[GB] ErgoDox Wireless (with Solar Charging and Aluminum CNC Case Options)

[xudongz]

I'm excited to announce that the ErgoDox Wireless group buy sale has started! We've taken the ErgoDox and redesigned it to be completely wireless. No wire between the two halves, no wire to your computer, and you can easily switch between multiple devices wirelessly.

• The group buy will run until March 7, 2021.
• Group buy orders with the laser cut case is estimated to ship in May and June. Orders with the aluminum CNC case is estimated to ship in June and July.
• The kit starts at $222, which gets you PCBs ($120), layered laser cut case without solar ($90), and batteries ($12).

Main Product Page



Key Features

• Bluetooth Low Energy wireless
• Nordic nRF52840 SoC with 1MB flash and 256KB memory
• USB C
• LiPoly battery charger
• Preinstalled Kailh hot swap sockets (optional addon)
• Solar charging (optional addon)
• Extended battery life (around a year per charge with a dongle, even longer with solar charging)
• ZMK firmware support

Product Links

• Layered Laser Cut Case
• Aluminum CNC Case
• Travel Carrying Case
• Tenting Kit

This is a project that started in 2019 and was followed up with a redesign in 2020 that included major enhancements. The group buy version is a further improvement on the 2020 redesign as the assembly process has been greatly simplified. See the assembly page for more information. An assembly service is also offered for those that don't want to do any soldering/assembly on their own.

If you have any questions or concerns about the project or group buy, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can reach me here on Geekhack, Discord, or via the store's contact form.

Additional Photos

[HoffmanMyster]

Approved

[roostrc0gburn]

any plans for a tented base?

[xudongz]

any plans for a tented base?

Yes, definitely planned. There's a placeholder product page at https://www.slicemk.com/products/ergodox-wireless-tenting-kit. Most people use tenting to reduce wrist pronation and the plate helps do that. A couple of screws (with nuts underneath) are used to adjust the height. It'll be M5 or 10-32 screws so it should be fairly stable. The head can have a rubber feet to prevent scratching the table. The other holes are for the keyboard screws and keyboard rubber feet to sit in so the keyboard doesn't slide sideways.

I opted for this design because you can remove the keyboard or disassemble the entire tenting kit very quickly. It's also cheap/replaceable components and easy to extend if you want to do something crazier (like tenting the keyboard vertically).

I just ordered the actual prototype a couple of days ago. Once I have it (in a week or so) I'll definitely share photos here. Below you can see a quick cardboard prototype that I put together to demonstrate how it would work.

[ycanales]

I really hope you make non-ortho split. I'm dying to buy this but I have a couple of split ortho collecting dust.

[roostrc0gburn]

any plans for a tented base?

Yes, definitely planned. There's a placeholder product page at https://www.slicemk.com/products/ergodox-wireless-tenting-kit. Most people use tenting to reduce wrist pronation and the plate helps do that. A couple of screws (with nuts underneath) are used to adjust the height. It'll be M5 or 10-32 screws so it should be fairly stable. The head can have a rubber feet to prevent scratching the table. The other holes are for the keyboard screws and keyboard rubber feet to sit in so the keyboard doesn't slide sideways.

I opted for this design because you can remove the keyboard or disassemble the entire tenting kit very quickly. It's also cheap/replaceable components and easy to extend if you want to do something crazier (like tenting the keyboard vertically).

I just ordered the actual prototype a couple of days ago. Once I have it (in a week or so) I'll definitely share photos here. Below you can see a quick cardboard prototype that I put together to demonstrate how it would work.

Show Image

oh, yeah the screw tent method. that is more economical. i meant something more along the lines of a tented base plate, or best-case an extended base plate that is also a wrist-rest.

would you consider releasing the base plate file after the group buy? if you are not considering a tented base plate or integrated wrist rest, i would probably like to design and make my own

[xudongz]

oh, yeah the screw tent method. that is more economical. i meant something more along the lines of a tented base plate, or best-case an extended base plate that is also a wrist-rest.

would you consider releasing the base plate file after the group buy? if you are not considering a tented base plate or integrated wrist rest, i would probably like to design and make my own

Are you thinking about something similar to the ErgoDox "full hand" case?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "base plate". When I say "base plate", I'm referring to the cardboard layer in https://i.imgur.com/yOXP05b.jpg prototype, which goes under the main keyboard. Do you have a photo of something similar to what you are describing?

Most likely I will release the STL file for the tenting "base plate" (the aforementioned cardboard layer) so people can 3D print a low cost version on their own while I will sell a higher quality aluminum version in my store.

[roostrc0gburn]

oh, yeah the screw tent method. that is more economical. i meant something more along the lines of a tented base plate, or best-case an extended base plate that is also a wrist-rest.

would you consider releasing the base plate file after the group buy? if you are not considering a tented base plate or integrated wrist rest, i would probably like to design and make my own

Are you thinking about something similar to the ErgoDox "full hand" case?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "base plate". When I say "base plate", I'm referring to the cardboard layer in https://i.imgur.com/yOXP05b.jpg prototype, which goes under the main keyboard. Do you have a photo of something similar to what you are describing?

Most likely I will release the STL file for the tenting "base plate" (the aforementioned cardboard layer) so people can 3D print a low cost version on their own while I will sell a higher quality aluminum version in my store.

yeah, my idea is kinda like the full-hand original design, but tented. the STL is probably a great starting point.

tried searching for a tented base plate for previous ergodox designs, but havent been able to find what i have in my mind. weird, i thought it already exists but there are tons of examples out there:
https://www.stlfinder.com/3dmodels/ergodox-tent/

here's an example from thingverse that has a tented base for the ergodox with matching tented base for a wrist rest:

[xudongz]

Yeah, this kind of design isn't too hard to do, working from the base template file (see attachment, it's the keyboard with the bottom extended 4 inches).

I personally prefer a plate and screws over 3D printing since it's adjustable. One might also need to "empty out" the center of the 3D printed version, otherwise it would be quite expensive to print.

[xudongz]

Group buy has been slightly extended to March 7th.

Some tenting prototype photos:









The bottom has holes for the screws and rubber feet to sit in. This ensures that when the keyboard is tented at an angle, the keyboard will not slip off the base. One can also use a washer in conjunction with some of the screws to lock the keyboard to the base.