Tidal-keys
Hardware- 16 Devlogs
- 47 Total hours
A split keyboard with a design inspired by the geomtry dash level “Tidal wave”
Waiting on a reviewer. We'll let you know as soon as there's a decision.
I added a 2nd set of washers to my assembly, I noticed that there could be vertical wobble since there IS 2.75mm gap between the pcb and the insert, so I reduced that to .75mm (basically nothing). That way, the pcb is kinda sandwiched between the spacers.
Also another thing, for some reason my hackatime timed sessions are around 10-20 min slonger than the lapse one, which I find weird! I asked in slack but they told me there is nothing to do about it.
Finished BOM!
Probably the most painful things to find were the 3u and ISO enter keycaps(30$ shipping), so I decided to ask my supplier for the case parts if he could also print the iso enter keycap (he said yes, so yay). I reduced the 3u to 2.75u since its easier to get. I decided that the enter should be the only 3d printed part, since regular keycaps last longer than 3d printed ones.
Now I need to make a README! I made a little gif for it (stardance for some reason cant load it).
Finished debugging my code!
It took a suprisingly long time since I had to wait like 5 minutes in between fixing sessions (16 git pushes!) to determine where the error is, though it was mainly syntax errors here and there.
Finished the zmk code!
Hi! Today I just added missing features like bluetooth, rgb, and battery level, though it took me a while because I constantly got lost in the guide and didnt understand what I was reading (especially the bluetooth part).
Now all thats left is the bom and the github repo!
Finished assembly!!
Mainly took a bit longer on it because I had to fix some model errors, but apart from that everything went smoothly, the keyboard case is done!
Also started working on the code, which is actually pretty simple, since im just following the zmk firmware guide.
Hi everyone!! Sorry for not devolging in like what, more than 2 weeks? I just haven’t had a lot of time lately, had to study for a lot of test + school dances, ect,etc,etc.
This means not a lot has happened these days, I’ve mainly been doing the assembly (which is almost completed) + modifying some parts bercause they didnt fit.
I had a huge derail on this project, because I thought that each keycap had a litte 1mm spacing in between them, turn out that was definitely not true, so I had to work +3 hours to fix all that in the board and CAD. (I wish I had known that sooner! 😭)
Trying to find keycaps for it is an actual PAIN, I really cant find 3u keycaps for DSA, so I had to improvise (just scaled a 1u horizontally, all add in the stumps later)
*Right side is still in process! Also the enter key is kinda off scale, have to look into that.
Right side CAD complete!!
As planned in my figma sketch, I went with the beach themed right side split, I even added little starfish in that little empty space in the bottom right. I also decided to keep the dent that the left side has, that way they look symmetrical.
Plus, I made a lid for the battery compartment with corresponding colors for each one!
Now all thats left is to make the assembly! Shouldnt take long. I think I’ll do three designs: One for the left, the other for the right, and a 3rd one where both of them are together (for the picture!)
Finished the left splits components!
Today I finished polishing the bottom part of the split, like adding the battery wire hole, and screw holes.
I also made the top part of the split!
I used the color stackup I said I was going to use in my figma sketch, mainly dark tones of blue. I also added white arrows (which appear in the TW title screen) on a little raised platform, and a few little bubbles as extra deco).
An import change I made was changing the screws from M3 → M2, since the M2 are smaller and leave more space for clearances.
Now all thats left is to make the assembly design of it! That means every single screw, key, keycap, heatset insert.
And after that would come the right split and firmware!
(Almost) Finished making the bottom plate of the left side of my split keyboard!!
As soon as I started modeling the plate, I realized I’m incredibly slow and bad at CAD, It took me almost 3 hours just to do it. Rewatching my recordings, I was probably anxious and kind of confused about the measurements and how the stackup will be. Hoepfully with the other plates I take less (I already know what to do).
All I did was follow my figma drawings and I added a few modifications, such as a little wrist rest and a little thing at the top (planning to put the drawings there).
Also added the little battery compartment on the bottom, and as I’m writing this, I just noticed that the battery box has no where to connect to the pcb, so I have to add that still.
Another thing: I’m going to see what’s up with the hours I logged becasue according to stardance I’ve worked 4, but when I look at my lapse it only sums up to around 3 hours, so I’m going to ask in slack.
Design time!!!!! 🌠🌠
Ok, so I didnt have much time to work on the split keyboard because I had to study for a LOT of tests.
Usually before I desing something in fusion 360, I like to sketch it out first, I usually do it on my phone, but I decided to give figma a shot for this project.
I probably took more time trying to figure out how properly use figma, I made some very messy stuff in it.
I had two main ideas while working:
First idea:
- Left → Wave
- Right → Beach
- But the little fleck that a wave has at the back would be bothersame while gaming.
Second Idea:
- Based off the tidal wave title screen
- Left → top part of t.s
- Right → bottom part of t.s
-
- Cool color palette (Dark + Bright)
Long story short, second idea won because its simpler and cleaner than the first one. Thats why its good to sketch it out first! Because if I had gone with my first idea immediately in fusion, I would’ve had to design all over again because I would’ve noticed the bad fleck-
So now all thats left is to design the CAD!
PCB Finished!!!
I am SUPER happy because I finished the split keyboards PCB! Though I had to redo some parts because I got confused with the footprints, so like an hour wasted right there because of a small mistake.
Long story short, the LCSC SK6803 MINI-E footprint was NOT right, I discovered that all the leds in the SK series are reverse mounted (the LCSC was not), meaning that every single led in my pcb was wrong, and therefore, every single trace tied to it.
Also, there were like 10000 DRC errors, because of the same LED footprint, the copper is incredibly close to the cut-out, so KiCAD just started freaking out.
The cherry on top🍒🎂: KiCAD crashed as soon as I finished everything that I just mentioned, so I had to do EVERYTHING again in 20 minutes.
Other changes!:
- I moved some of the battery pads so I could route the LEDS easier
- Made all silkscreen texts face the same way so it’s easier to read + cool GD wave drawings
- Made each split keyboard have their own gnd net (KiCAD was trying to tie them together)
- Mousebites in between🐭
- Assigned all the 3D models for every component!
Soo, I could say the split keyboards PCB is finished, so now the next step is CAD, I still don’t know how I’m going to design the case so it looks like Tidal wave, probably going to make it cyan with fish maybe? I’ll see later.
Almost finished with the second half of the split keyboard!
I spent most of my time fighting with KiCad’s UI and trying to get the measurements of the board right, at some point I made the mistake of making the board 11.75cm and not the 11.73cm it was supposed to be (took me like 40 minutes to try and fix it), so all the wires and stuff had to be moved and replaced. I want to make each side of the board click somehow? Like not actually click but something like giving the illusion that you can merge them.
Fun thing: I discovered that the key footprint library I’m using has more than just plain old keys, it has fun shapes! Like the “enter” key, plus, they are compatible with the Kailh hotswap I’m using!
Another thing that I forgot to mention was that I added an extra button to the matrix, because there were some very big empty spaces near the thumb that could use an extra button, so the total button count for the split keyboard is 48.
Also some keys that will use spaces slightly bigger than 1u (such as CAPS and Right shift) that are too small for the stabilizers (smallest is 2u), are a bit farther apart so they fit in the keyboard, and use the space they are supposed to.
Right now I still have to check the DRC for errors + some power routing I forgot on the right side. I’m also thinking about adding some silkscreen designs to some of the free spaces on the board, so it doesnt look empty.
Today I completed the left half of my split keyboard!
I had a bit of a problem with the LED model I was going to use, since I was planning to sue the SK6812MINI-e, but discovered that it actually needs 5V to work, which is bad since we only have 3.7V coming from a 1S LiPo Battery. So, I switched to its 3mA counterpart “SK6803MINI-E” which can operate at 3.4V instead of 5. Routing wasn’t that much of a problem, a few vias usually fixed the problem.
I still don’t know about the battery pads, I feel like they shouldn’t go where they are (maybe they are too close to the edge?).
But apart from that, everything is ok! Now I just have to make the right side of the keyboard
Started making the schematic for the keyboard!
I decided to go with the popular XIAO nRF52840 module, since it has wireless capabilities.
The big problem for me was trying to manage my GPIO’s, since for 5 rows and 5 columns I need 10 GPIO’s, + a battery sensor, which is 11 gpio’s total (MCU max), but I was looking forward to adding sk6812mini-e leds. But I discovered that the nRF52840 has a battery sensor integrated so that would free up the necesary gpio for the leds.
Another problem I had was trying to manage the button count, I was constantly switching from 6 rows, 4 columns to 5 rows 5 columns, and so on. I decided to use a 5x5 layout but leave one row (lowest one) with 3 thumb keys, which would be space, Lctrl, and LAlt.
For the diodes, I decided to go with the classic 1N5819, and for the switches I decided to use the Kailh hotswap footprints.
