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2 layers21 × 60.4 mmLeaf dongle, the printed circuit board in 3D

During the planning phase for my ULP switches, u/dynam1keNL posted about his mikefives, a radical new build that was diodeless, wireless, portless, and ultra-low power due to use of the Nordic Gazell wireless protocol…

Size
21 × 60.4 mm
Copper layers
2
Thickness
1.6 mm
Parts
8
Nets
75
Pads
113
Tracks, vias
150, 24
Pours
2
Routed
Yes
KiCad
KiCad 10.0 (file 20260206)
Created
27 Mar 2026
Updated
26 Jun 2026

Overview

Leaf dongle is an open-source printed circuit board by marcuswu, from the marcuswu/leaf-fall repository on GitHub, published under the MIT licence. It is a 2-layer board of 21 × 60.4 mm with 8 parts on 75 nets, routed with 150 tracks and 24 vias.

It is built around the SN74LVC1T45DCK, SK6812 and UP20-C-F-G-FL-P12-TR. Its parts include 2 ICs, 2 diodes, 2 connectors and 1 resistor.

Main components

3

README

README.md

Leaf Fall

Leaf Fall is a 6x3+4keys column-staggered split portable folding keyboard using Ultra-Low Profile (ULP) switches which builds on the Leaf Fold to add it to the unwired family tree (Lotus 58 unWired, Mitosis, and mikefives)

[Image blocked: Leaf Fold Pic]

Warning

This board is under active development and is not ready for builds yet. In particular, some of the models, the bill of materials, etc are not up to date.

Introduction and Background

During the planning phase for my ULP switches, u/dynam1keNL posted about his mikefives, a radical new build that was diodeless, wireless, portless, and ultra-low power due to use of the Nordic Gazell wireless protocol among other innovations.

The ultra-low power design had me entralled and I knew I had to make a version of my Leaf Fold that builds in some of those features. This became the Leaf Fall.

Using this repository

This repository contains:

  • Models for the keyboard's case in STEP format with engineering drawings
  • KiCAD project for the PCB

A bill of materials for constructing the keyboard is also available

Build Guide

A build guide is in the works.

TODO

  • Update the board to remove ports, power switch, reset button
  • Update Case to remove holes for ports, power switch, reset button
  • Remove diodes
  • Design dongle
  • Ensure new ULP switches work
  • Build it & test it
  • Create a build guide
  • Update the BoM (build it into this repo so it is versioned)

Parts

8
QtyValueFootprintReferences
2SK6812LED_SMD:LED_SK6812_PLCC4_5.0x5.0mm_P3.2mmD1, D2
15.1kResistor_SMD:R_0402_1005MetricR1
1SN74LVC1T45DCKPackage_TO_SOT_SMD:SOT-363_SC-70-6U2
1TC2030Connector:Tag-Connect_TC2030-IDC-NL_2x03_P1.27mm_VerticalJ2
1UP20-C-F-G-FL-P12-TRkeeblib:SAMESKY_UP20-C-F-G-FL-P12-TRJ1
1~keeblib:MODULE_RP2040_SHIELD1
1~keeblib:Raytac_MDBT42Q_PU1

Questions

How big is the Leaf dongle PCB?

It measures 21 × 60.4 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.

What parts does the Leaf dongle use?

8 parts, built around the SN74LVC1T45DCK, SK6812 and UP20-C-F-G-FL-P12-TR. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.

Where can I download the Leaf dongle KiCad files?

From the marcuswu/leaf-fall repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is dongle/leaf_dongle.kicad_pcb and its schematic PCB/Left/3leaf_fall.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.

Can I use the Leaf dongle design in my own project?

Its repository publishes it under the MIT licence: you may reuse it on that licence's terms (keep the author's notice, and for a copyleft licence share your changes alike).

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