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The Saucer – A DIY trackpad attachment for the Voyager
- bloopernova 2y agoI've wanted something similar for my Alice layout keyboard: attached to closest edge of the keyboard, between the 2 space bars, would be a good place for a wheel or trackball. A roller or wheel in that position would allow either thumb to use it with hopefully a minimum of movement/stretching.
- lylejantzi3rd 2y agoHave you seen this? https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/
- jjkaczor 2y agoArghhhh... I did not have to see that... I was happy with my Kinesis Gaming Freestyle RGB Edge KB... Sigh, checks wallet... Thanks!
- Zetaphor 2y agoIt's the best keyboard I've ever owned. The uhk with the riser is my final form.
- BossingAround 2y agoIf only UHK was ortholinear. I have Ergodox EZ now and it's almost perfect. Wouldn't want to go back to a non-ortholinear keyboard.
- bloopernova 2y agoMakes me want that modular add-on to be a standard on keyboards.
- LoganDark 2y agoWhat is "the Voyager"? I guess I can find a link to it in the navigation bar, but I had no idea what this article was talking about (a computer?) until then.
- Palomides 2y agoit's very funny that there isn't just a picture of the end result mounted on the keyboard
- alanbernstein 2y agoYes, that should be at the top of the page. There is one in the build guide.
- LoganDark 2y agoIt should be somewhere in the page. I instinctively scrolled to the bottom looking for an end result but couldn't find one. I was so confused lol
- rigonkulous 2y agoIts a DIY split keyboard: https://www.zsa.io/voyager https://www.zsa.io/voyager
- cdavid 2y agoIt is programmable but the HW is sold assembled and ready to use. Wouldn't qualify it as DIY.
- LoganDark 2y agoOpen hardware perhaps?
- BossingAround 2y ago
- alanbernstein 2y agoExcellent work. This is a key component of a truly ergonomic keyboard for me, and only a tiny fraction of fancy keyboards include pointing devices. I discovered that round trackpad module a while ago, and considered a similar project. I ended up getting a UHK paid for by my company's ergonomics budget instead.
- Klaster_1 2y agoInteresting to see Plasticity used for actual manufacturing CAD work, I always though you'd be better of with a dedicated tool like FreeCAD and rely on Plasticity for artistic work and asset modelling. Glad to see the project get traction, been following it for several years.
- linsomniac 2y agoPlasticity is what I want to look at for my next modeling program, but so far I seem to be able to make what I want using TinkerCAD, so I'm getting along without having to climb another learning curve.
- helsinki 2y agoThose are two of the ugliest cats I have ever seen, no offense.
- aajaces 2y agoI'm glad I wasn't the only one
- voidUpdate 2y agoI've never really understood the attraction to hairless cats. They look like someone's scrotum instead of a cute ball of fluff that I expect from a cat
- noelwelsh 2y agoThey are Sphynx cats[1]. I'm not a fan of selective breeding in cats. Dogs, which have been much more selectively bred, have a huge number of inherited health issues as a result. E.g. pugs and other dogs with short noses tend to have a lot of health problems[2,3]. Cats have largely not been selectively bred, but selective breeding is becoming increasingly common and has negative impacts on the animals' health. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphynx_cat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphynx_cat [2]: https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/health-wellbeing/at-home/brachycephalic-dogs https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/health-wellbeing/at-... [3]: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/small-animal/documents/qmha-info-sheet-brachy-dogs.pdf https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/small-animal/documents/q...
- generalizations 2y agoI don't understand the purpose of your digression into selective breeding in dogs? > the Sphynx was developed through selective breeding of these animals, starting in the 1960s
- noelwelsh 2y agoDogs have a longer history of selective breeding and so provide evidence of where we can expect cats to end up if selective breeding of cats continues. (Also a little bit of education for people who might not be aware of these issues.)
- jacobedawson 2y agoI own the Voyager and it's a great piece of kit, my only wish is that it was wireless, but the team has clear reasons why they've stuck with wired boards (https://www.zsa.io/wireless https://www.zsa.io/wireless). A trackpad would be lovely. Very portable and comes with a great key editor to handle layers. Also worth checking out the one-man Bastard Keyboards (diy and prebuilt), he does the Charybdis kits with trackballs, or the Dilemma Max split mech with a trackpad alongside ortholinear keys: https://bastardkb.com/product/dilemma-max-prebuilt-preorder/ https://bastardkb.com/product/dilemma-max-prebuilt-preorder/
- stavros 2y agoI followed the "wireless" link, but thought they'd have much better arguments. Couldn't you make a replaceable battery, and an optionally-wired keyboard? Yes, wires are great (I went with wired for mine after my BT one proved too flaky), but wireless controllers are so cheap nowadays that you might as well add a wireless option to your keyboard.
- ericjuta 2y agohttps://sterling-key.com/ https://sterling-key.com/ works for me on a qmk keyboard with a trackball!
- leejoramo 2y agoAlso check out Handheld Scientific's BT-600 http://handheldsci.com/kb/ http://handheldsci.com/kb/ Be sure to read their documentation which includes a fair amount of macro programming.
- beAbU 2y agoTheir anti-wireless argument is pretty weak imo. My logitech K780 takes two AAA batteries that I literally replace max once a year. And it uses bluetooth!
- 0x1ch 2y agoAlthough there's a lot of people who don't like to tinker, it is very easy to replace an internal cell pack if the designer went with one.
- lettergram 2y agoUnrelated, but I had to do a double take! I too had two naked cats, Java & Mew Mew (sleeping like the firefox logo) - https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fiv26l6ajuzu31.jpg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D211b7172ae361010da768709d79e2295438e10d9 https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.... Or sprawled - https://i.imgur.com/iQlwA8h.png https://i.imgur.com/iQlwA8h.png Java (who likes to suck her tail like a thumb) - https://packaged-media.redd.it/g11ncwdswpj31/pb/m2-res_1080p.mp4?m=DASHPlaylist.mpd&v=1&s=d5343bde20caa51c9d5c81e813af53754d86b577#t=0 https://packaged-media.redd.it/g11ncwdswpj31/pb/m2-res_1080p... Regarding the project, love projects like this
- PetitPrince 2y agoNow I wonder how complicated it would be to implement a pointing stick (aka track point aka the red nipple from the Thinkpads). I think it has the same benefits as this circle track point with an even smaller footprint.
- 3np 2y agoI've seen quite a few people do something similar with repurposed PSP controllers since a few years ago. Wouldn't be surprised if there's something more purpose-made available by now, if you search around.
- imglorp 2y agohttps://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com has a trackpoint option. And this thing can be added on to others https://holykeebs.com/pages/trackpoint https://holykeebs.com/pages/trackpoint
- PetitPrince 2y agoThis is so cool. Thanks !
- dustincoates 2y agoAs was said in another comment, the UHK has a trackpoint option, which is what I chose for my right module. I highly recommend it--it's replaced mouse usage for me in most situations. (I.e., any time that I'm not doing something only with the mouse.)
- jerlam 2y agoI liked the trackpoint on my Thinkpad keyboard, but with so much dead space on most ergonomic keyboards compared to a laptop, the benefits of such a small pointing device are lost.
- chaos_emergent 2y agoI have a moonlander that I love, and I want to add a trackball or trackpad to it. I saw the mod that Kevin Christensen wrote on ZSA's site: https://blog.zsa.io/diy-moonlander-trackball/ https://blog.zsa.io/diy-moonlander-trackball/ The missing piece is that the trackball doesn't click, and this seems to be the case in general with trackballs on the market. Does anyone know why trackballs don't click? I'm imagining a casing that would allow the entire ball to drop by a few millimeters to trigger a click. One potential reason is that it's hard to click without moving the mouse on screen, but I'm unsure of how much of an issue that is in reality.
- Rhapso 2y agothumb-keys on the moonlander for click! The angle of your thumb on the ball will change and turn the ball unless the press is perfect parallel to the axis of the switch at the point exactly opposing the switch on the ball.
- chaos_emergent 2y agowhat about a mechanism that 'locks' the trackball in place at rest, and then requires a little bit of force to 'unlock' the trackball to track?
- Rhapso 2y agowhatever you are using to activate that mechanism, should just be your click button. I could see a "sliding vs static friction" trick for a passive mechanism, but anything that worked would so wear out very quickly.
- nazzacodes 2y agoI build keyboards/mice for a living and also think a trackball with tap to click would be great. Intuitively I see why this would be complex to build. I would say the major paths are a physical switch or touch sensor. I see the physical switch as similar to a mouse wheel which lets you middle click it;- disassemble a mouse and see it's really quite complex to have this whole electronic component move up and down hitting lever. Now imagine trying to mount a similar system below a trackball with 3 far apart touch points and continuous movement of the ball rather than the discrete movement of the mouse wheel which can absorb some rotation (as you mention). I think a touch sensor would be a really interesting way to go, you could probably pass conduction through the right ball and sensor touching the ball, A force feedback vibration motor might also be possible.
- adolph 2y agoIdeas that occurred from reading this: A. Add x and y strain cells to the trackpad [0] so that it acts like an IBM TrackPoint for broad movement when a still thumb applies lateral force. Trackpad capacitance is used for fine movements. B. Keycap LEDs powered by inductive current [1]. Bonus points if phosphor cob is shaped like characters and can be embedded in a key molding (heat a challenge). 0. Cirque GlidePoint Circle Trackpads: https://www.mouser.com/c/?marcom=118816186 https://www.mouser.com/c/?marcom=118816186 1. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q5GVDQC/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q5GVDQC/
- JS-Sound 2y agoPSA: A Voyager is one of the myriads of custom, so-called "ergonomic" keyboards out there. And beware of the photos of the authors' cats - torture breeding specimen.
- alanbernstein 2y agoAre you suggesting a standard keyboard is somehow more ergonomic than one that can be adjusted to fit an individual's preferences?
- wucke13 2y agoNote to self and others: please don't plug in/out a TRRS into your keyboard while it's powered. The TRRS usually shortens pins during insertion/removal, which can damage your keyboard. Most keyboard designs do not properly guard the circuitry against the evil of TRRS.
- uticus 2y agoNot to negate the work and customization, but a simple solution that’s worked for me for years is a Wacom tablet in addition to split keyboard. Works on Win and Linux, and pen input is max ergonomic.