Glyphs devlog #2
—Hello again proggers—
Layout work started for real this round, and with it came the first honest round of feature cuts. Turns out “cool idea” and “fits on the board” are different questions, and the board answered one of them pretty definitively: no room for two OLED screens.
ambition met physical PCB real estate, physical PCB real estate won
Cat or dog? KiCad
Okay let’s get into it~
—Yap—
Following up on devlog #1’s refresher, this round was about actually laying things out and finding out which parts of the original vision survive contact with a real board. Some didn’t.
—The Great Suffering—
1 — Working Out The Layout
Started actually placing components and working through the physical layout instead of just sketching ideas. This is where “sounds good” ideas either hold up or don’t.
2 — Cutting The Second OLED
The board simply does not have space for two OLED screens. One of the earlier plans assumed room that just isn’t there once real component footprints get accounted for. Cut it rather than force a layout that doesn’t actually work.
two screens sounded great until the board said otherwise
3 — Cutting Other Features That Didn’t Need To Exist
Beyond the OLED, went through and trimmed other planned features that were adding complexity without adding real value to what Glyphs is actually supposed to be — a multi-purpose steno keyboard, not a kitchen-sink board.
—FAQ (no one asked these but they are here)—
Q: What is a “progger”?
A: A human programmer. You. Except this is hardware, so feel free to mentally substitute “engineer” if that fits better.
Q: Why cut the second OLED specifically?
A: Straightforward space constraint — the board layout doesn’t have room for two once real footprints are placed.
Q: Is this a major scope reduction for Glyphs?
A: More a right-sizing than a gutting — cutting stuff that didn’t need to be there, keeping what the project’s actually about.
Q: Is one OLED still in?
A: Yes, just not two.
Q: What’s next?
A: Presumably continuing the layout work now that the scope’s trimmed down to something that actually fits.
—This is the end*—
*end for now, footprint clearances permitting
PREBBLE!!!