Author Topic: [IC] MC HCK Controller Board (assembled or as kit) (Read 5502 times)

nuclearsandwich · « **on:** Sun, 20 July 2014, 19:13:57 »

The MC HCK (pronounced Em See Hack) is a [url=https://github.com/mchck/mchck]totally open source controller board that is cheaper and more powerful than a Teensy, making it ideally suited to super cool keyboard projects.

I want a handful for prototyping and seeing as many of the parts come in batches of 10 or more I of course wondered if GeekHackers would like to go in on some with me.

A blog post on the MC HCK website says that one can be built for $5 although you have to overbuy materials. Another good reason to hold a group buy.

Since these are home built, they will not come with firmware so I'll be getting a Bus Pirate to do bootloader flashing. Massdrop said they were going to do a bus pirate group buy so I may hold off on offering to group buy them as well but if there is demand I suppose I shall endeavor to supply.

So anyone interested?

Heliosphere · « **Reply #1 on:** Sun, 20 July 2014, 21:06:29 »

Would be a neat project. Is there a guide anywhere on how to program on one of these for keyboards?

AKmalamute · « **Reply #2 on:** Sun, 20 July 2014, 21:14:12 »

if it requires a bus pirate, that means the majority of us can't reprogram it every day, right? So we'd need to specify what keyboard it should go to at time of the buy ... or it would need to be flashed with some sort of on-the-fly thing like that one gal (?) made for the Ergodox, but would still need to know the matrix - or we'd need our own bus pirate or join the local hackerspace because they have one.

I could be wrong but aren't reprogramming devices a couple hundred dollars per? Great if you're GON and expect to make a living at keyboards, but not necessarily economical for many of the rest of us.

Having said all that ... kit, probably. Most likely in.

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #3 on:** Sun, 20 July 2014, 22:22:21 »

Quote from: AKmalamute on Sun, 20 July 2014, 21:14:12

if it requires a bus pirate, that means the majority of us can't reprogram it every day, right? So we'd need to specify what keyboard it should go to at time of the buy ... or it would need to be flashed with some sort of on-the-fly thing like that one gal (?) made for the Ergodox, but would still need to know the matrix - or we'd need our own bus pirate or join the local hackerspace because they have one.

I could be wrong but aren't reprogramming devices a couple hundred dollars per? Great if you're GON and expect to make a living at keyboards, but not necessarily economical for many of the rest of us.

Having said all that ... kit, probably. Most likely in.

The Bus Pirate is only necessary to flash the USB Bootloader. Once that's on there you can load actual firmware over USB with a regular computer. As far as firmwares go, it should take very well to a TMK firmware port and HaaTa and Parak are working on some stuff with this thing as well although I cannot speak for them as to when they'll be ready to share.

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #4 on:** Sun, 20 July 2014, 22:24:18 »

Quote from: Heliosphere on Sun, 20 July 2014, 21:06:29

Would be a neat project. Is there a guide anywhere on how to program on one of these for keyboards?

I'm getting a bricoleur's dozen to put together before the group buy. If no better firmware comes along I'll ship a guide for how to use TMK firmware with them. Technomancy and I have floated the idea of resurrecting his Forth based Atreus firmware if we use the MC HCK rather than a Teensy.

AKmalamute · « **Reply #5 on:** Wed, 15 October 2014, 13:35:04 »

Playing Necromancer, I'm going to assume this didn't go anywhere?

Massdrop is making a keyboard, and they link to the MC hack controller, and it looks like they'll be providing a web based configurator, similar to the Ergodox.

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #6 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 01:18:15 »

Quote from: AKmalamute on Wed, 15 October 2014, 13:35:04

Playing Necromancer, I'm going to assume this didn't go anywhere?

Massdrop is making a keyboard, and they link to the MC hack controller, and it looks like they'll be providing a web based configurator, similar to the Ergodox.

Yeah. I was working on a couple projects I wanted this for, but when school picked back up all my energy went into it and work and right now all I want to do for fun is play games. My desire to build these came from knowing Massdrop's not so secret plans. I still want to do it but stopped trumpeting when it got no momentum. If anyone is into it still I will have time around Thanksgiving to start up a few projects. I could source parts starting now so it was all ready-ish to go end of november.

dorkvader · « **Reply #7 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 09:59:12 »

Quote from: nuclearsandwich on Thu, 16 October 2014, 01:18:15

Quote from: AKmalamute on Wed, 15 October 2014, 13:35:04
Playing Necromancer, I'm going to assume this didn't go anywhere?

Massdrop is making a keyboard, and they link to the MC hack controller, and it looks like they'll be providing a web based configurator, similar to the Ergodox.

Yeah. I was working on a couple projects I wanted this for, but when school picked back up all my energy went into it and work and right now all I want to do for fun is play games. My desire to build these came from knowing Massdrop's not so secret plans. I still want to do it but stopped trumpeting when it got no momentum. If anyone is into it still I will have time around Thanksgiving to start up a few projects. I could source parts starting now so it was all ready-ish to go end of november.

I'd want one because they're nicer than a teensy and cheaper than an arduino pro micro. Even if I have to solder them myself. I just can't find any other GBs to participate in. I'd be down for either assembled or kit, I am not interested in assembling them for other people, and I want at least 5.

Photekq · « **Reply #8 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 10:00:17 »

Is there any documentation on how to make a functioning board with these?

JackMills · « **Reply #9 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 10:08:17 »

I would be in, can't say for how many as that would depend on total cost of a kit and shipping it. Let's say 5 to get the numbers up.

margo baggins · « **Reply #10 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 10:29:22 »

If you need a hand - I could build these and probably flash the bootloader if it's just isp flashing. And do european proxying?

If you were thinking about assembling them that is. No charge

HoffmanMyster · « **Reply #11 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 10:49:22 »

I didn't see this IC when it was first posted, but it seems interesting. I would probably pick up a few of them just to see how it goes.

HaaTa · « **Reply #12 on:** Thu, 16 October 2014, 10:51:03 »

The Massdrop Infinity keyboard uses an MCHCK as the base. mk20dx128 and a slightly modified bootloader.

All the source is available here: https://github.com/kiibohd/controller
Building the bootloader is a bit complex due to packing issues, so I'd recommend a recent Linux distro with a recent version of gcc (code sourcery is too old right now). It will build on Windows and Mac but the binary ends up too large...
The main firmware image can be built Windows/Linux/Mac no problem.

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #13 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 11:53:16 »

I am resurrecting this IC. I'd like to make around a dozen of these for my own use in prototyping and converting old keyboards. If anyone else is interested in having a handful of these, it'd be fun to combine orders since some parts are only readily available in quantity.

If this gets into the order of 50 or 100 controllers I'll probably start talking to Massdrop since I don't want to do that much assembly and fulfillment right now.

For this IC here are my questions:

- How many(ish) would you order?
- Assembled and bootloader flashed or board and parts?

Photekq · « **Reply #14 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 13:26:50 »

How much would they cost per controller pre assembled/flashed?

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #15 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 14:11:48 »

Quote from: Photekq on Sun, 19 April 2015, 13:26:50

How much would they cost per controller pre assembled/flashed?

My guess is somewhere between $5 and $10. The blog post details making your own for $5 but you can't order the parts in single quantity so that's actually only a half truth. With the LED group buy I had no group buy fee for sorting and in hindsight I should have added *something* to the cost in order to make it suck a little less. Because this will require SMD soldering work I'll probably figure out a materials and labor fee and add that. I don't plan to double the market price the $10 high estimate is more me questioning the reality of the $5 claim in the MC HCK post.

derezzed · « **Reply #16 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 19:59:32 »

I hope this gets some traction. I don't know when I'll need a microcontroller, but it would be nice if this lead to a successful GB and resulted in more GBs in the future. It would be nice to have a cheaper alternative to the Teensy. FWIW, I don't think $10 assembled is too high; that prices 2 MC HCKs at a little more than a single Teensy. And if the MC HCK is comparable to the Teensy++ (please excuse my ignorance), 2 MC HCKs for $20 would be a bargain compared to the Teensy++. Actually, this would be perfect for a project I want to do (I might even actually do it). I'll officially register my interest in one unit, but maybe I'll change it to two units in the future.

Photekq · « **Reply #17 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 20:00:48 »

I would probably take 5 at $10.

TheMadcap · « **Reply #18 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 20:09:09 »

I am interested on a kit.

twiddle · « **Reply #19 on:** Sun, 19 April 2015, 20:35:46 »

I'd potentially be interested too. I've a J-link already so can flash one and send it over if you wanted to bootstrap and avoid the cost of the bus pirate, nuclearsandwich.. Pretty sure when I was doing my research I saw that MCHCKs can program each other so you'd only need the one.
(I'm still working on my custom MCU dev boards/controller boards too, so I'll be interested to see how this goes as it will inform the feasibility of my in-progress projects).

Vizir · « **Reply #20 on:** Mon, 20 April 2015, 10:32:52 »

I'd be down for a couple. Kit or pre-assembled not an issue.

AKmalamute · « **Reply #21 on:** Thu, 23 April 2015, 12:16:09 »

my solder-tiny-things skills are improving, but I'd still somewhat rather get it preassembled. Or maybe two un, and one pre- assembled.

I'd love to get 5 at $10 but probably can't. Still, thanks for necroing the thread since I'm still interested.

nuclearsandwich · « **Reply #22 on:** Thu, 23 April 2015, 13:23:48 »

I think there's enough interest that I'm going to price out everything I need to run this GB. Life is in high flux right now so we're likely looking to announce findings late may and do the buy in June or July.

doodersbrother · « **Reply #23 on:** Sun, 26 April 2015, 22:59:04 »

I'd definitely get a few for my numpad I'm working on.

AKmalamute · « **Reply #24 on:** Tue, 28 July 2015, 18:27:13 »

Quote from: nuclearsandwich on Thu, 23 April 2015, 13:23:48

Life is in high flux right now [...] do the buy in June or July.

So ... August, then?

ika · « **Reply #25 on:** Thu, 06 August 2015, 00:36:44 »

I'd be interested in taking 3 or 4. Great for inexpensive numpads and fixing up old boards.

Eszett · « **Reply #26 on:** Tue, 08 September 2015, 03:47:12 »

A Question: how many I/O pinouts has the MC HCK for free use?

And what do you guys think about having a GB with MC HCK's that are pre-assembled and pre-flashed with a bootloader?

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Author Topic: [IC] MC HCK Controller Board (assembled or as kit) (Read 5502 times)