Hand-Crafted

by fimbulvetr

Something I feel many of us take for granted is how we interact with our electronic devices. Most of us have used our smartphones with touchscreens, but perhaps more commonly interacted with our computers with keyboards, in the standard QWERTY format we all grew up with. It was not until recently that I began to reconsider whether there was a better way to interface with my computer, which led to me to the Atreus layout (detailed here).

Here the basic keyboard is split into two sections and rotated outward, to more naturally align with the angles of our arms while typing. Of course rather than just buy a keyboard with this shape, which do exist, I thought it would be more fun to build it myself, assembling the pieces over several months and finally completing it over the winter break. I started by laser cutting the case pieces from wood, and painting then in a black lacquer to protect them from the elements. Next, the PCB needed to have diodes and key-switches soldered to them before it could be mounted onto the key plate.

To dampen the sound of the keys, I added rubber orings and a foam layer to absorb the sound under the PCB. To finally seal it all up I also had to 3D print a spacer to match the foam layer. With this final assembly, it was time to program the microcontroller to create an operational keyboard. One of the more common firmwares used for hobbyist keyboards like this is QMK, which allowed me to customize the key layout to my liking. Having fit most of the main keys I needed on the main layer, all that remained was testing out the keyboard, which proved to be quite difficult. Even though the layout is still QWERTY, just having the split forcing me to types certain keys with certain hands was quite tricky. With the help of my friend, we also constructed a soft case for the keyboard, allowing me to carry this new device on my travels, ensuring comfortable typing at all times.

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