Keyboard Builders' Digest / Tips & Tricks
VIK standard
Sadek Baroudi released his VIK standard, which is a set of specifications and guidelines for interfacing between printed circuit boards, e.g. a main keyboard PCB and a module that supports specific features.
Published July 31, 2023
As mentioned in the Stront MX post earlier, Sadek Baroudi is finalizing his VIK standard:
VIK is a standard for a data interface between printed circuit boards. It is intended to provide modularity between a mechanical keyboard PCB and additional features. The main PCB can have a controller and a switch matrix, while the modules can provide additional features.
Adding support for VIK is as simple as adding a symbol and footprint, provided in the VIK repository, followed by some basic wiring.
The standard specifies the following:
- The type of connector (FPC 12 pin 0.5mm pitch)
- The signals mapped to each pin on the connector
- The type of cable – 12 pin 0.5mm pitch FPC Type A cable (leads exposed on the same side)
- (Optional) The size of the module PCB and mounting hole locations
- Inclusion of the VIK logo on the PCB
There are some working examples included as part of the VIK standard release, both keyboards and modules. This includes the vulpes minora and a collection of modules in the VIK repository. To see a complete list, see the VIK README's known list of VIK certifications.
Check out the VIK repo for design guidelines, recommendations, and more details on implementation and certification. Other than that, I reached out to Sadek with some additional questions:
What does "VIK" stand for? Is it an acronym?
So, technically it stands for V______ Interface for Keyboards… Due to potential copyright infringement, I can't say what the V in VIK stands for, but let's just say it represents a group of mechanical lions. :)
Could you tell us about your inspiration?
My inspiration behind VIK came from a few things:
1) I kept designing PCBs, but as I would think up new features, I had to reimplement the changes onto the keyboard PCB and refabricate it. This was frustrating, since I already had PCBs that were near identical, but just needed a few tweaks to support the changes.
2) There are so many boards out there with such minor differences. This told me that people were particular about what they wanted. However, having a feature to go in the center of the board was universal. For example, a trackball, trackpad, rotary encoders, scroll wheel, etc. Why wouldn't we have the ability to standardize on a method to separate the particularities of a key layout and number of keys from the features themselves. This just means more people can have exactly what they want.
3) Sharing!! When someone innovates on an interesting new feature, they can just put it on a module PCB, and it can be easily be used by many keyboards. It's so hard to share right now, since the person who designs the circuitry usually would need to explain what they did in their open source repo. Let's be honest, we're good at making stuff, but not always the best at teaching and sharing so that others can do it as well. With this architecture, people don't need to understand it and modify another PCB to add support for it. You just fab the module and connect it to any VIK compliant keyboard PCB.
Anything else you'd like to share?
Big thanks to all the wonderful members of the fingerpunch and Absolem discord communities who reviewed and discussed VIK during its development! I do believe that with strong adoption, this will really improve our ability to collaborate. So, please join the fingerpunch discord server and reach out in the #vik channel if you have questions, if you are interested in adopting VIK for your keyboard or module, or just want to chat about it!
Resources
Published on Mon 31st Jul 2023. Featured in KBD #130.
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