The purpose of this project was to learn about designing pcbs and how to make my own keyboard. I wanted to make something that was not a completely unique design but I wanted my own personal touch. It had to be small and portable, so I went with a 60% layout at first. However I really wanted arrow keys because they are very important to me in a keyboard layout, so I added them and it acutally led to better packaging overall. Another very important thing to me was hotswapability. I wanted the ability to change my switches if I wanted to. This led to its own set of challenges, but eventually it worked out pretty nicely. Additionally, I wanted a rotary encoder, so I put one in the top left corner. Finally, I wanted the microcontroller to be exposed because I think it looks pretty cool, so I made a cutout for it in the top right. Overall, this project was really fun to design!
Full CAD
Top Plate
Base
PCB (Hotswap sockets!)
Layout
Schematic
| Item | Description | Link | Price | Quantity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCB | circuit board for all the components | https://jlcpcb.com | 20.70 | 1 | 22.64 |
| Raspberry Pi Pico | Microcontroller for keyboard | https://www.microcenter.com/product/661033/raspberry-pi-pico-microcontroller-development-board | 2.99 | 1 | 3.27 |
| Akko Cream Blue Switches | Tactile switches for keyboard, sold in packs of 45 | https://www.amazon.com/Akko-Cream-Blue-Tactile-Switches/dp/B0CL4FRWY8 | 25.98 | 1 | 28.41 |
| Womier Black keycaps | Keycaps for keyboard | https://www.amazon.com/Womier-Black-Pudding-Keycaps/dp/B0BN5F3B9S | 17.99 | 1 | 19.67 |
| Plate mount Stabilizers | Stabilizers for keyboard | https://www.amazon.com/Durock-Plate-Mount-Stabilizer/dp/B08T6CTRM8 | 9.99 | 1 | 10.92 |
| Kailh hotswap sockets | Sockets for hot-swappable switches | https://www.amazon.com/Kailh-Hot-Swap-Sockets/dp/B07ZHYJWLJ | 9.99 | 1 | 10.92 |
| 1N4148 Diodes | Diodes for the keyboard matrix | https://www.amazon.com/ALLECIN-1N4148-Schottky-Diodes/dp/B0BRF4SJGQ | 5.99 | 1 | 6.55 |
| EC11 Rotary Encoder with switch | Rotary encoder used for volume knob | https://keeb.io/products/rotary-encoder-ec11 | 1.99 | 1 | 2.18 |
| Total: | 104.56 |