8 ms·

Menelaus: A firmware for the Atreus keyboard, written in Microscheme

59 points by lelf 7y ago

dang 7y ago
We changed the URL from https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/README.md https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/README.m... to the article that's linked there, which gives more background.
- technomancy 7y ago
  Hi; original author here. That article goes into more background but it's based on a much earlier version of the firmware; as of last week I've gotten it to be feature-complete and stable, and I've been using it as my daily driver. I have been meaning to follow up the article with a part 3 that covers the rest of the features, but in the mean time I have added copious comments to the source link above such that it covers almost everything you need to know. (This is probably the most heavily-commented piece of code I've ever written with a 1:1 code:comments ratio.) I have also been working on a GUI configuration tool in Racket that emits Microscheme source files you can compile and upload to your keyboard: https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/gui.rkt https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/gui.rkt https://p.hagelb.org/menelaus.png https://p.hagelb.org/menelaus.png If you've looked at building an Atreus before but gotten intimidated by the soldering, we have a kickstarter for a non-DIY version that's significantly cheaper than the kit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/atreus https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/atreus
  - dang 7y ago
    Would you prefer us to switch the link back? Author's call! Also, is the title inaccurate?
    - technomancy 7y ago
      Thanks; the title is fine. The current link is probably a better starting point; I've added links to the most recent revision so folks can see the final product if they want.
1MachineElf 7y ago
Title ahould contain "(2015)" - you'll see the "2015-01-07" date at the bottom. The original Atreus was programmed with Microscheme, but it has not been that way for a few years at least. TMK was the recommended firmware when I started using one in 2016. Currently you'll see QMK as the defacto. That will likely change this year after the Atreus 2 is released. The kickstarter campaign for it launched one week ago. Scheme still is used in the project, just not for firmware. The git repo has a scheme program in it to generate a PCB for an Atreus provided one specifies the desired number of rows, number of columns, angle, and column-stagger.
thaumasiotes 7y ago
Geez, I feel like by the time you're releasing utilities named "Menelaus" for your product named "Atreus", you kind of need to address the question "why is your product named after a guy whose only notable feature was that all of his descendants experienced ruin and death?"
- technomancy 7y ago
  That's a good point, but it ignores two other notable descendants: Orestes (who is legendary for establishing the precursor to the modern judicial system and who I named my firmware written in Forth after http://github.com/technomancy/orestes http://github.com/technomancy/orestes) and Paul Atreides, who as you may know was Muad'Dib and was capable of seeing the flow of cause and effect unfold across spacetime.
Syzygies 7y ago
QMK is an amazing project. I'm using it for three keyboards so far. That said, tweaking the behavior of tap/hold dual function keys is voodoo. There are a few flags one can set, or one can replace the keystroke inner loop, which I'm about to do. 18 of my 30 core alpha keys are dual function, either modifiers or access to other layers. I have many shortcuts that involve one finger from each hand in sequence, easy chording. However, change keyboards and I trip over myself on fast ordinary typing, accidentally triggering sequences that rearrange the orbits of the planets. (I used to use Emacs, so I'm used to this.) Everyone types differently, so "this works for me" rarely helps. Every mechanical switch activates differently, so one can adapt to one keyboard and be back at ground zero on another keyboard. Scheme would be great for creating a DSL implementing arbitrary flow charts for the state transitions as keypresses register down or up, and timers fire. Writing this in C is tedious. And if chording ever "just worked" many more people would adopt it.
- StavrosK 7y ago
  I am similarly having trouble with Space Cadet (where Shift sends a parenthesis when pressed but is Shift when held). It interacts badly with other keys because there's no way to tell it to never output the parenthesis. I need to be able to stop it because sometimes I tap both Shifts (right then left) to output Caps Lock or to output "()" (left then right). Since there's no way to tell QMK "I've manually processed what I needed to process from these keys, you can stop", it sends the parentheses anyway. It gets even harder to debug because, as you say, it's highly timing-dependent. Hold (tap) the key for 100 ms, you get one thing, hold it slightly longer and you get another. I have a todo item to reimplement Space Cadet myself one of these days so I can override it better, but I shouldn't have to go to such lengths. Other than that, I love QMK.
- jkaptur 7y ago
  Any advice for getting started in QMK? I'm an experienced programmer, so every tutorial that starts with git and the basics of C is frustrating, but I don't have a lot of experience with hardware, keyboards, etc. For example, I have no idea what "keystroke inner loop" you're referring to - where can I read more about that?
jmiskovic 7y ago
That code is as procedural as it gets. MicroPython would be a far more natural fit, I think.
- technomancy 7y ago
  MicroPython would not work; a basic hello world in MicroPython takes 3x more memory than the total amount of RAM of the atmega32u4.

59 points by lelf 7y ago

dang 7y ago

We changed the URL from https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/README.md https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/README.m... to the article that's linked there, which gives more background.

technomancy 7y ago
Hi; original author here. That article goes into more background but it's based on a much earlier version of the firmware; as of last week I've gotten it to be feature-complete and stable, and I've been using it as my daily driver. I have been meaning to follow up the article with a part 3 that covers the rest of the features, but in the mean time I have added copious comments to the source link above such that it covers almost everything you need to know. (This is probably the most heavily-commented piece of code I've ever written with a 1:1 code:comments ratio.) I have also been working on a GUI configuration tool in Racket that emits Microscheme source files you can compile and upload to your keyboard: https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/gui.rkt https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/menelaus/tree/master/gui.rkt https://p.hagelb.org/menelaus.png https://p.hagelb.org/menelaus.png If you've looked at building an Atreus before but gotten intimidated by the soldering, we have a kickstarter for a non-DIY version that's significantly cheaper than the kit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/atreus https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/atreus
- dang 7y ago
  Would you prefer us to switch the link back? Author's call! Also, is the title inaccurate?
  - technomancy 7y ago
    Thanks; the title is fine. The current link is probably a better starting point; I've added links to the most recent revision so folks can see the final product if they want.

1MachineElf 7y ago

Title ahould contain "(2015)" - you'll see the "2015-01-07" date at the bottom. The original Atreus was programmed with Microscheme, but it has not been that way for a few years at least. TMK was the recommended firmware when I started using one in 2016. Currently you'll see QMK as the defacto. That will likely change this year after the Atreus 2 is released. The kickstarter campaign for it launched one week ago. Scheme still is used in the project, just not for firmware. The git repo has a scheme program in it to generate a PCB for an Atreus provided one specifies the desired number of rows, number of columns, angle, and column-stagger.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

Geez, I feel like by the time you're releasing utilities named "Menelaus" for your product named "Atreus", you kind of need to address the question "why is your product named after a guy whose only notable feature was that all of his descendants experienced ruin and death?"

technomancy 7y ago
That's a good point, but it ignores two other notable descendants: Orestes (who is legendary for establishing the precursor to the modern judicial system and who I named my firmware written in Forth after http://github.com/technomancy/orestes http://github.com/technomancy/orestes) and Paul Atreides, who as you may know was Muad'Dib and was capable of seeing the flow of cause and effect unfold across spacetime.

Syzygies 7y ago

QMK is an amazing project. I'm using it for three keyboards so far. That said, tweaking the behavior of tap/hold dual function keys is voodoo. There are a few flags one can set, or one can replace the keystroke inner loop, which I'm about to do. 18 of my 30 core alpha keys are dual function, either modifiers or access to other layers. I have many shortcuts that involve one finger from each hand in sequence, easy chording. However, change keyboards and I trip over myself on fast ordinary typing, accidentally triggering sequences that rearrange the orbits of the planets. (I used to use Emacs, so I'm used to this.) Everyone types differently, so "this works for me" rarely helps. Every mechanical switch activates differently, so one can adapt to one keyboard and be back at ground zero on another keyboard. Scheme would be great for creating a DSL implementing arbitrary flow charts for the state transitions as keypresses register down or up, and timers fire. Writing this in C is tedious. And if chording ever "just worked" many more people would adopt it.

StavrosK 7y ago
I am similarly having trouble with Space Cadet (where Shift sends a parenthesis when pressed but is Shift when held). It interacts badly with other keys because there's no way to tell it to never output the parenthesis. I need to be able to stop it because sometimes I tap both Shifts (right then left) to output Caps Lock or to output "()" (left then right). Since there's no way to tell QMK "I've manually processed what I needed to process from these keys, you can stop", it sends the parentheses anyway. It gets even harder to debug because, as you say, it's highly timing-dependent. Hold (tap) the key for 100 ms, you get one thing, hold it slightly longer and you get another. I have a todo item to reimplement Space Cadet myself one of these days so I can override it better, but I shouldn't have to go to such lengths. Other than that, I love QMK.
jkaptur 7y ago
Any advice for getting started in QMK? I'm an experienced programmer, so every tutorial that starts with git and the basics of C is frustrating, but I don't have a lot of experience with hardware, keyboards, etc. For example, I have no idea what "keystroke inner loop" you're referring to - where can I read more about that?

jmiskovic 7y ago

That code is as procedural as it gets. MicroPython would be a far more natural fit, I think.

technomancy 7y ago
MicroPython would not work; a basic hello world in MicroPython takes 3x more memory than the total amount of RAM of the atmega32u4.