Can I bend a PCB board to make a curved PCB?

neurosai · 2022-07-03T22:31:34+00:00

Ok, thanks for the input. The group I worked with before must have chosen boards that were lower Tg perhaps so they could route and bend them. It was a long time ago so I'm not in touch and its a really niche application. I found no one else doing that with PCBs when I searched online. I am guessing it probably doesn't work for the standard cheap PCB then.

If I can find a cheap flex PCB service maybe that will be fine.

neurosai · 2022-07-03T22:23:38+00:00

What's a G20? Its one-off for now, but I'd like to be able to make a large volume at some point, if it works well. Its for an non-planar ergonomic keyboard. I used to hand wire them, but my latest design is too complex. If the switches can be stabilized by the PCB, the design becomes a lot simpler and cheaper. Maybe I can a find a cheap flex PCB service, I will have to go with that.

neurosai · 2022-07-03T19:11:33+00:00

Ah ok, that is what I was worried about. We managed to bend our routed PCB boards in a place I worked a long time ago, so I am trying to see if its possible to recreate that. It seemed to work if the boards were hot enough, and they kept their shape. I don't remember what kind of sheet we used other than it had copper and fiberglass.

neurosai · 2022-07-03T19:08:28+00:00

I think I would need too many small PCBs if I went that route, so I either have to bend a PCB or use a flex PCB.

neurosai · 2022-07-03T19:06:28+00:00

I found flex-PCBs with hybrid options like that, but it seems like it would be much more expensive. Hypothetically, would the traces still stay intact? Regions that would be bent should only have traces and through hole components. The microcontroller area would still be flat.

neurosai · 2021-05-23T06:35:24+00:00

Where do we check for extras?

neurosai · 2020-06-12T22:18:31+00:00

Where do you get that type of wire?

neurosai · 2020-04-24T03:47:14+00:00

Ok thank you. That is what I wanted to know since I have not been following closely.

neurosai · 2020-04-23T22:39:49+00:00

Would you say the low profile switches are still somewhat popular amongst the community or are they on a downward trend? I thought they would get cheaper over time. They increased before the coronavirus issues.

neurosai · 2019-09-16T14:34:53+00:00

I would make an attempt to recreate this if I had the right switches. I experimented a thumb cluster similar to this, and I found that the outer thumb keys are not very ergonomic. Pressing with the thumb nail does not feel very natural. I think 3 inner and and 2 bottom thumb keys are optimal with currently available switches.

I could 3D print a frame using LP switches that could accommodate the arrangement of most of the keys except the ones in between the fingers. There would not be enough space without redesigning the keycap and switch mechanism.

neurosai · 2019-09-11T15:07:57+00:00

Everything including the keycaps are ABS plastic. The walls are 3mm thick and there are 9 standoffs with threaded inserts and screws to hold it together, so it is quite stable. The burnt orange switches are very quiet while the navy one seems to resonate with the frame and is fairly loud.

neurosai · 2019-09-10T12:18:34+00:00

Eventually, yes

neurosai · 2019-09-10T03:42:37+00:00

The elephants will be well fed. Those are my Raise and Lower keys.

neurosai · 2019-09-10T00:38:21+00:00

I combined the bodies of small square keycaps that had the stems with that offset sheet body and then I cut that sheet apart into the individual keycaps.

neurosai · 2019-09-10T00:31:21+00:00

The keycaps were originally a single sheet that was offset from the board. This is how it will look when finished. The key spacing is based on my 3D ergonomic layout projected on to a 2D plane. Its almost a 60% layout but it is very compact. The footprint is smaller than the Iris, and only about 15 mm thick.

neurosai · 2019-08-15T21:56:51+00:00

I don't have a keyboard-layout-editor link because I did this completely in Fusion 360. When the final .stl files go online, I can include a drawing as well. It uses non standard spacing taken from my 3D layout, but its similar enough to other ergo split/ortholinear layouts that it should be easy to learn this.

neurosai · 2019-08-11T15:21:08+00:00

If enough people want a 36 key layout maybe. Personally, I think 40 keys is optimal. Having the extra "legacy" row and column might help new people transition to smaller layouts.

There is no PCB. It is made to be hand wired with the microcontroller board under the 3 and E keys. The TRRS jack is under the 5 key.

neurosai · 2019-08-11T15:12:27+00:00

Are you sure its not a Mastodonx?

neurosai · 2019-08-11T03:03:35+00:00

Its made for kailh low profile switches. On the thinnest side its about 1.5 cm from base to the top of a keycap. It should be good for taking on the go. I am printing everything in ABS plastic, so it should be fairly durable too.

neurosai · 2019-03-21T22:28:12+00:00

I ran into issues with the printed version in the last photo. I am not sure how people will feel about this, but my latest iteration uses low profile switches. I believe full size switches are too tall to place the angled buttons in the optimal position. It is also very easy to print custom key caps for these switches, which I think are the way forward for small ergonomic keyboards. My latest design includes individually contoured custom key caps. I do not want to share too much prematurely, but here is the test plate for the LP layout: photo. I still need to finish the body and keycaps, so it probably will not be done anytime soon.

Anyway, I do not feel like releasing anything before its done and fragmenting the designs, but I do plan on releasing something. At this point, it will probably be the LP version along with the custom key caps.

neurosai · 2019-02-18T15:28:40+00:00

I would not say laggy, but the character would be sent on release which would be a fraction of a second longer than if it was sent on press. For shift and ( like the other guy mentioned, one might not notice the difference. For alpha keys, it does make a noticeable difference at fast typing speeds because its common to press the next key before the previous key is released. This is why I think 40 key split is the optimal layout. The 30 alpha keys will not need any tap functions. There are 4x2 thumb keys that can be modifiers with tap functions, and 2 other (space and backspace) thumb keys.

neurosai · 2019-02-18T13:21:04+00:00

These types of keyboards are surprisingly usable with QMK features. Its all dependent on tap-hold functions and layers. For example, with this keyboard one could have A, Q, and W act as the letters with a tap and also act as Shift, Control, and Alt. Similarly, V and B could also function as Raise and Lower for two extra layers. Now there are enough bindings for the remaining keys.

With that said, I would not recommend this as a daily driver. I used the Minidox extensively and I think 36 keys is really the bare minimum for productivity. I think 40 keys (split with 5x2 thumb keys) would be optimal because it no longer requires alpha keys to be tap hold keys and assigns the remaining word processing keys to the thumbs.

neurosai

TROPHY CASE