The early days of Keykrush ORCA

The early days of Keykrush ORCA

Veronica of Keykrush talks concerning the improvement journey of the ORCA – an thrilling wi-fi ergo break up keyboard within the fundraising part.

Veronica Z
Revealed February 19, 2025

This obtained me pondering – what concerning the keyboard? May we design a keyboard that gives the identical consolation as a trackball mouse? Whereas utilizing a drawing pill for Photoshop and Illustrator, my left hand managed shortcuts on the keyboard, whereas my proper hand consistently switched between the stylus and mouse for features like brush scaling and canvas rotation. After an hour or two, my proper hand would begin to ache, displaying signs just like tenosynovitis. I urgently wanted a compact keyboard for my left hand, ideally with a scroll wheel, so I would not must depend on the mouse wheel. With a mixture of keys and a scroll wheel, I may obtain brush scaling, canvas rotation, and extra – no want for a number of wheels; one wheel and some keys would suffice!

I started exploring unconventional keyboards, particularly break up designs. I stumbled upon a preferred open-source venture on GitHub – the Dactyl Manuform, which focuses on the interplay between arms and enter gadgets. Quickly after, I found a variant referred to as the Tractyl Manuform, which added a trackball to the Dactyl Manuform. This appeared near what I envisioned! I even 3D printed it, manually soldered the connections, and skilled the break up keyboard firsthand. Nevertheless, as an open-source venture, its design was nonetheless fairly conceptual, with complicated shapes and sharp edges that made it uncomfortable to make use of. I additionally tried different break up keyboards, which alleviated some stiffness however did not fairly meet my expectations.

After intensive analysis, my accomplice Victor and I made a decision to design our personal compact, break up keyboard with streamline design that will naturally match the hand’s form, help Bluetooth connectivity, and have a scroll wheel on the left aspect – these had been our preliminary design targets. The journey was difficult, involving new areas of data. We repeatedly examined feasibility, measuring hand and finger information, optimizing arms placement on the keyboard, refining fingers motion arcs, and attaining wi-fi communication between the 2 halves.

What began as a easy thought took almost 2 years to materialize. Whereas design and modeling had been our strengths, PCB design and firmware improvement had been totally new disciplines. We began from scratch, investing numerous hours: idea design → 3D modeling → 3D printing → PCB design → firmware improvement → meeting. Every iteration introduced us nearer to the ultimate product. Trying again, these days had been really memorable.

Nevertheless, attributable to restricted time and finances, we could not totally implement the scroll wheel’s customized performance within the beta model. We obtained enthusiastic suggestions from our Discord neighborhood and beta testers, lots of whom expressed a robust want for this characteristic. We deeply worth this suggestions and are dedicated to incorporating customizable scroll wheel performance within the ultimate product – permitting customers to regulate quantity, scale brushes, rotate canvases, and extra. Keep tuned!

Growth course of

Industrial design: Just like the Glove80 group, we initially sought hand measurement information however discovered restricted sources. We then turned to finding out hand anatomy and the causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Tenosynovitis. These circumstances come up from repetitive motions, localized stress, and irritation. (In the event you expertise extreme discomfort, please seek the advice of a health care provider.)

To handle these by way of the followings:

• Cut back wrist stress by offering mushy palm relaxation;
• Reduce finger and palm motion by decreasing the variety of keys (utilizing customizable multi-layers for regular typing);
• Use a double-curved floor to suit fingers motion arcs;
• Optimize arms placement for a pure, shoulder-width place parallel to the torso.

We utilized parametric design and 3D printing to iterate by way of a number of variations, finally deciding on the present design. Parametric design allowed us to rapidly modify fashions by adjusting management factors, saving vital time. To steadiness fashionable aesthetics with mechanical keyboard consolation, we selected Gateron’s low-profile G switches, recognized for his or her glorious tactile suggestions and sound. We hope customers will love them too.

PCB design and part sourcing: To realize hot-swappable switches whereas becoming the keyboard’s double-curved floor, we carried out intensive analysis and testing. Dominated out versatile membrane keyboards, as no appropriate mechanical swap sockets exist available on the market. Growing our personal sockets would have been time-consuming and dear. Happily, China’s electronics manufacturing business is extremely superior. We used JLC’s free EDA software program for PCB design and ordered manufacturing by way of the identical platform, with PCBs usually prepared for cargo inside three days. This allowed us, as freshmen, to rapidly be taught and execute your entire course of: design, manufacturing, meeting, and testing. In fact, we additionally confronted setbacks, comparable to choosing the improper parts.

Firmware improvement: This concerned two primary duties – choosing the MCU and writing/importing the code. We began from scratch, studying about keyboard improvement, together with chips just like the ATmega32u4 and STM. We additionally realized that open-source firmware like QMK and ZMK has a steep studying curve. Because of the variety of laptop configurations and working programs, not all customers can simply use VIA and VIAL for keymapping. Due to this fact, we determined to develop our personal keymapping software program after crowdfunding, to fulfill all customers’ customization wants, together with scroll wheel and combo key features.

There’s little doubt that QMK/VIA are glorious instruments for remapping keys. Whereas QMK, VIA, and VIAL have well-established communities and ready-to-use options within the mechanical keyboard house, they primarily depend on AVR or Nordic platforms, which supply comparatively weak help for wi-fi and Bluetooth master-slave configurations. Our design purpose prioritizes wi-fi performance and expandability. We don’t desire a break up keyboard that also requires a cable to attach the 2 halves—that wouldn’t really be wi-fi. The built-in chip we’ve chosen (which shall be introduced throughout mass manufacturing) gives sturdy help for Bluetooth and wi-fi communication, permitting us to develop and customise options freely with out being restricted by the present QMK/VIA/VIAL ecosystem.

Soldering and meeting: We bought instruments and taught ourselves soldering and meeting. Initially, we struggled with soldering strategies, however by way of observe and tutorials, we regularly mastered some environment friendly strategies.

2 years later, we’re proud to announce the completion of this revolutionary product’s prototype! We named it the Keykrush ORCA, impressed by the orca – the ocean’s apex predator. Orcas are elegant, agile, and very smart, thriving even within the harshest environments like Antarctica’s icy waters. This resonates with our imaginative and prescient: regardless of residing inside constraints – be it excessive circumstances or inflexible keyboard layouts – we will nonetheless problem ourselves to attain higher freedom. The orca’s grace and adaptableness completely embody our design philosophy, filling us with pleasure. The Keykrush ORCA seamlessly blends streamlines with biomimetic design, providing an unparalleled typing expertise. Here is what it appears like now:

Some ideas