Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Bird
This Bird, a monoblock split trackball keyboard by Protieusz, is a modification of the Crowboard, originally designed by Alex Miller.
Published September 19, 2024
54 people keep this blog alive for 150,000 readers. Want to join? Thanks to: Cyboard, Micah Alpern, and FFKeebs.
Protieusz reworked the Crowboard, designed by Alex Miller aka doesntfazer of keyboarddweebs.com, by adding a 25mm trackball. The Bird features 39 hotswap switches and is powered by a RP2040 Core A controller.
Specs
- 39 keys (3x5+3)
- MX, hotswap
- RP2040 Core A controller
- 25mm trackball (PMW3360 sensor)
- extra keys below the trackball
The author made two cases, a design with the bird kanji and also an Iron Man themed one with the ball holder cover purchased from Aliexpress (originally used for push start buttons for cars).
Resources
Gerbers (no PCB source) and one case only due to a design issue with the Iron Man one:
Published on Thu 19th Sep 2024. Featured in KBD #175.
Related
Sentinel
ProtieusKeeb's monoblock Sentinel, inspired by Le Chiffre, comes with an interchangeable trackball unit.
Cocot46
The cocot46 is a homebrew keyboard with an integrated trackball and rotary encoder.
Starship Bubu & OmegaSupreme
Protieusz shared a standalone trackball along with an open-source trackball module: Starship Bubu-01 and OmegaSupreme.
Pimoroni trackball top shell
Khord designed and shared an open-source top shell for Pimoroni trackballs.