Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Chitin
Scybin's Chitin is an open-source wireless split with a tiny trackball.
Published February 24, 2026
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After his Scyboard, Andrew (aka Scybin/Heavy_Ice) shared another open-source split keyboard: the Chitin – designed for ergonomic comfort and wireless functionality, this build is semi-modular: including hot-swappable microcontroller, switches, lipo battery, and even the trackball.
I finished building my custom keyboard: chitin. I enjoyed working on this project, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I hope you all enjoy! – Andrew.
The keyboard was designed using Ergogen and other tools documented in the github repository.
Features
- wireless split
- 57-58 keys (6x4+3-ish)
- MX switches, hotswap sockets
- nice!nano v2.0 controller
- reversible PCB
- trackball (optional)
- 3D-printed case
- ZMK firmware
The trackball replaces an inner switch from the keyboard layout. Meaning that if not incorporating a trackball in the build, you can have one extra switch.
To make trackball work with ZMK, the author made a heavily modified driver:
I made significant modifications to a pim447 driver developed my mwandzik to work with zmk v0.3.0, documented here. Trackball has to be on the central half. I use a trackball listener on the right.overlay. Never got the RGB to work, but the trackball works flawlessly – Andrew.
Resources
Published on Tue 24th Feb 2026. Featured in KBD #207 (source).
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