Interest CheckKeyboards

Borne V2 - A slim, wireless and split keyboard

geekhackauto-imported

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Description

Hi,

After finishing the V1 for some leftover prototype boards, I'm now interested in checking the demand for a refined V2 product. This time, a 3x6 version will be added to the line-up, and all cases will be made out of aluminum. (CNC:ed, bead blasted, then anodized with coloring.)

3x5 renders album: https://imgur.com/a/F6YmzLj
3x6 renders album: https://imgur.com/a/GH1A9Tw

Quick recap of its distinguishing features:

* Assembled wireless, split, 36/40-key orthogonal keyboard with a comparatively large battery capacity.
* Low profile and tiny footprint at a max height of about 17 mm (0.67 in).
* Front-facing I/O: External power and reset switches. Two LEDs, a red one for charging indication, and a blue one for bluetooth/bootloader status.
* Designed with repairability and upgradability in mind: The battery is for example connected via a molex connector, not hard-soldered. Design files are openly available. Silkscreen is expected to be descriptive. And serial programming through-holes are available.
* Powerful firmware wizardry achieved with ZMK and Adafruit's nrf52 bootloader.
* Keyboard comes with a micro-USB port, as it's about 30% thinner than the USB type C port. A necessary trade-off for keeping the case thinner than most modern smartphones.
* Toggling between USB or multiple bluetooth profiles/controls possible with single key press combinations.
* Dedicated IC allows the keyboards to charge while in use.
* ESD protection IC on USB data and power lines.
* Battery capacity of at least 240mAh with plenty of room for improvements. Improvement options include doubling that to 440mAh by connecting two in parallel. Source 320mAh directly from a battery manufacturer. Or possibly in the future; custom manufacture double-cell batteries at 480mah.
* Utilization of Kailh Choc v1 spacing and height dimensions. (The standard—and far from low-profile—MX switches are therefor not compatible with this keyboard.)

Pricing

The goal is to provide an entry point for showing what low-profile ergonomic keyboards have to offer. As such, here's the pricing estimate:

240 USD for an assembled and thoroughly tested board, this includes:
* PCB pair with Kailh hot-swap sockets.
* Aluminium case pair. Preliminary color offerings include black, gray, red, green, blue, gold, and orange.
* Pre-flashed with keyboard layout of choice. E.g Qwerty, Dvorak, Colemak-dh etc.
* Travel-case.

+30 USD for a set of Kailh Choc v1 (PG1350) switches of choice. (Pre-assembled)

+20-60 USD for a set of keycaps of choice. (Pre-assembled). Variation availability and pricing is entirely dependent on shown demand. IC form will survey interest for the following variations:
* MBK blanks/colored/legend 40s...
* Lowprokb's LSDA blanks
* Generic square flats.

The availability of both switches and keycaps will be verified with each creator/retailer prior to group buy announcement. Credit where credit is due and no knock-offs. Also, group buy won't go live before I'm satisfied with the sample quality of each supplier.

Interest check form

All in all, I'm posting this in order to check the demand for:

1. Developing a V2 in regards to case, pcb, firmware and open source repo improvements.
2. Exploring the possibility of sourcing larger, albeit rarer, battery capacities.
3. Deciding on which case color, switches, and keycap variations can viably be provided and preassembled.
4. Helping out with the ZMK project as a whole.

So without further ado, here's the link to the form