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Keyboard Builders' Digest / Inspiration

Aloidia v1

Designed by ItsBluu, the Aloidia v1 is a wireless solar split keyboard with lots of hotswap components.

KBD.news
Published March 15, 2023
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Vincent Nguyen aka ItsBluu introduced his feature-packed Aloidia – split, wireless, solar, and hotswap everything. :)

I am proud to present my new design: Aloidia v1. This is a project I have been working on on and off for the past year, and also my first mechanical keyboard design. It's a fairly complex keyboard, with more than 150 parts (not counting the switches) and 7 unique PCBs – ItsBluu.

Features

  • Split, hotswap, staggered multi-layout PCB compatible with MX switches.
  • Extended 65%-ish layout with extra button on the left.
  • Designed around the nRF52840 MCU, ZMK compatible.
  • Fully wireless. No wire between the halves and to the computer. Either Bluetooth or dongle.
  • Can switch between 5 different devices wirelessly.
  • Solar trickle charging for extremely long battery life.
  • Hotswap horizontal encoders and 5-way navigation switches near the thumbs.
  • Optional encoders in the corners.
  • Memory displays for ultra low-power user graphical interface. Hard to see from the angle in the video, but they display battery state of charge and connection status.
  • Fuel gauge for precise battery state of charge measurement
  • Over-current, over-voltage, reverse voltage and ESD protection.
  • For the battery: over/under voltage protection and temperature monitoring
  • 2 USB-C connectors per half allow the user to have one cable to the computer and one cable between the halves for charging.
  • Parts of the PCB can be broken off without losing any functionality for a 60% layout.

Case

  • Fully 3d printed case, with embedded tenting.
  • The halves and palm rests snap together magnetically.
  • No visible screws from the top.
  • Solar panels are flush against the top of the case.

Resources

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Published on Wed 15th Mar 2023. Featured in KBD #116 (source).

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