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JohnHind
75
Nov 23, 2017
This comes very close to my ideal keyboard. However there are some layout ideas I've always wanted to try: 1. Shift keys duplicated in the right and left most columns. This way you can use either hand to hold the shift whilst hitting the character key with the finger you'd normally use for that key. For economy, once a shift key was operated on one side of the board the duplicate keys on the other would take character assignments. 2. To vacate the bottom right key for the above, move the up key to the conventional location above the down key. 3. Two keys, probably to the left and right of the up key, would be dedicated to carry all the bracket pairs with different shift keys (so one would have ({[</ and the other )}]>\). There would be a special "shift stack" for these keys, so it remembered the open bracket strokes and automatically supplied the matching closing bracket without needing a shift. So my questions are: 1. Assuming I am prepared to do some firmware re-programming, will I be able to implement the above ideas? 2. Will I be able to buy keycaps either individually or in sets to make up for any not in the standard layout? Finally, re-iterating other comments, I'd definitely want all black keycaps, particularly if the legends are as hard to see as they appear in the photos of the other options. But I will probably get the kit anyway.
reckter
0
Nov 23, 2017
JohnHindthe first two should definitely be doable by reprogramming the keyboard. the third option seems possible to me as well, as the keyboard is fully programmable. You can easily implement a stack for that. Probably want do add a clear stack command as well, so you do not have left overs on the stack. (The only limitation for the stack here is the memory on the keyboard itself, but you could just limit the size of the stack to like 50 and then forget the first bracket used)
Dart
13
Nov 24, 2017
JohnHindFirst two are super easy, third one will require some understanding of C, both to write the implementing code but more importantly to understand the existing code so you can hook your shift stack up properly. So as long as you're confident in your skill or ability to learn, go for it!
JohnHind
75
Nov 24, 2017
DartThanks guys. I can certainly handle C on microcontrollers, so assuming it does not require any additional outlay on cross-compilers or specialised debug hardware, and the open source is complete and understandable, I'll give it a go.
What about keycaps? I understand these are non-standard so I would want to be able to source them independently of the kit. I'll need to duplicate the function keys, or at least find a source of blanks. Anyone know of a good on-line shop were one can buy keyboard components individually? If not, seems like a good business opportunity for a keyboard enthusiast!
Incidentally, the ultimate plan is to make the function keys capacitive touch pads, possibly on the vertical left and right sides of the board.
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