[IC] Quadrant: a 5x14 ortho keyboard (UPDATE: GB is closed!)

[Ealdin]

Let me introduce you the Quadrant, a 5x14 ortholinear keyboard, inspired by the Plaid and The_RoMac.

I genuinely adore the aesthetic of these through hole boards, and I wanted to give them a little design twist. These two projects encouraged me to get familiar with designing PCBs and create my own one. It was a real fun and I would like to share with you the final result, fellow clackers, not only in the form of pictures but also in the form of a product.

Group Buy is closed! You can find the Google form here: https://forms.gle/SpGum41mFL4UQW576

Thank you for the participants, guys! I didn't expect to close the GB this fast, but all slots had been reserved. I will send out the invoices on Saturday (UPDATED from "in the next 14 hours")..


The long wait is over, the Quadrant is coming to town on 19th of December! The GroupBuy will start at 19:00 CET (UTC+1):

• There isn’t any MOQ, but the maximum number of slots is 45 for this round. The sale is going to be FCFS, and ends on the 2nd of January or until the maximum number of orders is reached.
• The price of the kit is 50USD (including PayPal fees), plus shipping cost, which will be calculated individually according to the shipping address.
• The invoices will be sent out via PayPal as soon as possible after the GB is closed. You will have 48 hours to complete the payment otherwise the slot will be raffled among the additional participants who left out the sale.
• After all payments are collected, I will immediately order all the parts for the kits. It will take approximately 8 weeks to begin the shipping.
• The source files of the keyboard and the layered acrylic case will be uploaded to Github in the following days of GB closing.

Album link for the T2.0_v1.0 prototype (using Teensy 2.0): https://imgur.com/a/Dtllkvf
Album link for the E-C_v1.1 prototype (built in an acrylic case): https://imgur.com/a/mSFzUCS
More pictures about the the acrylic case: https://imgur.com/gallery/dqrPj6h

Features of the keyboard:

• ortholinear layout
• 5x14 matrix
• Elite-C microcontroller support
• QMK firmware
• MX-style (PCB mounted only) and Kailh Choc switch compatibility
• rotary encoder support: on 1x1 and 1x5 of the matrix (only one of the 2 sockets can be used at a time, because they share the same traces for data)
• WS2818B LED strip support
• one programmable LED (Caps Lock LED as default)
• reset button
• PCB colour variants: black (white silkscreen) and white (black silkscreen)
• two sided graphics on the bottom PCB
• aesthetically placed diodes
• transparent polycarbonate shield to protect the components from any damage and dust
• estimated price: 50USD + shipping

The construction of the Quadrant follows the usual "main PCB - standoffs - bottom plate" structure, without any plate. Therefore, it accommodates only PCB mounted switches.

The 5x14 matrix gives you the opportunity to use the extra columns for additional modifiers, macro keys or full “ISO” support to the fellow Europeans in the community.
You can see the layout options below:

The kit contains:

• 1pc top PCB (it only supports MX style, PCB mount switches and Kailh Choc low profile switches)
• 1pc bottom PCB
• 70pcs 1N4148 THT diodes
• 1pc 3mm LED (cool white)
• 1pc resistor for LED
• 1pc 6x6mm tactile push button
• 10pcs 6mm standoffs
• 4pcs 10mm standoffs
• 12pcs M2x4mm screws
• 4pcs M2x6mm screws
• 4pcs M2x12mm screws
• 1pc transparent polycarbonate shield
• 4pcs rubber feet

Extra thoughts:

The source files for the Quadrant PCB will be uploaded after the GB ends.

I designed an acrylic sandwich case for the keyboard as well. The files for laser cutting will be released after the GB ends.

The small companion on the left side of the Quadrants is called Aphellion, and it’s a 1x4 macropad with rotary encoder and OLED screen support, dedicated to media control. This project is still in development and I will share all the details with you as soon as I figure out how to display the data of currently playing media files.

Timeplan:

• 27_08_2019: IC released
• 07_09_2019: 1. update: The PCB was adjusted according to the feedbacks
• 18_09_2019: PCB v1.1 finalized and ordered a small batch of sample
• 04_10_2019: ordered a prototype of the acrylic case
• 11_10_2019: the prototype of the acrylic case arrived, but I'm missing the correct standoffs, so I have to wait for them
• 18_10_2019: v1.1 PCBs arrived, the adjusting of the firmware just started
• 23_10_2019: the firmware is almost finished, the only thing left is test of the RGB lighting
• 07_12_2019: the firmware is finished, announcement of the Group Buy
• 19_12_2019: starting the Group Buy

Please feel free to share your ideas and thoughts with me here or in the IC form!

Outdated stuff:

More

Link to the Google form (closed)

PCB colour variants (the black and the white verions got most of the votes by far in the IC, therefore there will be available only these two colors in the GB)

There were two versions of the main PCB (the bottom PCB is the same):

• the T2.0 version supports Teensy2.0
• the E-C version supports Elite-C (standard Pro Micros are not supported because of their fewer pins)

It was not decided which version would be the final product, but the most votes from the IC went to the popular Pro Micro clone with USB Type-C.

[/list]

[detinho]

All in

[_rubik]

There should be a third option on the google for between 'Yes, I'm in' and 'Nah, just lurking' -- I'm "Interested, and watching closely".

Super amazing board, you've piqued my interest

[audiosl4ve]

Looking very cute. You have my attention

[nguyenhimself]

Compared to the colorful Plaid or Tartan, the exposed electrical bits here look rather bland TBH.

[foxlive]

Interesting design, idk for daily usability of ortho (never tried) but I love the look of this!

[Ealdin]

Compared to the colorful Plaid or Tartan, the exposed electrical bits here look rather bland TBH.

Hsgwchan's keyboards have a very nice retro and DIY/hobby electrician feeling, but my intentions weren't to copy his work. My goal was to achieve a more modern, sleeker design.

[msting]

Ooh..  I like this one. Slick design. Just industrial enough.  Very interested!

FYI, You should be capturing emails in your Google form to send updates when it goes live.

[missylo]

This is nice! I've been looking for a 5 row ortho / XD75 alternative, and this comes so close!! Will you ever consider doing a 5 X 15? The 2u spacebars at the bottom have me sold, but i'd really prefer to have it 15 than 14 (numpad in the middle / a bit of the separation between the two alpha sides).

Thank you!

[ctrlshiftba]

If you change your grid to 7x10 you could support standard pro-micro which doesn’t have always going out of stock supply problems or cost $20 like the other options.

[Ealdin]

This is nice! I've been looking for a 5 row ortho / XD75 alternative, and this comes so close!! Will you ever consider doing a 5 X 15? The 2u spacebars at the bottom have me sold, but i'd really prefer to have it 15 than 14 (numpad in the middle / a bit of the separation between the two alpha sides).

Thank you!

That's not a bad! I chose the 5x14 matrix to support ISO languages, and I thought that the extra 15th column won't be so necessary. But, you can't say never, so maybe in the future there could be a version with a 5x15 matrix

If you change your grid to 7x10 you could support standard pro-micro which doesn’t have always going out of stock supply problems or cost $20 like the other options.

I know about the duplex matrix, but for my first project I wanted to keep it simple. If there will be greater demand I'll consider using that trick.

[ctrlshiftba]

I've done the matrix grid before would be happy to help if you need it. 

[Ealdin]

Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to thank you all of your feedback. I’m very delighted and grateful that the Quadrant has become so popular and many of you have liked it. It encouraged me to launch a GB, but to do so, I have to test the new features and changes I’ve done according to the comments and ideas.

The things that changed from the previous version (E-C_v1.1 PCB renders):

• Elite-C microcontroller support: most of the votes went to the popular Pro Micro clone with USB Type-C, therefore the Quadrant will support only Elite-C
• rotary encoder support: it was the most requested feature from you, and I had some unused pins of the Elite-C laying around. So, similar to the Planck PCBs, there will be 2 spots (1x1 and 1x5 of the matrix) where you can place a rotary encoder. But be careful, only one of the 2 sockets can be used at a time, because they share the same traces for data
• RGB LED strip support: due to the nature of the sandwich “case” design, there is a small space underneath the main PCB that you can use to collect dust, hide your money saved for keyboards, OR illuminate your entire desk with WS2818B LED stripes to unleash the RGB-magic!
• Kailh Choc switch compatibility: it will be implemented in the next days, so yeah, you will be able to go slim and sleek

To try out all these new stuff, I’ll order a new batch of protos next week.

Some info about the GB:

• estimated launch date: end of October – beginning of November
  
• available colours for the PCBs: black, white, blue
  
• estimated price: 45-50USD + shipping
  

P.S.: a sneak peek of a case ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

More

[sinnyc]

Bumping this because it's just so cool...

[Ealdin]

Hi folks!

First of all, sorry for the long silence,  I was really busy with work and my personal life, therefore I had little time to work on the Quadrant. Nevertheless, the project is alive, the firmware and the final version of the PCB are almost ready. I will get my order of WS2812B LED strips this week and I will test all the functions and components before I come up with the finished keyboard. I would like to release a product that is perfectly functional and pleasing to use for everyone.
So I would like to ask for your patience. As soon as I finish the PCB and the firmware, I will announce the date of the GB! (If everything goes as I imagine, it will go live in the first weeks of December.)
Thank you guys for your understanding and I hope to meet you during the group buy!

[Ealdin]

Updated the original post with new infos of the GB!

[CodeMayhem]

what acrylic case is that and where could i get one?

also this supports 4u space-bar too doesn't it.

[Ealdin]

The case is designed by me and lasercutted by a local company. I'm not willing to sell it in the GB right now, but I will share the files of the case after that. Therefore you will have the opportunity to make it.

Yes, you could use a 4U spacebar in a similar way of POS spacebars: the keycap will rest on 2 switches instead of 1 switch plus stabilizers. However it's a very rare size.

[CodeMayhem]

The case is designed by me and lasercutted by a local company. I'm not willing to sell it in the GB right now, but I will share the files of the case after that. Therefore you will have the opportunity to make it.

Yes, you could use a 4U spacebar in a similar way of POS spacebars: the keycap will rest on 2 switches instead of 1 switch plus stabilizers. However it's a very rare size.

oh i didn't know 4u bars were pos mounts

[Ealdin]

SP manufacture 4U spacebars and some MT3 profile keysets contain that size as well, but I don't know if they are POS caps, or regular types with stabilizer support :/

[JuiceTin255]

I feel that the bottom row could use a bit more options for larger keys like a 7u (wouldn't that look just dandy in a 14u wide board?) or two 3u bars? I'm probably in either way but I do enjoy my spacebars. My dream would be to have alphas and numbers with MX switches and all the modifiers be Choc so that I can use my chording for all that stuff and still have all the other keys just in case. Plus wouldn't that look so cool?

[CodeMayhem]

I feel that the bottom row could use a bit more options for larger keys like a 7u (wouldn't that look just dandy in a 14u wide board?) or two 3u bars? I'm probably in either way but I do enjoy my spacebars. My dream would be to have alphas and numbers with MX switches and all the modifiers be Choc so that I can use my chording for all that stuff and still have all the other keys just in case. Plus wouldn't that look so cool?

but it's an ortho board? it has all the layouts that an ortho board would have.

[Robosculpts]

I feel that the bottom row could use a bit more options for larger keys like a 7u (wouldn't that look just dandy in a 14u wide board?) or two 3u bars? I'm probably in either way but I do enjoy my spacebars. My dream would be to have alphas and numbers with MX switches and all the modifiers be Choc so that I can use my chording for all that stuff and still have all the other keys just in case. Plus wouldn't that look so cool?

Have you seen the Boardwalk? It is an ortho/ergo board that fits in 60% cases. You can have your space bars and have an ortho layout.

Also, I'm in for one of these at the end of the month. This little board is rad af.

[CodeMayhem]

I feel that the bottom row could use a bit more options for larger keys like a 7u (wouldn't that look just dandy in a 14u wide board?) or two 3u bars? I'm probably in either way but I do enjoy my spacebars. My dream would be to have alphas and numbers with MX switches and all the modifiers be Choc so that I can use my chording for all that stuff and still have all the other keys just in case. Plus wouldn't that look so cool?

Have you seen the Boardwalk? It is an ortho/ergo board that fits in 60% cases. You can have your space bars and have an ortho layout.

Also, I'm in for one of these at the end of the month. This little board is rad af.

yes ik what a boardwalk is i owned one. this has all the layouts that 99% of ppl expect from an ortho with 1u mods.

[CodeMayhem]

The case is designed by me and lasercutted by a local company. I'm not willing to sell it in the GB right now, but I will share the files of the case after that. Therefore you will have the opportunity to make it.

Yes, you could use a 4U spacebar in a similar way of POS spacebars: the keycap will rest on 2 switches instead of 1 switch plus stabilizers. However it's a very rare size.

also mt3 does have a 4u non-POS mount bar. I checked with Zamb and mt3 serika does have this key in the odd bars kit.

[equalunique]

Is it using all the pins of the Elite-C, or are there any free pins? I'm curious about utilizing extra ones, if there are any.

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk

[Ealdin]

I've used all pins of the Elite-C: 5+14 for the matrix, 2 for the encoder, one for CapsLock LED and one for the RGB strip.

[sinnyc]

Registered for the GB!

[Ealdin]

Thank you, buddy!

[helborne]

Also registered, if we're confirmed for payment, would you be open to sharing the case files with us? I don't know how long it's going to take to get the case cut and delivered and would prefer to have the case ready to go by the time the kit arrives.

[jaspertandy]

Set an alarm and signed up to geekhack after a year of lurking for this! Hope I got in!

[Ealdin]

Also registered, if we're confirmed for payment, would you be open to sharing the case files with us? I don't know how long it's going to take to get the case cut and delivered and would prefer to have the case ready to go by the time the kit arrives.

Of course, after the GB is closed, I intend to share the files with you. I think the lasercutting could be done in 3-4 days, at least it took me that long, but your mileage may vary.

[Ealdin]

Set an alarm and signed up to geekhack after a year of lurking for this! Hope I got in!

I'm grateful for your application and I can tell you that you don't have to worry

[parsec]

I too registered for the GB

Hope I actually spelled all my info right. Pretty sure I did, but I wanted to make sure I got in.

[sinnyc]

@Ealdin are you going to make a post in Group Buys?

[helborne]

I saw the post on reddit regarding Alps compatibility. As a big fan of Alps switches, I think this is great to offer a plate that's alps compatible for the case, however I noticed the PCB holes for the switches only look to be MX compatible.  Are you going to change the PCB to accommodate other switches? If so, what about choc compatibility?  Not that I'm seeking to overcomplicate your design.  If it's MX only, I'll happily just use MX switches

[Ealdin]

@Ealdin are you going to make a post in Group Buys?

I wanted to, but it turned out that I have to have at least 25 posts across the forum to be able to create a GB thread, aaand I don't have yet that amount of posts unfortunately D:

[Ealdin]

I saw the post on reddit regarding Alps compatibility. As a big fan of Alps switches, I think this is great to offer a plate that's alps compatible for the case, however I noticed the PCB holes for the switches only look to be MX compatible.  Are you going to change the PCB to accommodate other switches? If so, what about choc compatibility?  Not that I'm seeking to overcomplicate your design.  If it's MX only, I'll happily just use MX switches

I used an earlier model in the exploded view, which have holes only for MX style switches, but in the latest version there are MX and Choc compatible holes. I'm working on changing the footprints to make the PCB Alps compatible as well.

[lun0r]

Registered for the GB and hopefully one of these will find its way to Germany

Really nice job! And that we can get the case files is awesome, laser cutting next door beats high import taxes !

[helborne]

Registered for the GB and hopefully one of these will find its way to Germany

Really nice job! And that we can get the case files is awesome, laser cutting next door beats high import taxes !

100% agreed

[Ealdin]

Update: GB is closed, we reached the maximum number of slots! The invoices will be sent out in the next 14 hours, so check your mailboxes!

[CodeMayhem]

Damn glad I didn't dilly dally with this!

[Ealdin]

Update: I have some personal stuff today (Friday), therefore I'm going to send out the invoices on Saturday. Sorry for the delay!

[jaspertandy]

Update: I have some personal stuff today (Friday), therefore I'm going to send out the invoices on Saturday. Sorry for the delay!

Thanks for the update. Hope everything's OK.

[CodeMayhem]

Update: I have some personal stuff today (Friday), therefore I'm going to send out the invoices on Saturday. Sorry for the delay!

did they get sent out?

[Ealdin]

Update: I have some personal stuff today (Friday), therefore I'm going to send out the invoices on Saturday. Sorry for the delay!

did they get sent out?

Yes, they did on Saturday. Please check your spams, there must be an email form PayPal.

[Wyze69]

I already got my invoice Saturday. I forgot to ask but does the keyboard come with instructions and a needed parts list? This'll be my first build