The Orange Boy Ergo (aka OBE) is our take on a super budget ergo / Alice-like kit. Not everyone has hundreds of dollars to spend on something they might not enjoy. We went with a layout that includes arrow keys since most people need them. There’s also 3 macro keys on the left hand side but you could have a knob and 2 macro keys instead.
A couple top views
And a bottom view
If you’re familiar with our previous products, you won’t be surprised that this is yet another through hole kit. The biggest difference as far as the component list goes will be the BlackPill. The BlackPill is a very affordable dev board option that supports USB-C from the start and its installation is essentially identical to more common dev boards such as the Pro Micro.
In the interest of keeping this kit as cheap as possible, we’re making some parts optional. The base kit will start at $40 and there will be several add-ons offered. The OBE is designed to be used without a switch plate (we recommend using 5-pin switches in general), but we are also offering a switch plate for an additional cost. We’re also not including a knob and encoder in the base kit, but those are available to add onto the kit as well.
Base kit contents:
Black Pill dev board
EEPROM + resistors
PCB
Bottom Plate
Diodes
Status LEDs + resistors
Standoffs
Screws
Rubber Bumpons (feet)
Features:
MX Switch support
USB Type-C
QMK/VIA/VIAL support
Optional encoder
Status LEDs (Num Lock + Caps Lock)
RGB LED strip headers
Aluminum feet cutouts
Reversible bottom plate
The OBE has a few layout options, not too many. You can do a giant right shift and/or split backspace.
