.

EDIT: the build thread can be found here if anyone is interested: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=92648.0

[emenelopee]

[RESERVED]

[AMongoose]

Great build! :thumb:

If the numpad is on the left shouldn't it be mirrored?

[jdcarpe]

If the numpad is on the left shouldn't it be mirrored?

This isn't bizzaro world... 

[emenelopee]

Great build!

If the numpad is on the left shouldn't it be mirrored?

I considered this - to be honest I didn't focus too hard on the numpad in detail only in position, and precedents I saw (left hand keyboards, and separate numpad people had positioned on the left) didn't make any changes, so I left it as is. Looking back I could have made a more flexible PCB and case to accommodate putting "+" and "enter" on the far left as an option, but as it was my first build this was a little beyond how far I wanted to go on a V1. It's nice having the enter key for my left pinky close to the arrows, but remapping Caps as a Return key mostly mitigates that. The jury is out, tbh.

[ergonaut]

That's a really nice keyboard!!

Since you invited us to comment:

− have you considered moving the navigation cluster or/and the numpad between the two alphanumeric blocks? That way, you'd get more hand separation without enlarging the keyboard

− have you considered tenting? I don't know if you need it (apparently there are still people without RSI issues out there), but that's what I'd miss the most

− regarding the non-inverted numpad on the left: I think I'd actually prefer having the enter key below my thumb, so that's cool, but I'd also like being able to hit the zero with my thumb. So I'd probably use the decimal point key as zero and then either use the big zero key for the decimal point or instead use that big key elsewhere and put two 1U keys instead, one for the decimal point and one for whatever

[emenelopee]

Thanks! And great comments!

- I thought about this but as I tend to do a lot of one-handed keying for CAD commands I needed the alphas close by eachother eg. "C-O-return/space" is one of the more frequent commands with keys on either end of the alphas. If they were on opposite ends of the board I'd be taking my hand off the mouse for the "O" or waving my left hand a lot. Also I wanted the alphas centred - bringing the numpad and arrows to the middle would push the right edge of the board back into the mouse space;
- I was actually just considering tenting earlier this morning. It'd be a funky zig-zag shape like this _/\ which might actually be quite cool to do. See above for CAD commands though - I one-handed keyboard for at least 50% of my time;
- I'm with you on this - I still find myself hitting decimal instead of zero sometimes. The thumb enter works, the pinky/ring finger zero is awkward. Splitting the zero into two 1u would let me put the arrows on the numpad under a layer, remove the navigation cluster, and move the numpad closer to the centre. It's something I've considered for V2, but that gets me back into layering which is tricky in a one-handed setup. I was thinking of splitting the + to squeeze in a local FN toggle at the numpad to get to the navigation. It's promising but needs a little thinking through. V2 ahoy!

[MatchstickMan]

- I was actually just considering tenting earlier this morning. It'd be a funky zig-zag shape like this _/\ which might actually be quite cool to do. See above for CAD commands though - I one-handed keyboard for at least 50% of my time;

For what it's worth, my daily driver at home is a tented ergodox, but I will bring out my 60% board to do CADstuff (it's small enough that I don't have to move things, otherwise I'd go full) because it's such a PitA to do keystroke combos when my hand is constantly on the mouse. This is a pretty recent finding and has me rethinking some things about my Full Split project of my own (which I did end up mirroring the numpad, btw ).

MAYBE you could have a joint between the 3-4 sections that could allow for easy switching between tented and untented on V2.

Keep it up! This has been one of my favorite projects to follow!

[emenelopee]

One of the reason why my beast is so big is because it meets a lot of use-cases. Except portability! And yes the little _/\ diagram is indeed with little hinges. Maybe more like this: _./*\   Oh ASCII, sometimes you're enough for a quick sketch, but only just.

Any updates on your project? I'd be interested to hear how the flipped numpad works out for you. My thoughts on it came too late to work out anything novel, all power to your bold manoeuvre.

[MatchstickMan]

I got started on another project that could get me paid (with the option to get some help on the PCB to boot!), so things are on hold a bit. I need to retrace the first PCB I did and I'm almost done with the right hand PCB. Once I get done with the other project I am really excited to get back on my Full Split. I feel like the mirrored numpad will be easier to reconcile with my coordination, but we'll find out!

[jebbra]

Holy**** this is beautiful! Any plan further?

[proto]

Wow that's awesome!

[1Weeb]

This is nice, love seeing numpads on the left where they're supposed to be xD

[OfTheWild]

This is nice, love seeing numpads on the left where they're supposed to be xD

i actually started wondering if the 2U enter (for thumb) was an indicator that they were supposed to be on the left.

[dvorcol]

Just curious: why did you flip the bottom row mods upside down?

[emenelopee]

I remapped the bottom right to media controls and didn't have media print keys.

[Zustiur]

If you spend that much time with one hand on the mouse and needing to tap keys all over the place, you'll find as I did, that tenting is a hindrance. My work keyboard has to be flat. I only tent at home.

[RealLaugh]

sorry if i missed it but what controller/firmware are you using on your PCB?

this project is amazing btw 

[emenelopee]

Teensy++ and (iirc) QMK.

And many thanks, I've been using it for a solid year now, in fact typing on it right now!

[Sintpinty]

Reminds me of the Z-board, but looks way more comfortable to type on than that piece of ####.

[stuey138]

Really nice looking board, I'm a left handed mouse user so I always have enough space but it would be nice having a left sided numpad to more easily go from letter keys to numpad when using shortcuts for programs while still using my mouse.