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Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

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Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#31

Post by csdvrx »

taylorconor wrote: post #29
csdvrx wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's wrong. The 4 key OSU keyboard is a 4 key keyboard emitting keycodes. I know because I have one (!!) Some of them even use QMK so you can assign anything you want.

My point is that they're macro pads where you can assign keycodes or keycode combinations to specific keys. The threeboard is itself capable of determining which keycodes to send and is not limited by what it's been programmed to do. So it's fully-functional in the sense that you can use it to type anything, it'd just take a really long time and make you very unhappy!

Fair enough!

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#32

Post by MikeTheGreat »

taylorconor wrote: post #14
MikeTheGreat wrote: post #13

I saw your answer to 'how to get into hardware design'. If you're willing to answer noobie questions I've got another one for you :) I put together an ErgoDox by following the directions (and by soldering. Lots of soldering :) ) but I don't really understand how the circuits work. In particular I'd like to put together a keyboard that connects the switches using wires instead of a PCB, but I don't know why there's al…

I tried to give a bit of an overview of this in the 'hardware design' section of the documentation [0]. It has some external links to further documentation and tutorials in it too. But the learning curve is very steep. I'd maybe suggest looking for an electrical engineering intro book or course at a level you feel comfortable with, just to get an idea of the basics. For the ErgoDox keyboard, the schematic is actually…

Thank you for sharing the [2] link - I think that's what I'm looking for. I read through the 'big' ideas (like how the keypress matrix works, etc) but I wasn't clear on why there's like 3-6 other ICs / components in the ErgoDox too - stuff like "Why is this resistor here?".

I was thinking of trying to make a keyboard that used a much cheaper CPU (like one of those $1-2 ones from China, or the Pico Pi) and realized that if I swap out that out that I'd have no idea where to put resistors, or why :)

I'm definitely going to look through your stuff too - a 3 key keyboard might be a much easier way to start, actually :)

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#33

Post by cellularmitosis »

MikeTheGreat wrote: post #13

I saw your answer to 'how to get into hardware design'. If you're willing to answer noobie questions I've got another one for you :) I put together an ErgoDox by following the directions (and by soldering. Lots of soldering :) ) but I don't really understand how the circuits work. In particular I'd like to put together a keyboard that connects the switches using wires instead of a PCB, but I don't know why there's al…

Search for a 6-key handwired tutorial, like this one: https://medium.com/cracked-the-code/a-complete-guide-to-buil...

The only parts you need are switches, wires, diodes, and a Pro Micro clone from eBay.

I recommend 6-key because they are supported out of the box by QMK and there are plenty of tutorials.

It looks like the tutorial I linked to above doesn’t actually explain how the matrix / diodes work, so you’ll want to google for an explainer.

Happy hacking!

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#34

Post by empressplay »

How about a two-key version that uses morse code? one key for dash, the other for dot. Or maybe the third key on the threeboard could be space / stop? (one press for space, two presses for stop?) Could be neat for kids to learn morse code

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#35

Post by sxv »

I did some back of the envelope calculations for fun. A 5-key setup would allow one-hit triggers of:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz and space, period, apostrophe, enter.

Then add a "shift" key and you add one-hit triggers of A-Z, backspace, question mark, tab, esc.

Then you could get 60 additional output values with double-tap shift and hold + key (30) and double-tap shift and release + key (30).

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#36

Post by Xevi »

stavros wrote: post #21

Here's my 5-key equivalent https://www.stavros.io/posts/keyyyyyyyys/

I've actually thought about creating something like this. It looks pretty good for combating RSI. Because it would allow you to have your arms in any position. However, I think it would be necessary to have two of them, one in each hand. And maybe a small trackball on one of them. It would probably also help to have straps on them that wrap around your hand, so you didn't need to grip them to keep them from falling to the floor.

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#37

Post by stavros »

Xevi wrote: post #36
stavros wrote: post #21

Here's my 5-key equivalent https://www.stavros.io/posts/keyyyyyyyys/

I've actually thought about creating something like this. It looks pretty good for combating RSI. Because it would allow you to have your arms in any position. However, I think it would be necessary to have two of them, one in each hand. And maybe a small trackball on one of them. It would probably also help to have straps on them that wrap around your hand, so you didn't need to grip them to keep them from falling t…

Yes, all these are good additions if you intend to use the keyboard for actual text entry, agreed.

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#38

Post by pcwalton »

sxv wrote: post #35

I did some back of the envelope calculations for fun. A 5-key setup would allow one-hit triggers of: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz and space, period, apostrophe, enter. Then add a "shift" key and you add one-hit triggers of A-Z, backspace, question mark, tab, esc. Then you could get 60 additional output values with double-tap shift and hold + key (30) and double-tap shift and release + key (30).

That's essentially 5-bit Baudot code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code

Re: Show HN: Threeboard – a full-size mechanical USB keyboard with only three keys

#40

Post by alexvoda »

darknavi wrote: post #39
oneoff786 wrote: post #17

You know people who use the DSA layout type 30% faster than the standard ASD.

I can't stand when I sit down at a co-workers desk to help them and they configured a DSA layout!

I my day we used the

A

S

D

layout.

It used to be all about vertical scaling. Now everyone is going horizontal.

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