Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
NeoBoomerang
Mikey Sklar is back with another chording keyboard: the NeoBoomerang uses off-the-shelf Adafruit hardware.
Published November 12, 2024
After his one-handed BUBBY, which won the grand prize in sporewoh's pocket design keyboard contest, Mikey Sklar shared another chording device: The NeoBoomerang features Adafruit hardware.
I've made another one handed chording keyboard that emulates a 60% keyboard layout. This one my girlfriend named. She saw it and asked why it looked like a boomerang so NeoBoomerang is what I'm going with – Mikey.
The NeoBoomerang is made from a few off-the-shelf I2C devices. Dual Adafruit 1x4 NeoKeys, a KB2040 controller, plus an encoder breakout board for scrolling.
No special libraries were used, just straight CircuitPython code. The most difficult part of developing the firmware was figuring out how to watch for key releases and use multiple timers to get clean chord reads.
The device is used as a USB-C connected keyboard (no battery or wireless). The minimal "case" provides enough infrastructure to tie things together.
This is a super easy build for beginners looking to get into chording or looking to have a macropad on steroids. FYI, there is less than $50 in parts involved, and only one NeoKey jumper pad requires soldering.
Resources
Published on Tue 12th Nov 2024. Featured in KBD #179.
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