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geekhack Marketplace => Interest Checks => Topic started by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 03:41:50

Title: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 03:41:50
Hello everyone, let me introduce my new project: Space Station modulary keyboard.
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It contains two different modules, called core and side which can combine freely and work together.
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Every core module can work separately or with at most 2 sub module (1 on left and 1 on right) and are all USB/Bluetooth dual mode.
Custom app for both win and mac will come together with the board and the layout of the board can automaticly changed when you plug a side module in
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All the core module are top-mount while all the side module are bottom-mount.
The angle of the keyboard can be changed between 3 and 7.
All the core module are bluetooth 5.0.

GB might come 2022Q1 or 2022Q2.
Estimated price range: Core01 $330-$400, Core00 $100-$120, Side01 about $80-$100, Side02 $70-$80, Side03 $70-$80.

Wish you like the board. Fill in the googlesheet below if you have interest and i will give you email when GB comes (estimated price included).
https://forms.gle/7bv6o6Amwy66W1Xq7  (https://forms.gle/7bv6o6Amwy66W1Xq7)

More Renders
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Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: ZavaZ86 on Thu, 09 December 2021, 04:09:36
Any protos?
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 04:47:40
only functional proto now. full version of proto might come out 2022Q1
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: WarlordGorguts on Thu, 09 December 2021, 05:05:24
Looks really interesting - wish there would be a 75 main module and more colors)

This will be the dream board for KAT Space Dust, I'm absolutely into it.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: oilpapers on Thu, 09 December 2021, 10:34:24
I am MASSIVELY into this, I can easily see myself getting a Core 01, two Core 00's, and once of each Sub module with at least two of the rotary ones. This is a fantastic idea and exactly the direction that keyboards should be going, rather than a hundred cookie-cutter looking TKL's or 75's with encoders.

Absolutely best of luck on this IC and looking forward to where this goes. Seeing lots of customisation potential with the side covers.

Edit: Would love to see a Core 00 with an OLED or eInk display embedded, would be super handy for keeping tabs on the assigned macro buttons etc.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: antsinyourpants on Thu, 09 December 2021, 10:43:03
Wow! How excitingly different. They say fortune favours the bold. Well done. I can't wait to see where this goes.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: SxM Designs on Thu, 09 December 2021, 10:57:38
Hi!

This looks really good. Very bold design choice! Love it. I have only seen this modular designs in one or two commercial brands.. From the top of my head the MOUNTAIN Everest MAX comes into mind. But this is far better :)

I have a few questions though.
Could you tell me the material used here? I might have missed it but I would assume its ALU. If so, will the extra engravings increase cost price?
Moreover, would you be selling/ handling orders on your own OR will you look for vendors?

Good luck!!

Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: clik_clak on Thu, 09 December 2021, 11:12:12
Cool design, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: kylekwong1 on Thu, 09 December 2021, 17:10:47
The engraving seems to add cost without any benifit. It doesn't look interesting, nor feel necessary as a functional stand point.
Also please add split backspace and 7u spacebar support to the pcb, and all 1u keys to the numpad pcb as a macropad.

But overall great project, can't wait to see a proto
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 17:22:36
I am MASSIVELY into this, I can easily see myself getting a Core 01, two Core 00's, and once of each Sub module with at least two of the rotary ones. This is a fantastic idea and exactly the direction that keyboards should be going, rather than a hundred cookie-cutter looking TKL's or 75's with encoders.

Absolutely best of luck on this IC and looking forward to where this goes. Seeing lots of customisation potential with the side covers.

Edit: Would love to see a Core 00 with an OLED or eInk display embedded, would be super handy for keeping tabs on the assigned macro buttons etc.

yes, we are considering to make a micro core with a oled screen but if we do that, it will be hard to get that core wireless.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 17:29:40
The engraving seems to add cost without any benifit. It doesn't look interesting, nor feel necessary as a functional stand point.
Also please add split backspace and 7u spacebar support to the pcb, and all 1u keys to the numpad pcb as a macropad.

But overall great project, can't wait to see a proto

i think it will be too empty on the back without the engraving.
for this design, there can be much more layouts of cores or sides we can make. so i call that a series and use the googlesheet to find out what else module do you want.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: 8um8lebee on Thu, 09 December 2021, 17:32:00
First reaction was "lol wut!". But oh my god I REALLY want this. The modularity is unreal. Finally something different in a sea of plain rectangles and "clean" TKLs starting at $400+ "because mah fit and finish". And that graphite-gray and yellow colorway is beautiful
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: MIGHTY CHICKEN on Thu, 09 December 2021, 19:10:05
Would really want this even if it was plastic, would hopefully be some kind of metal
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: linyaofred on Thu, 09 December 2021, 19:29:40
Hi!

This looks really good. Very bold design choice! Love it. I have only seen this modular designs in one or two commercial brands.. From the top of my head the MOUNTAIN Everest MAX comes into mind. But this is far better :)

I have a few questions though.
Could you tell me the material used here? I might have missed it but I would assume its ALU. If so, will the extra engravings increase cost price?
Moreover, would you be selling/ handling orders on your own OR will you look for vendors?

Good luck!!

yes it is ALU. the extra engravings will not cost much. i have not desided how to selling but mostly on my own first.
BTW, we have our own vendors.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: LuckyOokami on Sun, 12 December 2021, 22:03:05
This looks really interesting! Looking forward to seeing some prototype photos when you get that in.

Personal opinions of some random person on the Internet who is new to this hobby...
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Mon, 13 December 2021, 04:04:25
This looks really interesting! Looking forward to seeing some prototype photos when you get that in.

Personal opinions of some random person on the Internet who is new to this hobby...
  • Remove the words "GEAR" and "LANDING GEAR" from the feet. It looks silly in my opinion and makes it look like a cheap children's toy piece.
  • Like a previous comment, I also don't care much for the engraving on the bottom. I think the "empty" bottom will look clean and nice. If you absolutely must do the engraving, then maybe do it on the inside? Whether you decide to engrave it on the outside or inside, I would rename the the side modules to something like M-01, where "M" stands for module. The word "side" is an okay description of its function, but sounds kind of lame.

We will consider all you said seriously, thx for your suggestion.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: oilpapers on Mon, 13 December 2021, 04:57:05
I'm actually quite a fan of the engraving, it reminds me of the markings on buildings/vehicles in scifi like Alien or Moon.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Mon, 13 December 2021, 09:23:04
I'm actually quite a fan of the engraving, it reminds me of the markings on buildings/vehicles in scifi like Alien or Moon.
And we are considering using laser engraving instead of CNC to find out which one will look better.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: salgiza on Mon, 13 December 2021, 14:27:44
I really love the idea of this keyboard, but as someone else mentioned, will you consider doing a 75 core in the future? A modular keyboard with a function row sounds like a developer’s dream.

P.S. I really like the engraving at the bottom. Combined with the beige/red colours, the keyboard has a very nice retro vibe.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Mon, 13 December 2021, 17:50:27
I really love the idea of this keyboard, but as someone else mentioned, will you consider doing a 75 core in the future? A modular keyboard with a function row sounds like a developer’s dream.

P.S. I really like the engraving at the bottom. Combined with the beige/red colours, the keyboard has a very nice retro vibe.

we are trying to design a 75% core, but it would be a hard work because it has an extra row.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: hottrout on Wed, 15 December 2021, 17:39:44
Very interested.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: onionfoo on Wed, 15 December 2021, 20:47:30
Very interested in this! Contrary to some opinions I do love the engravings and landing gear notes. Adds a touch of flavor and sparks the engineering side of my brain. There was another comment that recommended shortening Module to M-01 or Core to C-01, I think that would be a great variation. Looking forward to this!
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Wed, 15 December 2021, 22:06:05
Very interested in this! Contrary to some opinions I do love the engravings and landing gear notes. Adds a touch of flavor and sparks the engineering side of my brain. There was another comment that recommended shortening Module to M-01 or Core to C-01, I think that would be a great variation. Looking forward to this!

We will try to retype the engraving on the back to see which one is better.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: Havattack on Wed, 15 December 2021, 22:17:11
ooooooh! Bezels! Must. kop.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard
Post by: ManiacMarc on Thu, 16 December 2021, 00:19:48
I am MASSIVELY into this, I can easily see myself getting a Core 01, two Core 00's, and once of each Sub module with at least two of the rotary ones. This is a fantastic idea and exactly the direction that keyboards should be going, rather than a hundred cookie-cutter looking TKL's or 75's with encoders.

Absolutely best of luck on this IC and looking forward to where this goes. Seeing lots of customisation potential with the side covers.

Edit: Would love to see a Core 00 with an OLED or eInk display embedded, would be super handy for keeping tabs on the assigned macro buttons etc.

This ^
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: KeyRelic on Sat, 18 December 2021, 17:19:08
I need this for my batcave.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: Reece on Tue, 21 December 2021, 06:44:22
I am very interested in this.

Would it be possible to have a main module with just the TKL minus the keys you would normally get on the arrow section and move that off into a separate module? Having the ability to lay this out like a normal TKL with the arrows ins,del,home,pgup,pgdown etc on its own module would be so perfect. Then I could have the numpad on the left and the auxiliary macro keys as well for the ultimate build.

[EDIT]
I especially love that beige and brown combo colour scheme.

[EDIT]
I have registered my interest on linked form!  :thumb:

[EDIT]
Having thought it about what I was meaning to say earlier is to split the difference of a TKL and a 60% into a core module and navigation (arrows etc) module which when combined gives a full traditional TKL layout.

[EDIT]
1) What material is the case made from? Is this CNC milled aluminium or plastic?

2) Can the board be easily reprogrammed using your software for a Mac layout such that the modifiers are CTRL->Option(Alt)->CMD instead of the more common CTRL->Super->ALT?

3) Will the knob work on Mac OS to adjust the volume?

4) How will switches be mounted?

5) Will it support hot swappable switches?

6) Is Bluetooth required or can this all be used wired? I prefer wired over BT.

7) Does this have removable batteries for use on Bluetooth? Does the cable charge the batteries in-situ or must they be removed to charge externally?

8 ) What colour options will be available for the end caps? I like the brown and blue but I would like to buy able to buy a few different colours so that I can swap over time when I feel like changing my keycaps to match.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: linyaofred on Mon, 27 December 2021, 01:29:40
I am very interested in this.

Would it be possible to have a main module with just the TKL minus the keys you would normally get on the arrow section and move that off into a separate module? Having the ability to lay this out like a normal TKL with the arrows ins,del,home,pgup,pgdown etc on its own module would be so perfect. Then I could have the numpad on the left and the auxiliary macro keys as well for the ultimate build.

[EDIT]
I especially love that beige and brown combo colour scheme.

[EDIT]
I have registered my interest on linked form!  :thumb:

[EDIT]
Having thought it about what I was meaning to say earlier is to split the difference of a TKL and a 60% into a core module and navigation (arrows etc) module which when combined gives a full traditional TKL layout.

[EDIT]
1) What material is the case made from? Is this CNC milled aluminium or plastic?

2) Can the board be easily reprogrammed using your software for a Mac layout such that the modifiers are CTRL->Option(Alt)->CMD instead of the more common CTRL->Super->ALT?

3) Will the knob work on Mac OS to adjust the volume?

4) How will switches be mounted?

5) Will it support hot swappable switches?

6) Is Bluetooth required or can this all be used wired? I prefer wired over BT.

7) Does this have removable batteries for use on Bluetooth? Does the cable charge the batteries in-situ or must they be removed to charge externally?

8 ) What colour options will be available for the end caps? I like the brown and blue but I would like to buy able to buy a few different colours so that I can swap over time when I feel like changing my keycaps to match.

1. a TKL core and arrow side would be possible.
2. the case will be aluminium.
3. the app is now working fine on mac with full function.
4. top mounted in core module and bottom mounted in side module.
5. all hot-swap.
6. usb wired and bluetooth dual mode.
7. the board will be shipped without batteries, we are considering using bl5c batteries, because it will be easier for you to get one.
8. we will provide as many colors of the end caps as we can.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: Vanquish on Mon, 27 December 2021, 02:42:19
I've always pictured a modular design in my mind, glad it's something being brought to life!
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: wz89 on Mon, 27 December 2021, 03:51:33
I'd be very interested to see what this all looks like with an extra row added for all the modules. What leads do you have on production facilities?
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: Yves W on Wed, 01 June 2022, 08:19:17
I am very interested in this.

Would it be possible to have a main module with just the TKL minus the keys you would normally get on the arrow section and move that off into a separate module? Having the ability to lay this out like a normal TKL with the arrows ins,del,home,pgup,pgdown etc on its own module would be so perfect. Then I could have the numpad on the left and the auxiliary macro keys as well for the ultimate build.

Completely agree with Reece! It would be very nice if you could create a TKL by adding 1-2 module(s), e.g. a nav cluster+arrow keys combo and if possible an F row, to a 60% layout. Adding those would be awesome for coding. For spreadsheet work you could then slap a numpad on it temporarily, or have the numpad with a knob permanently on the left.
Looks like a very cool project! I've filled in the IC and will definitely be following this one.
Title: Re: [IC] Sirius Space Station Series Modulary Keyboard (estimated price updated)
Post by: GogNogler on Sun, 04 December 2022, 15:45:43
Just checking to see if this one is in the graveyard of ICs or on some sort of life support.