Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
freaku4X
A 4x10 ortho with a rotary encoder and LCD: freaku4X by u/sporewoh.
Published June 4, 2022
Christian Lo aka sporewoh published his freaku4X, a 4x10 ortho keyboard with a knob and OLED. "It embraces the excess minimalism of the key count, and embraces the excess extravagance of a knob and OLED screen."
It also has a lower profile than your typical 4x10 orthos, since the microcontroller is facing upwards rather than downwards.
This keyboard is a prototype of what I’m calling the freaku4X. It’s a 4x10 ortho with a knob and an OLED. It also has a fairly low profile compared to similar boards with the same form factor – sporewoh.
The major motivator for the design was being able to place the Pro Micro on the top of the board instead of the bottom. By doing so, one should be able to add Pro Micro sockets to the board without fear of the microcontroller hitting the table.
I added a knob in as well as an LCD since moving the Pro Micro to the top created more empty space.
In order to have enough pins for the rotary encoder and display, the freaku4X makes use of a (Western) duplex matrix to reduce pins used by the matrix.
GitHub repo: https://github.com/ChrisChrisLoLo/freaku4X
Thanks to PCBWay for supporting sporewoh and this project.
(Btw, you can redeem $5 at PCBWay by using the coupon code KBDNEWS.)
Published on Sat 4th Jun 2022. Featured in KBD #81 (source).
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