Keyball46 Keyboard with Trackball ~The Story Until Release~
Hello. This is Yowkees.
This article is for the 21st day of the "Keyboard #2 Advent Calendar 2021".
Yesterday's article was by bbrfkr (Bibirifukurou), titled "Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back? My Keyboard Activities in 2021."
I'll summarize the activities leading up to the release of the Keyball46, to which I dedicated most of my private time in 2021.
Note: Sales of Keyball46 have been suspended. Please consider Keyball39 / Keyball44 / Keyball61.
Table of Contents
1. My Custom Keyboard Debut
2. Built the First Keyball Prototype to Test an Idea
3. Prototyping the Keyball46
4. No Stopping Now! Injection Molding!
5. Launching Sales of Keyball46
6. Actually Preparing a Physical Store
1. My Custom Keyboard Debut
To write about my debut, let me introduce myself briefly. I, Yowkees, am a circuit engineer who has dedicated my life to electricity. It was common for me to spend a month straight hand-soldering high-density circuit boards in front of an oscilloscope, but I love electronic circuits, so I've (enjoyed?) my work.
However, in recent years, most electronics production has moved overseas, and semiconductors have become more powerful, which has significantly reduced the demand for circuit design itself. So, for the past 10 years, I've dabbled in mechanical design and even gained experience in software tasks, which I used to dislike.
Due to social circumstances, I unexpectedly became an all-round engineer, and this experience would later prove useful in keyboard development, but that's a story for later.
Now, after continuing design work through my 20s and 30s, my shoulder finally reached its limit in August 2020. I reluctantly went to a chiropractor, who told me my shoulder was already in its final stages, so I received acupuncture and continued to visit monthly.
The cause of my stiff shoulder was clear. Spending over 8 hours a day using the B5 laptop keyboard provided at work was definitely a problem, so I remembered the split keyboards I had seen before as a solution. When I searched online, I was surprised that no ready-made products came up. "Why? There must be demand for it..." I continued surfing the net and found out why.
It was an era where people built their own keyboards.
My first impression when I encountered the custom keyboard world was, "What?! I have to solder it myself? What a pain!" I remember thinking.
I never imagined that I would later design keyboards myself and build many of them, lol.
Well, since finished products weren't sold, I had no choice but to build one, so I researched custom keyboards. There were so many switches and keycaps that I got lost, but by narrowing down the conditions to low-profile, I was able to choose quickly.
I ordered a Corne chocolate with genuine Kailh brown switches and genuine keycaps. It had been a while since I last soldered, but my skills hadn't dulled yet - complete!
Oh, this is great! The column-staggered layout is easy to type on! The thumb keys are good. My shoulder definitely feels better! I was very satisfied.
Alright! No more distractions! This is the last one! Just as I said that and tried to exit the keyboard rabbit hole, an idea popped into my head, dragging me deeper into the keyboard swamp and onto a thorny path.
2. Built the First Keyball Prototype to Test an Idea
For about six months, I used the "Corne chocolate" + "Kensington Slimblade Trackball," but then I noticed a weakness of split keyboards.
Because split keyboards are small, their position tends to shift easily. When I move my hands back from the trackball to the keyboard, I sometimes make typos because my hands don't land in the optimal position. This gradually became a subtle source of stress.
Then, it suddenly occurred to me that if my thumb controlled the trackball, I could continue typing without moving my hands.
I figured someone must have already done this and searched, discovering that Bit-Trade-One had released a 7mm trackball in a 1U size, and furthermore, y_fuku was working on incorporating a 7mm trackball into the thumb cluster of the Claw44 using it.
That's great! I thought I could just wait for its release! But... I'm a true trackball user since my teens and have a theory from using various models: "The bigger the ball, the easier it is to use!"
I hesitated about dropping from the 55mm ball of my current Slimblade to a 7mm ball. I didn't need 55mm, but I wondered if I could at least use a 34mm ball. I spent days pondering this and finally decided to build one myself!
Oh no, this is getting long and verbose. I'll speed it up from here!
I have quite a bit of 3D CAD experience. Fusion360 seemed to be compatible with 3D printers, so I used it. First, I made a clay prototype to determine the position of the trackball for my thumb, then arranged the keys in a curved, column-staggered layout to avoid the ball sensor. Around 50 keys should be enough for typing. The thumb keys are positioned very low, almost touching the surface, as they are uncomfortable to press if too high.
I tried to get it 3D printed at a local Fab Cafe, but their machine was old and gave up.
So, I turned to a web service. I sent it to DMM.make's 3D printing service. I chose MJF material, and the output precision was amazing! I was deeply impressed.
Even the screw holes in the fine details are amazing!
I painted it and immediately assembled it.
Just look at the scroll section. The wheel is fixed with a universal board. To make it rotate properly like that, this person must be a pervert, lol.
It's done! Since I disassembled an off-the-shelf trackball and repurposed its PCB, I didn't have to think much about software, and it worked.
I immediately tried it at home.
"Yep! It works as expected!"
"The trackball seems a bit far, though."
The completion of my first self-made keyboard, created with 3D printing, brought great joy and was a very satisfying project.
And then another problem emerged... isn't this embarrassing to use at work? *sweat*
No, don't mind what people think! I braced myself and took it to work. As I nervously pulled it out of my bag, I realized I had forgotten the TRS cable at home and immediately put it back. My heart was pounding, and I was sweating. Maybe forgetting the cable saved me... For a timid person like me, using a keyboard of this size at work was just too high a hurdle.
3. Prototyping the Keyball46
So, I decided to redesign it with a more subdued look. If I was going to make it, I wanted to turn it into a kit that anyone could assemble and sell it.
My ambitious plan began with me underestimating the difficulty of kit production by about a factor of ten.
First, I tried to build the sensor circuit myself.
I have plenty of experience with PCB assembly (PCBA) at work, so I casually thought, "I'll start with what I'm confident in."
I was amazed by the existence of free software like Ki-CAD. At electronics manufacturers, I used electrical CAD software that cost hundreds of thousands of yen per license, so the fact that comparable software was available for free... what an age we live in!
I chose the PMW3360 for the optical sensor, simply because it seemed available for purchase online. I added a 1.9V power supply for it and two level conversion ICs for the signal—and it was done!
Oh, it turned out pretty compact, didn't it?
I was about to test it on a breadboard, but then I thought, "Ugh, that's a pain." "It'll be faster to just make a PCB!" So I immediately started making the Keyball46 PCB.
It's faster to make a PCB than to build a circuit on a breadboard—what an age we live in!
You can send the data and get it back in a week.
During the first assembly, I was so nervous, my adrenaline was pumping. I kept muttering, "Calm down~ calm down~" as I assembled it.
I've checked it in CAD, so I think it's fine, but this is the moment of truth, wondering if the board will fit properly.
This is also the moment of truth, wondering if the 3D-printed ball case, which I had made beforehand, would fit properly.
Designing my first original custom keyboard, and being able to assemble it on the first try without any interference or circuit errors, gave me a lot of confidence, and I decided to proceed with sales immediately.
It's much more subdued than the first prototype.
Now, what about the software? I studied the firmware of various custom keyboards on GitHub's QMK_firmware. I happened to search for the optical sensor name "PMW3360" and found a very cute keyboard called Oddball, created by Alexander Tulloh. This firmware was released under the GNU license, and by heavily referencing it, I managed to create a firmware that could at least move the trackball, which was a relief for now.
Regarding software, I'm just a hack-and-paste engineer, but since it worked for now, the plan was to get people who are confident in software to polish it up together! So, for now, it's all about the hardware! I'm pushing forward until sales begin.
I finally started using the Keyball46 prototype at work. I gazed at the keyboard, enchanted. I wanted to use it without a palm rest, so I used the low-profile assembled version for a month and concluded that it was ready for sale.
4. No Stopping Now! Injection Molding!
Now, the final hurdle: what to do about the ball case?
There were three options:
1. Sell only the PCB, release the STL files, and have purchasers 3D print it themselves.
2. I 3D print a large quantity and include them in the kit.
3. Injection molding! Mass production!
Normally, one would choose option 1 or 2. That's the normal approach.
However! I had envisioned a future where the field of keyboards with trackballs would expand globally.
If that were to happen, I thought the person who first made the injection mold would win. I was really thinking that. I was totally out of my mind.
Okay, let's make a mold! I declared on Twitter, and Nainsan immediately took an interest.
I felt that Keyball was gradually attracting attention due to the in-depth work on injection molding.
I was going to write about the process from here until the completion of the injection mold, but it looks like the article would become incredibly long, so I'll summarize that in a separate article.
So, the first 25 sets of upper and lower trackball cases arrived.
What I was particular about was that the upper and lower parts would be fixed by dowels and dowel holes. This ensured that the ball wouldn't fall out even if the Keyball46 was turned upside down.
The hole diameters and case shapes for this part were a one-shot gamble based on experience and intuition.
I wanted to ask the mold manufacturer for their expertise regarding the dowel and dowel hole diameters, but they said they couldn't advise because adjustments were needed depending on the part shape and material. Initially, I thought about making the dowel about 0.2mm thicker than the hole, but there was a risk it wouldn't fit, so I modestly made it 0.05mm thicker, which turned out perfectly.
Also, when I prototyped the case opening for holding the ball at 33mm for a 34mm ball, it was a bit too tight and seemed likely to scratch the ball, so I changed it to 33.3mm. I think it resulted in a great case where the ball smoothly fits into the case with just the right amount of force, and doesn't fall out even if the keyboard is shaken.
I'm writing this all so casually now, but until the 25 prototype sets arrived, I was so stressed that I had bloody stools. Sorry for the gross story, lol.
I kept telling myself, "If it fails, just think of it as buying a Rolex and immediately losing it," but how can anyone actually think that!
The smoothness of the surface is truly indicative of a domestic manufacturer. The parts turned out even more beautiful than expected.
5. Launching Sales of Keyball46
Well, with the 25 sets I had for now, I started pre-selling Keyball46.
On the condition that the firmware was an alpha version that "sort of worked," I started selling only 10 sets at a price significantly lower than the planned retail price.
Despite no prior announcement, all 10 sets sold out in about 4 hours, and I was relieved to confirm the existence of people who resonated with the product.
I must mention the immense cooperation of KoRoN@Kaguriya-sama, who purchased one of the first 10 units.
Since my software knowledge is limited, I can only write within my understanding, but KoRoN-san is a top player in the software world and also a Vimmer who controls computers solely with a keyboard.
Initially, I thought the Keyball46 device would be disliked by people in the Vim community. So, it was a completely unexpected development that it became an opportunity to interact with a god-like figure in the Vim community.
KoRoN-san provided ideas starting from smoothing the trackball's movement, to left/right communication of ball movement, left/right detection of ProMicro, and OLED display, among other things. He helped develop a firmware of such high quality that it would have taken me a year to achieve even if I painstakingly worked on it. There's even a firmware manual, and I can't thank him enough.
Afterward, he summarized how he came to offer such extensive cooperation in an article, and it seems he was interested in the insane development of injection molding. I also received various ideas about the software from others besides KoRoN-san, which helped in a significant refinement.
I wrote something strange earlier in the article about "the person who made the mold wins," but perhaps it wasn't so off the mark after all.
Well, the hardware is ready. The high-level software is also ready. We are fully prepared to start consignment sales at Yusha Kobo.
When you're into the hobby of custom keyboards, it's quite common for kits and keycaps you want to be "sold out." I absolutely did not want the Keyball46, which I had put so much effort into developing, to be unavailable due to being sold out! With that in mind, I ordered tons of parts and PCBs to ensure a plentiful stock.
As long as there are people who want it, I promise to always keep it in stock and continue to supply it!
Actually, there's still a part of the Keyball46 firmware that hasn't been fully utilized yet: the dual-ball specification, which features trackballs on both the left and right sides. We haven't ironed out its sale or what needs it can address.
Fundamentally, the reason for this is the disruption of real connections within the custom keyboard community due to the COVID-19 pandemic! Surely!
6. Actually Preparing a Physical Store
I want to create a place to introduce the dual-ball specification and other Keyball series lineups!
More than anything, I strongly desire to talk about keyboards with various people in person! So,
I'm opening a physical store!
In Hida Takayama!
It's Japan's second branch!
It's quite a stylish property. In fact, I'm writing this article in the new store.
We're preparing to open on January 3rd! Please come visit us!