I think i’m about ready to get this custom board printed, but i thought i’d ask if anyone here is willing to have a look and see if i’ve made any big mistakes with it. The KiCad files are here on CryptPad, made with version 7 of KiCad.

I know there’s no microcontroller. I’m planning to hand wire in a Raspberry Pi Pico that’ll sit in the case so i don’t have to make room for it on the PCB. That’s what the connections at the top of the board and right of the middle pad are for. They’re wired into the matrix already. The seven mounting holes around the edges are just screw holes, and the one on the left hand between some keys is for the stem of a trackpoint that’ll also be hand wired under the PCB. The switches here are Choc V1, not MX.

Thanks for this and for all the help i’ve had with this project so far. I couldn’t have done it without this community.

  • Ralim~@sh.itjust.works
    17·
    3 days ago

    My two cents would be to use thicker traces, in this application using the thin traces doesn’t help, and can make them easier to break. I would personally add ground fills on top and bottom out of habit mostly though, not sure if it would help in this situation.

    Also use the silkscreen, it’s free (effectively) so put labels on connections and also you can import images into it if you want (enjoy it).

    (Note I’m on mobile so can’t inspect the kicad but will if I remember later)

    Edit: sorry didn’t see flood fills I’m image. Ignore that 😅

    • IndigoGolem@lemmy.worldOP
      5·
      3 days ago

      Kailh Choc V1. I’m very used to super flat laptop keyboards so i picked those over the taller MX switches.

        • IndigoGolem@lemmy.worldOP
          2·
          3 days ago

          JLC PCB, only because i already have an account with them. Are you trying to start your own custom keyboard?

            • IndigoGolem@lemmy.worldOP
              2·
              1 day ago

              It’s been an interesting project so far. I’ll probably write about the whole process once i’m done as someone who was new to this stuff. The community here and in adjacent Lemmy communities is kind and helpful.

              I’ll just say that i started by drawing up a design for what the final board could look like in Inkscape. I started with squares for each key that all looked about the size of a keycap.

              If i were to do this again i’d definitely do some stuff differently. I still think Inkscape is a good place to start (or GIMP, or a pencil and paper. Whatever you like to use for drawing.), but some parts would have been easier if i’d made the keys there actual size. That was before i knew how to set Inkscape’s scale to match my monitor, so that 1cm in the program at 100% zoom is 1cm on my screen. If i’d done that i think i could have imported the drawing into KiCad as a reference.

              I also think i’d use a different CAD program. I didn’t know of any when i started this besides KiCad but it has been quite frustrating to work with. I had to reinstall it in version 7 instead of using the current v9 because so much stuff just doesn’t work or doesn’t work easily in newer versions.