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Building the Developer's Dream Keyboard

Posted by Soulskill on from the where's-the-button-that-finds-the-missing-semi-colon dept.

New submitter mondalaci writes: This article is about building the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard step by step, starting with an Arduino. Lots of pictures and nerd talk included. It's a mechanical keyboard that can split down the middle and re-merge, and it has four layers of keymappings to keep the design compact. It will support custom keymaps as well. They're planning to release the firmware and design files under the GPLv3, and they're working on repair instructions, too.

3 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Optimus Maximus successor? by mlts · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What would be nice would be a multi-key "gaming" keyboard, except with color e-ink on each key so one can not just map keys, but show where they are mapped.

  2. Give me a break by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Come on now, a developer keyboard with no navigation keys? Really? Okay, so you can map multiple key combinations to represent them. Still, no way. If I want to highlight the text to the left of the cursor, I use CTRL-SHIFT-LEFT_ARROW. If I want to select the text from the cursor to the end of the line, I use CTRL-SHIFT-END. I already use those navigation keys in 3-key combos. I don't need it to be a 4-key combo, or something totally proprietary to the point I can only function with any proficiency on a keyboard that there is exactly one of in the entire world.

    When I chose my last dev machine a few months ago, I really, really tried to make it a Macbook. I figured I could dual-boot windows and have all my bases covered. I had already tried using my older Macbook as a dev machine, and had given up. Why? No Home, End, PgUp or PgDown keys. As I stated above, I already use 3 key combos with those keys. I'm not about to try and make it a 4 key combo because Apple puts style over functionality. (and of course no Macbooks are touchscreen, and part of my work is making sure that web based multitouch HTML5 works properly on modern touch-screen desktop browsers).

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  3. Stop staggering rows already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Another keyboard with staggered rows, in 2015?

    Row staggering was a workaround for a mechanical typewriter, so that the levers that went from each key to the type ball would not overlap. It has not been necessary on any of the computer keyboards ever designed.

    On newly designed keyboards, stagger the columns instead, matching the variation in finger length.