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Leeloo

Leeloo, a split keyboard resembling the Lily58 – with a twist!

KBD.news
Published April 18, 2022
Creators! Feel free to tip me off about your keyboard related projects to bring them to 140K readers.

While the design was inspired by the popular split keyboards Lily58 and Corne, Leeloo is a split designed and built from the ground up with a twist – rotary encoders.

Clickety Split designed this split with 6x4 keys and rotary encoders in 6 optional positions.

Albeit, there is no doubt where Leeloo's heritage is derived from – Lily58, and Corne – it is not a copy-paste-modify implementation. It's perhaps the finer details that separates Leeloo from its predecessors – Clickety Split.

Specs

  • Support for MX/Box or low-profile Choc switches*
  • 90% of the switches are socketed (except the rotary encoder positions) – 6 positions require soldering.
  • Optional 128x32 OLED displays.
  • Option to select one of three positions for an EC11 rotary encoder on each half.
  • +/- Battery pads for wireless implementations.
  • Support for a micro on/off switch for travel.

(*At the moment there are two PCBs available: v1.0 and v1.13. Both PCBs support Choc switches but only v1.13 works with MX/Box switches – allegedly due to a footprint error.)

To learn more about the origins of Leeloo, read this blog post: Leeloo – The Series’ Genesis. It pretty much sums up how an ergo board should be designed: try some existing models, identify their problems, define your preferences, print and try paper mock-ups, iterate, etc. – i.e. cycles of observation, design, and testing.

Actually, the design and manufacturing process is documented quite well in their blog.

Albeit the write-up linked above refers to Leeloo Micro, a 5x3 version with Choc spacing, the first Leeloo marketed has 6x4 keys and the classic 19.05mm spacing.

Leeloo will have three different form-factors that will carry the same 5 modifier keys, yet a different matrix for 6x4, 6x3, or 5x3. There will also be LED versions for individuals who wish to have per-switch underglow.

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Published on Mon 18th Apr 2022. Featured in KBD #74 (source).


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