Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Liisa
The working title of u/Zonattu's 40% Alice-ish PCB project is Liisa.
Published August 7, 2022
Creators! Feel free to tip me off about your keyboard related projects to bring them to 140K readers.
This unnamed 40% Alice keyboard by Zonattu aka jpluomajoki is still work in progress but the PCB should fit a standard 60% case.
According to the author, the working title is Liisa, the Finnish translation for Alice.
Story is that I wanted to design a PCB with an 40-50% alice-ish layout, which would fit inside a 60% case. ISO Enter because it's the standard in our region and wanted to show it, even though I use ANSI on my daily drivers.
The author went with the STM32F401 Blackpill controller, since it was cheap and had USB-C. But why is the ISO Enter in the top left corner?
It was only when I started assembling the first PCB I received that I noticed I had put the switches on the wrong side, meaning not only the diodes were on the same side as the switches, and the controller would have to go upside down (no reset buttons available then), but the whole layout would be mirrored as well!
Although Zonattu found this a great learning experience and recommends everyone to try at some point, this prototype PCB may have some design faults:
The keyboard works, kinda. Some switches are permanently pressed, not sure why yet. Either shorted them during soldering or used a pin I shouldn't have.
So careful with this GitHub repo: https://github.com/jpluomajoki/Unnamed-40-alice-keyboard
Published on Sun 7th Aug 2022. Featured in KBD #90 (source).
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