[IC] Planck PCBs & Atomic Keyboard hand-wiring kits are now for sale!

[jackhumbert]

PCB prototypes have been ordered!

[vivalarevolución]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Awesome!  Does that have an integrated controller?  And what the heck is going on with that bottom row?

[platypus]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Awesome!  Does that have an integrated controller?  And what the heck is going on with that bottom row?

Looks as though the diodes and uC (surface mount) are going to be assembled by the PCB manufacturer, so all you'd have to do is switches. (Anyone affiliated with the project please correct me if I'm wrong)

The bottom row looks as though it supports multiple layouts

[jackhumbert]

Looks as though the diodes and uC (surface mount) are going to be assembled by the PCB manufacturer, so all you'd have to do is switches. (Anyone affiliated with the project please correct me if I'm wrong)

The bottom row looks as though it supports multiple layouts

This is correct! No need to solder anything besides keyswitches.

Yeap! It supports both MIT and Grid for Cherry MX and Matias switches, and a couple other unmentioned layouts for Cherry MX.

[Data]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Dude!  Sick!  And LED support too!   :eek:

[Ius]

When will the kits with the PCB and new milled bottom be available on the store?

[jackhumbert]

When will the kits with the PCB and new milled bottom be available on the store?

PCB: Probably about a month (pre-orders)
New milled bottom: ASAP - still waiting on a quote

[stoic-lemon]

Awesome news. Let's hope more people get excited about this.

[Skuloth]

I want a pcb!

[tjweir]

I want a PCB as well!

[Data]

No, me!

[tjweir]

No, me!

Not Data, pick me!

[Data]

[tjweir]

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:)

[Skuloth]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Has there been any consideration for adding blue tooth functionality either on the pcb itself or through break out boards? Also will the typical firmwares(tmk, easyavr, etc) work with the controller on these pcbs? To me at least, it's incredibly important that these boards are fully programmable simply due to the limited nature of the size of the keyboard.

[nathanrosspowell]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Has there been any consideration for adding blue tooth functionality either on the pcb itself or through break out boards? Also will the typical firmwares(tmk, easyavr, etc) work with the controller on these pcbs? To me at least, it's incredibly important that these boards are fully programmable simply due to the limited nature of the size of the keyboard.

All of Jacks work on firmware (https://github.com/jackhumbert/tmk_keyboard) has been based on tmk. I don't see why he would make the PCBs uncompatible with that.

[Skuloth]

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PCB prototypes have been ordered!

Has there been any consideration for adding blue tooth functionality either on the pcb itself or through break out boards? Also will the typical firmwares(tmk, easyavr, etc) work with the controller on these pcbs? To me at least, it's incredibly important that these boards are fully programmable simply due to the limited nature of the size of the keyboard.

All of Jacks work on firmware (https://github.com/jackhumbert/tmk_keyboard) has been based on tmk. I don't see why he would make the PCBs uncompatible with that.

I actually didn't know he had been working with it. Thanks for the link.

[Wilba]

Has there been any consideration for adding blue tooth functionality either on the pcb itself or through break out boards?

Yes. I have put "breakout" pads for all ATMega pins not being used by the matrix, especially the I2C pins and the UART pins, so it should be easy to support connecting to the Bluefruit EZ-Key.

Also will the typical firmwares(tmk, easyavr, etc) work with the controller on these pcbs? To me at least, it's incredibly important that these boards are fully programmable simply due to the limited nature of the size of the keyboard.

Yes, TMK will definitely work. EasyAVR should work if support for Planck is added, but I'm not at the stage of requesting it. Let me get it going with TMK first.

The bootloader won't be Teensy's one, though... that's the only difference between this and one using a Teensy. In that respect, it's more like a GH60 or bpiphany's alternative controllers.

[ianbullock]

Can I get the hole spacing for the Atomic short space top plate? I have been working on an openscad model for a simple 3-part 3D print case, but my iffy ruler measuring seems to be slightly inaccurate and some of the holes don't line up perfectly.

Currently I had:
hole_locations_y = [22, 26.5, 98.5, 173.5, 249.5, 268.5];
hole_locations_x = [22, 79.5, 41,   59.5,  22,    78.5];
where the measurements are from the upper left hand corner of the plate (near where Esc key would be). Y is along the long length of the keyboard, x is down along the short edge.

I have also made a modified version of the tmk firmware for the short-space atomic, so I can share some of the files for that soon if people are interested.

[jackhumbert]

Can I get the hole spacing for the Atomic short space top plate? I have been working on an openscad model for a simple 3-part 3D print case, but my iffy ruler measuring seems to be slightly inaccurate and some of the holes don't line up perfectly.

Currently I had:
hole_locations_y = [22, 26.5, 98.5, 173.5, 249.5, 268.5];
hole_locations_x = [22, 79.5, 41,   59.5,  22,    78.5];
where the measurements are from the upper left hand corner of the plate (near where Esc key would be). Y is along the long length of the keyboard, x is down along the short edge.

I have also made a modified version of the tmk firmware for the short-space atomic, so I can share some of the files for that soon if people are interested.

There are two slightly different hole patterns for the Atomic. This is the spacing going forward:
The switch centers are spaced 19mm apart (5mm between each 14mm hole, and a 5mm spacing to the edge of the plate), and 5/6 holes are spaced exactly in-between the keyswitches. The only deviation from that is x value of the hole in the lower left-hand corner - that's 25.4mm from the left edge.

The only difference from that to the previous pattern is that deviated hole, which is moved down a mm or so (don't have the drawing handy).

I've forked TMK for the Planck and the Atomic here (see ASK in keymap_common.h): https://github.com/jackhumbert/tmk_keyboard/tree/master/keyboard/atomic
Once the PCB is out I'll do a pull request to the main branch.

[ianbullock]

Thanks for the extra info on hole spacing.

Ah, wish I saw that branch before. For some reason I thought I only saw a planck branch when i went from the atomic keyboard website... Oh well, now I understand the tmk firmware a little better! I guess I probably would have had to edit a bit to reflect the particular way I soldered my columns up or the teensy pins I used.

I mapped mine the same way as a Filco Minila I have for the moment, just for consistency . I am really liking short space layouts so i can do a bit more with my thumbs. Though, I wouldn't mind finding a less pointy-edged spacebar key...

The grid layout actually seems surprisingly easy to get used to. I could pretty much type normally right away without many errors (or, only a few more than usual).

Got the keyboard working in it's current rather rough case. At least good enough that I can try it out. Quick picture attached. (Some of the keys do not label what they actually do. )

[tjweir]

Got the keyboard working in it's current rather rough case. At least good enough that I can try it out. Quick picture attached. (Some of the keys do not label what they actually do. )

Looks nice and clean.  The 1u mods are not a problem? 
I'm sure that's what I'd stumble on the most.

[ianbullock]

Looks nice and clean.  The 1u mods are not a problem? 
I'm sure that's what I'd stumble on the most.

Will have to test more to really say how well the mods work. But I think there are two things which help: on the home row, if my finger is slightly off to either side, it will usually still press down the closest key (though it may not be as comfortable) Wider keycaps in future would solve that one anyway.

On the left side (rshift, caps, tab...), if I'm slightly too far left, it will still press the key and won't press a wrong key since its on the edge of the keyboard. I think this makes them effectively close to 1.5u keys in terms of functional area. It may depend how you are used to "indexing" those keys.

Overall I think those keys cause me less issue than the 1u right shift on the filco manila, which occasionally trips me up.

[MrRooks]

Finished my prototype case. I have a few things to fix but I'm happy with the result.



Full Album

[nathanrosspowell]

Finished my prototype case. I have a few things to fix but I'm happy with the result.

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Full Album

Heads up, you need fix the quotes " marks in url codes (I fixed them in my quote).

Very clean looking board, I have a baby version:

[jackhumbert]

Planck PCB prototypes have arrived!



P.S. Thanks for posting photos, guys. They look great!

[Data]

Planck PCB prototypes have arrived!

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P.S. Thanks for posting photos, guys. They look great!

Nice!

Atomic next! :D

[Skuloth]

Planck PCB prototypes have arrived!

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P.S. Thanks for posting photos, guys. They look great!

I'm really excited to get my hands on one of these.

[ianbullock]

Atomic next!

Also might be interested in an atomic (short space) PCB at some point (hopefully PCB would support both configurations anyway?). The PCBs that you got in look nice! Hope everything works nicely .

[kakakowie]

Planck PCB prototypes have arrived!

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P.S. Thanks for posting photos, guys. They look great!

When will these be available!!!  D:

[jackhumbert]

When will these be available!!!  D:

Within a month! Will hopefully have more news next week.

Btw, for those people having issues with stabilisers, this is footprint I'm going to be switching to in the future - it should work perfectly with costar ones (current cut-outs don't), and cherry ones will fit, but may be a little loose.

[Data]

When will these be available!!!  D:

Within a month! Will hopefully have more news next week.

Btw, for those people having issues with stabilisers, this is footprint I'm going to be switching to in the future - it should work perfectly with costar ones (current cut-outs don't), and cherry ones will fit, but may be a little loose.

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Nice.  I think Cherry plate stabs are a little loose in the current plates anyway, so no real change there.  Can you briefly summarize what's changed in this new plate cutout?

Are Cherry PCB stabs supported?  I don't really know what to look for on those.  :P

[jackhumbert]

Nice.  I think Cherry plate stabs are a little loose in the current plates anyway, so no real change there.  Can you briefly summarize what's changed in this new plate cutout?

The costar cut-out part has been moved up a bit so that the middle of the cross on the white piece aligns with the middle of the keyswitch (allowing it to function as intended) - currently it requires the end of the white piece to be clipped. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to lock the cherry one in place and allow the costar ones to work.

Are Cherry PCB stabs supported?  I don't really know what to look for on those. 

The PCB is compatible, and I think the plates are too, as it follows Cherry's spec for them. I have some on order that I'll be testing to make sure.

[MrRooks]

Nice.  I think Cherry plate stabs are a little loose in the current plates anyway, so no real change there.  Can you briefly summarize what's changed in this new plate cutout?

The costar cut-out part has been moved up a bit so that the middle of the cross on the white piece aligns with the middle of the keyswitch (allowing it to function as intended) - currently it requires the end of the white piece to be clipped. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to lock the cherry one in place and allow the costar ones to work.

What's wrong with Costar on the plates? I use Costar stabilizers on my Atomic just fine, no clipping. They don't bind or anything. I also used my Atomic plates to get measurements for Costar stabilizers and transfered that to my 3D printed test plate and the stabilizers worked fine there too.

[Data]

Nice.  I think Cherry plate stabs are a little loose in the current plates anyway, so no real change there.  Can you briefly summarize what's changed in this new plate cutout?

The costar cut-out part has been moved up a bit so that the middle of the cross on the white piece aligns with the middle of the keyswitch (allowing it to function as intended) - currently it requires the end of the white piece to be clipped. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a way to lock the cherry one in place and allow the costar ones to work.

Are Cherry PCB stabs supported?  I don't really know what to look for on those. 

The PCB is compatible, and I think the plates are too, as it follows Cherry's spec for them. I have some on order that I'll be testing to make sure.

Cool.  Does that go for the actual PCBs too?  I think I see holes for PCB-mount stabs in your shot of the Planck PCBs. 

[jackhumbert]

What's wrong with Costar on the plates? I use Costar stabilizers on my Atomic just fine, no clipping. They don't bind or anything. I also used my Atomic plates to get measurements for Costar stabilizers and transfered that to my 3D printed test plate and the stabilizers worked fine there too.

It may be hard to see in these photos, but I've aligned my clipped white piece with the center of the keyswitch, and one side should be touching the edge of the black piece, so that it slides freely.

Do the ones you're using look different?

Cool.  Does that go for the actual PCBs too?  I think I see holes for PCB-mount stabs in your shot of the Planck PCBs. 

Yeap! The holes are there - they are flipped though. I need to make sure they'll be compatible with the plate. It may be an XOR with the plate and the PCB-mounted stabs.

[MrRooks]

What's wrong with Costar on the plates? I use Costar stabilizers on my Atomic just fine, no clipping. They don't bind or anything. I also used my Atomic plates to get measurements for Costar stabilizers and transfered that to my 3D printed test plate and the stabilizers worked fine there too.

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It may be hard to see in these photos, but I've aligned my clipped white piece with the center of the keyswitch, and one side should be touching the edge of the black piece, so that it slides freely.

Do the ones you're using look different?

It looks to me like the black part of the stabilizer isn't fully seated in your picture. The right side from the angle that picture is taken looks like it isn't seated in the groove. Notice how the black supports are both vertical in my picture. The ones on the right side of your pic don't look seated and it's causing the support post to sit on an angle, not allowing the white part to fit.

Check mine out:

[jdcarpe]

What's wrong with Costar on the plates? I use Costar stabilizers on my Atomic just fine, no clipping. They don't bind or anything. I also used my Atomic plates to get measurements for Costar stabilizers and transfered that to my 3D printed test plate and the stabilizers worked fine there too.

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It may be hard to see in these photos, but I've aligned my clipped white piece with the center of the keyswitch, and one side should be touching the edge of the black piece, so that it slides freely.

Do the ones you're using look different?

It looks to me like the black part of the stabilizer isn't fully seated in your picture. The right side from the angle that picture is taken looks like it isn't seated in the groove. Notice how the black supports are both vertical in my picture. The ones on the right side of your pic don't look seated and it's causing the support post to sit on an angle, not allowing the white part to fit.

Check mine out:

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That's what it looks like to me, and I suspected from the beginning. Sometimes you have to take something like a flat head screwdriver and apply a little force to the inside to get the Costar stabs to really pop into place where they should be.

[jackhumbert]

It looks to me like the black part of the stabilizer isn't fully seated in your picture. The right side from the angle that picture is taken looks like it isn't seated in the groove. Notice how the black supports are both vertical in my picture. The ones on the right side of your pic don't look seated and it's causing the support post to sit on an angle, not allowing the white part to fit.

Check mine out:

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The one pictured there is all the way up against the left wall, right? And it's still not perfectly centered - there's not meant to be any gap at all. It might fit, but it's definitely stressed when moving up and down.

I did mess with it a bit to shove it in, but there's just not enough space to get it aligned.

The resulting cut-out I mentioned above was made from taking measurements of the costar stabiliser components.

Here's a comparison of the two - new one is on the left (I forgot to add the tabs on the sides earlier), current one is on the right:

[jdcarpe]

It looks to me like the black part of the stabilizer isn't fully seated in your picture. The right side from the angle that picture is taken looks like it isn't seated in the groove. Notice how the black supports are both vertical in my picture. The ones on the right side of your pic don't look seated and it's causing the support post to sit on an angle, not allowing the white part to fit.

Check mine out:

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The one pictured there is all the way up against the left wall, right? And it's still not perfectly centered - there's not meant to be any gap at all. It might fit, but it's definitely stressed when moving up and down.

I did mess with it a bit to shove it in, but there's just not enough space to get it aligned.

The resulting cut-out I mentioned above was made from taking measurements of the costar stabiliser components.

Here's a comparison of the two - new one is on the left (I forgot to add the tabs on the sides earlier), current one is on the right:

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People have used many plates with the design on the right, if the depth of that cut is about 0.53-0.54mm. I provided plate drawings for several group buys with those hole dimensions, and most people seem to be able to use Costar stabs with them. You do have to sort of pry outward from the inside of the stab insert to get it seated properly. I don't really know how to describe the technique.

[MrRooks]

Here is an album of how I install mine, works every time and they are in there solid. I use needle nose pliers, it doesn't take much force and they pop in. This does not harm the insert and I've reused them for different build tests. These photos were taking on an Atomic plate. If you would like I can toss a switch in so I can take an unobstructed picture of it with a cap on. It's not being torqued on or anything, the white slider moves freely inside the stabilizer and lines up with the key/cap.

http://imgur.com/a/bAAO3

[jackhumbert]

Here is an album of how I install mine, works every time and they are in there solid. I use needle nose pliers, it doesn't take much force and they pop in. This does not harm the insert and I've reused them for different build tests. These photos were taking on an Atomic plate. If you would like I can toss a switch in so I can take an unobstructed picture of it with a cap on. It's not being torqued on or anything, the white slider moves freely inside the stabilizer and lines up with the key/cap.

http://imgur.com/a/bAAO3

If you can, could you try taking a pic of your stabiliser with the keycap?

[MrRooks]

Here is an album of how I install mine, works every time and they are in there solid. I use needle nose pliers, it doesn't take much force and they pop in. This does not harm the insert and I've reused them for different build tests. These photos were taking on an Atomic plate. If you would like I can toss a switch in so I can take an unobstructed picture of it with a cap on. It's not being torqued on or anything, the white slider moves freely inside the stabilizer and lines up with the key/cap.

http://imgur.com/a/bAAO3

If you can, could you try taking a pic of your stabiliser with the keycap?

No problem, check the album again I added a few more pictures to the end.

[vivalarevolución]

Possibly dumb question here, but does it matter too much which pin on the Teensy I use for each column/row?  I'm a noob at hand wiring, well, anything with a Teensy.  I need to my hand held.  Tightly.

[MrRooks]

Possibly dumb question here, but does it matter too much which pin on the Teensy I use for each column/row?  I'm a noob at hand wiring, well, anything with a Teensy.  I need to my hand held.  Tightly.

It doesn't matter, just make sure you note what is what because you'll need it when you put your layout into the firmware.

[nathanrosspowell]

Possibly dumb question here, but does it matter too much which pin on the Teensy I use for each column/row?  I'm a noob at hand wiring, well, anything with a Teensy.  I need to my hand held.  Tightly.

If you copmile your own firmware, it doesn't matter (as long as you don't use the reserved pins).

You can use Jacks tool to help make the firmware for your pin layout: http://planckkeyboard.com/matrix.html

[vivalarevolución]

Possibly dumb question here, but does it matter too much which pin on the Teensy I use for each column/row?  I'm a noob at hand wiring, well, anything with a Teensy.  I need to my hand held.  Tightly.

If you copmile your own firmware, it doesn't matter (as long as you don't use the reserved pins).

You can use Jacks tool to help make the firmware for your pin layout: http://planckkeyboard.com/matrix.html

Which ones are the reserved pins?

[nathanrosspowell]

Possibly dumb question here, but does it matter too much which pin on the Teensy I use for each column/row?  I'm a noob at hand wiring, well, anything with a Teensy.  I need to my hand held.  Tightly.

If you copmile your own firmware, it doesn't matter (as long as you don't use the reserved pins).

You can use Jacks tool to help make the firmware for your pin layout: http://planckkeyboard.com/matrix.html

Which ones are the reserved pins?

You want to leave VCC, GRN and pin D6.

If you look at the matrix tool I linked to, it only lets you use the good pins (you can draw a line from the pin to a column or row on keyboard below it).

I used this as my reference.  : http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/brownfox-step-by-step-t6050.html

[jackhumbert]

People have used many plates with the design on the right, if the depth of that cut is about 0.53-0.54mm. I provided plate drawings for several group buys with those hole dimensions, and most people seem to be able to use Costar stabs with them. You do have to sort of pry outward from the inside of the stab insert to get it seated properly. I don't really know how to describe the technique.

No problem, check the album again I added a few more pictures to the end.

Here's my clipped stab that's floating (tried to jiggle it around a bit to find where it wants to sit) with some dimensions that I took off the black piece immediately after (smaller dimension is inferred, not measured):



Here's the two designs with the dimensions (left, right), and the difference (middle) - it's pretty close to the difference in the first photo (the new design needs to be double-checked):



The only problem I see with the new design is that the bottom part is a bit shallower - this is there only so the wire on the Cherry stabs doesn't hit the plate. In my testing, it didn't come out more than 0.25mm or so (horizontally), but only in a hyper-extended state. I didn't think to dimension it, but it's 0.29mm on the new design, compared to 1.143mm on the current.

[MrRooks]

People have used many plates with the design on the right, if the depth of that cut is about 0.53-0.54mm. I provided plate drawings for several group buys with those hole dimensions, and most people seem to be able to use Costar stabs with them. You do have to sort of pry outward from the inside of the stab insert to get it seated properly. I don't really know how to describe the technique.

No problem, check the album again I added a few more pictures to the end.

Here's my clipped stab that's floating (tried to jiggle it around a bit to find where it wants to sit) with some dimensions that I took off the black piece immediately after (smaller dimension is inferred, not measured):

Show Image

Here's the two designs with the dimensions (left, right), and the difference (middle) - it's pretty close to the difference in the first photo (the new design needs to be double-checked):

Show Image

The only problem I see with the new design is that the bottom part is a bit shallower - this is there only so the wire on the Cherry stabs doesn't hit the plate. In my testing, it didn't come out more than 0.25mm or so (horizontally), but only in a hyper-extended state. I didn't think to dimension it, but it's 0.29mm on the new design, compared to 1.143mm on the current.

Your 7.95mm measurement, I measured 4 of mine and they all came out to 8mm flat.