Inexpensive Standard Keyboard Controllers

[slalomkenny]

Hey all!

I am building a USB keyboard that I hope to ultimately have manufactured at scale. I've read through a lot of posts and there are many options out there for programmable keyboard controllers (including Teensy which I have used for this project thus far). However, all of these controllers are quite expensive in the grand scheme of things given the keyboard I am making is an accessory with no more than 12 keys; with this few number of keys, the cost of the controller itself really becomes significant compared to a 100% HID class keyboard with so many more MX switches, keycaps, etc. Ideally, I would like to purchase low cost standardize controllers to which I can solder my own matrix PCB. I would imagine this would be cheaper than developing an entire PCB layout which includes the surface mounted MCU, USB host, etc myself.

Does anyone have experience obtaining standard industry-use keyboard controllers? I am assuming there are so many inexpensive rubber cup style keyboards available on the market out there that surely every company is not reinventing their controller each time, especially for standard nonprogrammable configurations which require no coding nuances from the standard HID class. I would assume there would be standard PCBs that may even have mask ROM code really than EEPROM given the high volume of manufacture. I have contacted multiple keyboard PCB manufacturers via Alibaba, but so far have been told each time they will only produce custom PCBs from my own Gerber file.

Is anyone aware of a way to obtain such a controller or perhaps knows that some standard controller as I'm describing even exists?

Thanks! I appreciate the help!

Mike K.

[Data]

You can look through the Adafruit catalog but I doubt there's a prefab controller kit that fits your criteria AND is significantly cheaper than a Teensy.  If you want cheap (and especially for mass production) then you need to make space on your PCB and budget for individual components + soldering.

Edit: There are Teensy knock-offs all over Aliexpress and Fleabay if you absolutely have to have something prefab, but buyer beware.  Your mileage will vary wildly.  It's sort of a crapshoot.

[Wilkie]

Prepare thyself: https://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/can-we-design-the-teensy-alternative-for-keyboards-t13662.html

[slalomkenny]

Prepare thyself: https://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/can-we-design-the-teensy-alternative-for-keyboards-t13662.html

Wow! This thread is incredible! Gonna have to take some time to digest all of the information here and get up to speed. Thanks!

[ghostjuggernaut]

Hey, from the lowcountry!

[slalomkenny]

Hey! Charleston represent!

[duynguyenle]

I think there's a thread over at DT on using Arduino Pro Micro instead of Teensy, if you don't have that many keys, this is probably a decent option right? I seem to recall that you can get Pro Micro clones for a few dollars instead of 20+ for the Teensy

[user 18]

I think there's a thread over at DT on using Arduino Pro Micro instead of Teensy, if you don't have that many keys, this is probably a decent option right? I seem to recall that you can get Pro Micro clones for a few dollars instead of 20+ for the Teensy

Pro micro has 18 digital IO pins, which is enough for 81 keys arranged in a 9x9 logical matrix (of course, that can be in any physical configuration you can make work). Even that seems like overkill for a dozen keys, but I don't know how much cheaper one can get a 32u4 board. I've made a couple of simple boards using one, and I've been fairly happy with how it's worked. A quick look on ebay says the ones I've used are around $4 USD per piece.