4 ms·
Gonna shill my project, a 34 key solar powered split keyboard https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep. Each half should end up ju
by cjshearer 4mo ago
Gonna shill my project, a 34 key solar powered split keyboard https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep.
Each half should end up just a bit wider than a smartphone (114mm x 86mm).
I'm still working on the case generation, which is intended to have a metal backplate for magnetic mounting, but I've gotten distracted developing a generic method to convert kicad geometry primitives to cadquery, so others can benefit from this workflow that uses the PCB geometry as the source of truth for generating an enclosure.
- stavros 4mo agoWhat is that battery? It looks like it will last about ten years, wouldn't a solar keyboard need a battery about 1/50th the size?
- aconbere 4mo agoThat's a 10440 lithium ion cell. It's the size of a AAA battery. Probably bigger than the keyboard needs but they are cheap, standardized, and easy to source.
- cjshearer 4mo agoTo answer the battery life question, I estimate (https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep/issues/2 https://github.com/cjshearer/cweep/issues/2) it will last ~228 days without the solar charger, and between between ~261 and ~337 days with the solar charger. I acknowledge that that really isn't much of an improvement, so at this point the solar charger mostly exists "because it's cool".
- stavros 4mo agoAh, that's too bad. Given how little energy this keyboard consumes, I was hoping it could run on the solar charger indefinitely. Hell, maybe a supercapacitor could be enough, hm. EDIT: I think you've overestimated active power consumption, I don't know if you'd actively be holding down keys for 2.5 hours per day... Also you estimated using this for 11 hours a day straight, which seems like way too much.