Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
babbit36
Sporewoh's babbit36 is an ultraportable wireless ortholinear keyboard.
Published March 15, 2023
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Chris Lo aka sporewoh is back with babbit36, a wireless ortho sporting a XIAO nrf52 controller.
I heard there was a demand for wireless ortholinear boards, and made the babbit36! It’s inspired by the Technikable, Zaphod Lite, and Corne-ish Zen! It’s also DIY friendly, since it uses a Seeeduino XIAO nrf52 board as the MCU! – sporewoh.
Some thoughts about the name:
All of my project names are the dumbest portmanteaus that I can wrack up during the weekend. I find humour in some of them, almost like an inside joke to myself. The name babbit was particularly rushed, since it's a portmanteau of "ban" and "rabbit", which is pretty nonsensical. I wish I had a better backstory haha.
Specs
- 36 keys, ortholinear layout
- low profile, CFX keycaps, CFX spacing (17x17mm as opposed to the typical 18x17mm Choc-spacing, so e.g it's not MBK-compatible!)
- wireless, ZMK firmware
- Seeeduino XIAO MCU
- Commodity parts, only non standard part is the shift register
- Relatively affordable
- Case only requires one CNC/3D Printed part and one FR4 backplate
If you are new to the scene, especially open-source ortholinear keyboards, sporewoh is one of the most prolific contributors with boards like the modular mongus48, the mekko5X cyberdeck, the Beyblock20 system, etc.
For Chris's earlier ortho designs check out his 2022 advent calendar post: Year of the Ortho.
Resources
Published on Wed 15th Mar 2023. Featured in KBD #116 (source).
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