keyboards/chrysemys

Chrysemys

A 34-key single-board keyboard created with Ergogen.

Design Goals

• Bluetooth connectivity.
• Single board, with an outward rotation between the two halves for ergonomic comfort.
• Using the ZMK firmware, as it has the best bluetooth support at the moment.
• A focus on keeping the entire keyboard as thin as possible.

Bill of Materials

• 36 Kailh Low-Profile Mini Choc Switches (CPG1232)
  • Note: These are the "mini" swtiches, which are not compatible with the normal Choc layout.
• 1 package Kailh Low-Profile Keycaps
  • Alternatively, the MBK Choc Keycaps
• 1 Pro-Micro compatible microcontroller. I recommend one with Bluetooth and an integrated battery charger, such as the nice!nano.
• 1 surface mount SPDT sliding switch for the power switch. LCSC #C128955 fits the footprint. Alternatively, you can jump the pins on the board and depend on the software standby features.
• 1 surface mount button for the reset switch. LCSC #C2888943 fits the footprint. This part is optional. You can also jump the reset pin on the MCU with tweezers or bind to a key in QMK.
• 1 301230 LiPo battery such as this one
• Adhesive rubber dome feet

Center Cover

Work in progress

Inspiration

GergoPlex

The GergoPlex is a 36 key keyboard which I purchased as a partialy assembled board. The key layout is excellent, however the thumb keys are slightly too far in towards the hands, and the split design results in my keyboard halves wandering away from me, or hard to use on uneven surfaces. I worked around some of these problems by creating a board in which the two halves are nestled in just the right orientation, however that does not help the thumb key issue.

Hummingbird

The Hummingbird layout, and Rufous, the Ergogen recreation have been a big help in getting me started with Ergogen and building the layout I'm looking for.

Credits

Footprints

• Several footprints used in this project were borrowed from jcmkk3's Trochildae collection