[IC] PENDULA, 60/65% bluetooth keyboard with a wooden case

[pomk]

Pendula is a bluetooth keyboard built around nRf51 chip from nordic semiconductor.



Battery life is around one year depending on use. The prototype in pictures uses 2xAAA, but the GB model will use 3xAAA.
   One year is with eight hours of typing per day at six letters per second without having the capslock led lit.

Case material is laser cut Finnish birch plywood, which is glued together and hand finished on the visible sides. The bottom cover is affixed with screws that screw into brass inserts embedded in the case structure.

The black one represents what the keyboard will look like as far as size and shape are concerned, but I'm hesitant about having that colour as an option as it is a lot harder to achieve a consistent looking surface with it. The light one is a previous prototype I built. Both cases feature a hard wax oil finish, the black one just has two layers of colored wax applied prior to the clear finish.




Feature list:
- 1 year battery life
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Comes with a birch case (integrated 5 mm plate) and a custom PCB
- Can mate with up to 8 devices, and you can switch between them with less than 1 second delay using a key combo
- Wireless firmware/matrix lookup table updates
- One fn layer
- Supports all whitefox layout options
- The PCB can be cut down to allow for most 60% layout options
- Each plate is cut to a specific layout, no gaps anywhere to ruin the look
- Blockers can be had in any location (for example HHKB/WKL/Whitefox)
- Costar style stabilizers ( because the PCB is just 1,2 mm thick, also for their superior feel )

Future plans:
- TMK like layer handling and matrix lookup tables
- Modify the capslock led to be dual colour for better indication on connection status etc.

Group buy price will be 350 EUR plus postage.
I will make 10 units as part of the GB.

In order to discourage flippers, I will continue to make these on demand after the GB at a slight markup (undecided, likely around 500 EUR).

Any comments? Am I missing something regarding the description? Is there a demand for wireless stuff? Raffle/FCFS?

edit: layout options:

The blue keys can be removed completely to go from 65 to 60.

[wodan]

Dat battery life!

I'm no wireless and no wood guy so pretty safe here but I love the craftmanship!

[pomk]

Dat battery life!

I'm no wireless and no wood guy so pretty safe here but I love the craftmanship!

Thanks! 

[Damonskv]

Surprisingly unusual offer. Long-lived wireless connection. The pcb which can be cut and has a thickness of 1.2 mm. Costar stabilizers. Wooden case. A very limited but at the same time not a single performance hmmm interesting....

[pomk]

Surprisingly unusual offer. Long-lived wireless connection. The pcb which can be cut and has a thickness of 1.2 mm. Costar stabilizers. Wooden case. A very limited but at the same time not a single performance hmmm interesting....

What do you mean by 'not a single performance' ? English is not my primary language, so I get confused sometimes, sorry. 

[kawasaki161]

Surprisingly unusual offer. Long-lived wireless connection. The pcb which can be cut and has a thickness of 1.2 mm. Costar stabilizers. Wooden case. A very limited but at the same time not a single performance hmmm interesting....

What do you mean by 'not a single performance' ? English is not my primary language, so I get confused sometimes, sorry. 

I think that was more a problem of him choosing the wrong words than you not understanding him... either that or my English is also crap, lul.
I'm pretty sure he wanted to say that you came out of the blue and didn't do anything like this on before here on GH, so it is a big unknown on how everything will turn out at the end compared to the experienced makers that already made a name for themselves.

[Damonskv]

Surprisingly unusual offer. Long-lived wireless connection. The pcb which can be cut and has a thickness of 1.2 mm. Costar stabilizers. Wooden case. A very limited but at the same time not a single performance hmmm interesting....

What do you mean by 'not a single performance' ? English is not my primary language, so I get confused sometimes, sorry. 

I think that was more a problem of him choosing the wrong words than you not understanding him... either that or my English is also crap, lul.
I'm pretty sure he wanted to say that you came out of the blue and didn't do anything like this on before here on GH, so it is a big unknown on how everything will turn out at the end compared to the experienced makers that already made a name for themselves.

No, just wanted to say that this is a production-ready project and not the keyboard manufactured in the singular.

[pomk]

Surprisingly unusual offer. Long-lived wireless connection. The pcb which can be cut and has a thickness of 1.2 mm. Costar stabilizers. Wooden case. A very limited but at the same time not a single performance hmmm interesting....

What do you mean by 'not a single performance' ? English is not my primary language, so I get confused sometimes, sorry. 

I think that was more a problem of him choosing the wrong words than you not understanding him... either that or my English is also crap, lul.
I'm pretty sure he wanted to say that you came out of the blue and didn't do anything like this on before here on GH, so it is a big unknown on how everything will turn out at the end compared to the experienced makers that already made a name for themselves.

That makes sense. Though there have been many newcomers this year, xondat, bazh and 27 at least. Me being pretty new here was also a factor in the size of the upcoming GB, as I would not want to trust something like 100x300 USD to someone with no track record (in this case me). If that makes sense.

No, just wanted to say that this is a production-ready project and not the keyboard manufactured in the singular.

Still confused, sorry. Is that a compliment, or a notion that I might be in the wrong place? 

Anyway; I'd appreciate any comments and or suggestions on how I should move this forward or if I should add something of substance to the product.

[Trente]

OMG this looks so awesome!!! If there is a group buy I will definitely sell my anne pro to get this!

[RevoTeam]

Great work, i like the layout and 1.2mm PCB.  Hope you have a good run:D

[Dominathan]

This looks amazing, but why not have an internal li-ion battery? Also, would you consider any other wood? Something harder, perhaps?

[pomk]

OMG this looks so awesome!!! If there is a group buy I will definitely sell my anne pro to get this!

Great work, i like the layout and 1.2mm PCB.  Hope you have a good run:D

Thanks! This means a lot to me.

This looks amazing, but why not have an internal li-ion battery? Also, would you consider any other wood? Something harder, perhaps?

The battery cavity is of limited size in the top bezel. While I could find li-po packs that would fit that space, they had a very small capacity of around 200mAh (amounts to about one month of use). The components for charging the pack also cost a bit. In the end one can buy AAA batteries for the next 10 years for the price of the battery pack plus charging circuit. The biggest reason however is that the USB socket would ruin the look of the case.  )

As for the material, sure I can look into it, but I think that 1 mm sheets of walnut etc. are going to be prohibitively expensive and hard to source. The laser cut service I use stocks some thicknesses of walnut, but I'll have to check if 1 mm is in their menu. While birch is not the hardest of hardwoods, the plywood structure makes it pretty strong (3 ply per mm).

[pomk]

Added a picture describing the layout options. If you have any suggestions, I may make some changes still to the PCB design. Split space is not an option, as the controller is located in that area.

[luckyryan333]

The more 65%, the happier we are.
Good luck with your nice work.

[pomk]

Updated the PCB design a bit. Do you want to see additional layout options to the ones already posted? Split spacebar has no room, but true HHKB (1,1.5,6,1.5,1) could work if someone has the switch positions I should use for the spacebar. I believe there are center stem and off center 6U spaces in circulation, which is more common?


Picture of the prototype PCB: 

[[Lewynlight]]

goddamn that back casee

[FrostyToast]

When you say that you "will make 10 units as part of the GB" do you mean that only 10 units will be available in the GB?

[pomk]

goddamn that back casee

Thanks, I agree! 
I'll try to find better 'lint free' towels for applying the wax, so that I can offer coloured options with confidence. 

When you say that you "will make 10 units as part of the GB" do you mean that only 10 units will be available in the GB?

Yes. The cases are pretty labour intensive to make and I have a day job, so I think that 10 is a safe number that I can finish in a timely fashion.

[suicidal_orange]

Looks great!  I have no need for a wireless board but I do have a question - is there an on/off switch? Surely it can't last all year without one

There are a couple more key positions you could have as options - 1u-1.75u right shift (my preference on a 60% for one handed FN arrows) and a 1.25u enter (bottom half of ISO/right of ANSI)  If you're going for high end fully custom more options are better, even if they are rarely used

[pomk]

Looks great!  I have no need for a wireless board but I do have a question - is there an on/off switch? Surely it can't last all year without one

There are a couple more key positions you could have as options - 1u-1.75u right shift (my preference on a 60% for one handed FN arrows) and a 1.25u enter (bottom half of ISO/right of ANSI)  If you're going for high end fully custom more options are better, even if they are rarely used

Surely 60+ keys is enough, no need for single purpose keys.  The bluetooth connection is disabled/enabled with a key-combo of your choice. The one year figure is with the board connected for the entire duration.

The requested layout options I can add without any problems.

[suicidal_orange]

Looks great!  I have no need for a wireless board but I do have a question - is there an on/off switch? Surely it can't last all year without one

There are a couple more key positions you could have as options - 1u-1.75u right shift (my preference on a 60% for one handed FN arrows) and a 1.25u enter (bottom half of ISO/right of ANSI)  If you're going for high end fully custom more options are better, even if they are rarely used

Surely 60+ keys is enough, no need for single purpose keys.  The bluetooth connection is disabled/enabled with a key-combo of your choice. The one year figure is with the board connected for the entire duration.

The requested layout options I can add without any problems.

Impressive!  Does it use more or less battery if all the devices are off/not in range?  With no hardware power switch (on the back to preserve the looks ) it could drain quicker by constantly cycling trying to connect.  Yes, people will forget to disconnect, but then again the same people would forget to power it off so that wouldn't help!

[jchan94]

This looks really good, however, I'm very skeptical about the battery life on this. Idle power management is the biggest saver in modern devices, so I hope that it holds to be true.

In any case, I would be inclined if it offered a battery even up to 2 weeks (with idle power management @ approximately 12 hours of use per day), which outshines the BT HHKB iirc.

In any case, I hope to see this project come to life!

[pomk]

Looks great!  I have no need for a wireless board but I do have a question - is there an on/off switch? Surely it can't last all year without one

There are a couple more key positions you could have as options - 1u-1.75u right shift (my preference on a 60% for one handed FN arrows) and a 1.25u enter (bottom half of ISO/right of ANSI)  If you're going for high end fully custom more options are better, even if they are rarely used

Surely 60+ keys is enough, no need for single purpose keys.  The bluetooth connection is disabled/enabled with a key-combo of your choice. The one year figure is with the board connected for the entire duration.

The requested layout options I can add without any problems.

Impressive!  Does it use more or less battery if all the devices are off/not in range?  With no hardware power switch (on the back to preserve the looks ) it could drain quicker by constantly cycling trying to connect.  Yes, people will forget to disconnect, but then again the same people would forget to power it off so that wouldn't help!

It is connected to just one device at a time, but can remember previously paired devices. After it loses connection it goes into a low power mode (20 year battery life in this mode), from which it will wake up when any key is pressed.

This looks really good, however, I'm very skeptical about the battery life on this. Idle power management is the biggest saver in modern devices, so I hope that it holds to be true.

In any case, I would be inclined if it offered a battery even up to 2 weeks (with idle power management @ approximately 12 hours of use per day), which outshines the BT HHKB iirc.

In any case, I hope to see this project come to life!

The battery life projections are from real measurements on the prototype hardware.

[zl_ramiel]

Amazing keyboard but so expensive

[FrostyToast]

I will definitely be in for a board if I can manage to get in on time. Looks amazing and has a fantastic layout.

[Omnipotent]

Wow that battery life is incredible. I really hope I can afford one of these when the GB comes around.

[pomk]

Thanks for the feedback! I updated the layout options in the first post to reflect the changes I made to the PCB.
JIS right shift support added
split ANSI enter support added
6U spacebar true HHKB layout support added (though I've yet to figure out where to buy 6U costar wires. I'll probably have to buy a jig to make them if someone orders one.)
 - center, off-center and flipped off-center switch option.
I'll wait a day or two if you have additional suggestions for the PCB. If not, then I'll order one batch and verify that my modifications did not break the design.

[Tre3Cycl3S]

A very interesting design! I am quite interested in this.

I personally was really drawn to the prototype with the darker finish. I knew you mentioned that there might be consistency issues, but I hope you will offer it as an option when this GB go live.

Any rough idea when will this GB go live?

[pomk]

The GB will go live after I have a working production PCB in my hands and I have found a solution to the colored wax application. I found out that the wax producing company sells application wipes as well, so I'll try to find some and test them out on some scraps.

edit: PCB design

[switchnollie]

Looks great

Gonna have to watch this one.

[PriusProblems]

Very interesting, I particularly like the ISO Aria layout option.

[Phenix]

Nice board!
Will there be the option to get just the pcb?

[pixelpusher]

Beautiful case and concept.   

[pomk]

Nice board!
Will there be the option to get just the pcb?

For now I'm hand soldering the boards. As I don't plan on leaving my day job, I won't be offering a PCB only option at this time. The PCB would not fit most cases anyway, and the batteries would need some space as well.

I may make some universal 60% BT board in the future if there is enough interest to warrant a PCBA order (100+ boards). The universal 60% board would have an integrated rechargeable coin cell battery solution in order to be able to use standard cases currently on the market. The coin cell battery would limit the battery life to around one month.

[MajorKoos]

It looks like this keyboard uses the ARM core on the Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth module rather than the ATMEGA32 + bluetooth combo we usually see.  That would explain the redonculous battery life.  Good skills indeed  
Does it run custom firmware too or have you looked into using QMK?

[pomk]

It uses custom firmware. There are some problems if trying to port full TMK on it. Namely macros would not work without major tweaks, afaik. The current firmware has two layers plus a fn-key which re-maps pressed keys based on a dictionary.

After the holidays are over I'll look into porting most of the layer handling and fn stuff from TMK, but I won't guarantee that it will happen.

[LimeBurst]

Amazing work! Beautiful case and engineering too. I'm definitely interested in joining the group buy.

Will you be releasing the source code for the controller?

[pomk]

Due to some proprietary components in the firmware, for which I do not currently know the licence, the best I can do is give out the source code to gb participants. With a no-distribution clause. 

You would also need a swd device and a cable in order to do updates yourself. My current plan is to have the layouts and fn remapping updateable wirelessly. It turned out that the full firmware updates are awfully complicated and require signing and whatnot.

I ordered the PCBs, controllers and a new soldering station yesterday. Goodbye my no-brand 15W iron!  )

[LimeBurst]

Do you mean the SoftDevice? Nordic seems pretty friendly towards hobbyist developers, you should definitely ask them about the license details sometime. Anyway, that's still great to hear. I'm sold!

No worries about SWD, the headers actually caught my interest as well. Seems very inviting to tinkerers. What are those called?

[pomk]

The connectors in the prototype are TE micro poke-in. I replaced them with a small smd connector from molex for the final PCBs. I would have continued to use them, but they are not designed for repeated reconnections as they do not have a release button unlike their bigger counterparts.

[WOMBO]

yo what this looks sick

[pomk]

Time to vote: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=86846.0 

I should have all the electronics on hand by wednesday, and should everything work fine I'll submit the GB thread after that!

If you are interested, I may do the PCB soldering and initial testing live for you.

[pomk]

OK, the good news is that the PCB + components work together even with the modifications I did from the prototypes. The bad news is that I somehow managed to delete a 1 cm trace near number 2 key...  I can fix the problem by running a jumper cable on the back side of the board, where no one would see it in an assembled board, or I can order another batch with this one stupid thing fixed. It's not that much money to order another set, it just feels a bit wasteful. 

I guess the question is whether you would tolerate having this thing fixed via a jumper cable, which would not be visible on a built board, or not?

[FrostyToast]

I could honestly care less as long as I get the board.
You could probably just do an initial run on here with all the b stock PCBs and then sell the proper boards on your future store.

[pixelpusher]

I could honestly care less as long as I get the board.
You could probably just do an initial run on here with all the b stock PCBs and then sell the proper boards on your future store.

I like this idea.  Sell the first batch for like $5 cheaper.

[FrostyToast]

I could honestly care less as long as I get the board.
You could probably just do an initial run on here with all the b stock PCBs and then sell the proper boards on your future store.

I like this idea.  Sell the first batch for like $5 cheaper.

Well, he said that there would be 10 boards at around the 350 euro mark and then sell them later for 500 euros.
A much better deal than $5 off.

[pomk]

Fair enough. I guess it shouldn't be too hard to find ten people here who would not mind it too much.

I'll create a paypal account for this and then proceed with figuring out the order form.

[PriusProblems]

Seeing that the plates and cases are being made individually for each specific layout, would having both a winkey blocker and a "whitefox" blocker be possible?

[pomk]

Yes! Everything is entirely possible, as long as the used switch positions exist on the PCB!

I'm still waiting for paypal to lift the limits of my account. Sorry for the delay.

edit: examples for your proposition

[pomk]

So I called Paypal support and they said that it can take up to 30 days still, as I don't have any invoicing action on my account which in turn causes my account to have a lower priority in the queue...
They suggested that I invoice as many orders as I can without hitting the limit, and then the queue should be just 24-72 hours as I would be at the top.

I'll write the GB thread tomorrow and then do the invoices in two parts (7+3) when that time comes.


I have received a lot of requests specifically for the black stained version, and thus I'll offer that for you. You can choose any stain from the following page should you want any, and I'll charge 20€ for the added materials and work involved. http://www.osmocolor.com/puuvaha.html The black production prototype has two coats of 3169 Noki (Soot) with light sanding after both coats. Do note that I cannot guarantee that the colors would match the pictures on the site (or any other color reference), but I will try my best to have the finish done in a way which is, to me, aesthetically pleasing. I can also make a test piece of each color you select, as there will be some scraps available from each board. The test pieces may help in selecting whether you wish to have one or two coats, and how deeply you wish to have it sanded in between.

Regardless of whether you choose to have a stain, the board will be wax treated. It will just be two layers of this http://www.osmocolor.com/topoil.html instead of having the stained wax as well under it. If you prefer to have the board unfinished (so you can do whatever finishing you wish), just be sure to inform of it.

The GB will be first-come first-served, unless someone here has a better idea.