FREEBOARD

FREEBOARD

A 60% RGB Backlit Keyboard with a OLED display, rotary encoder, and adjustable inclination stands.

This keyboard is powered by an Orpheus/Raspberry Pi Pico and an additional MCP23017 for extra GPIO pins. The firmware is entirely coded in QMK and the case is a little wider than a Framework 13 for reference, at about 320x165mm it's made to be compact and accessible to be used alongside a laptop. I made this because I wanted to fix a lot of things with the layout of other wormier and logitech keyboards where the keys weren't as inline as I'd hoped whilst still including function keys and appealing RGB factors.

Here are the pictures to the project

Intended Layout (Plate Generator):

Schematic (KiCAD):

PCB (KiCAD):

CASE (Onshape [Document Link])

Case Assembly

You can use adhesive for some of the parts but it isn't required as they should sit flush without any glue, you can also sand things down to fit flush if your 3d printed had a printing issue. All of the parts I'm naming in this section have corresponding names in the onshape document.

1. Put the Plastic Spacer in first, then the Plastic Window into the slot on the inside of the Base Case, The window is meant to be made out of clear material like transparent plastic or something so you can see the Silkscreen design on the bottom side of the board.
2. Cut a two 1mm diameter rods to 64mm and Thread each one through the holes of each set of tilt stands you as shown in the assembly tab on the onshape document. The stands should be able to turn/revolve around the axis of the rods, and you can make the rods of any material it just has to be firm. To lock the rods in, melt plastic or insert rubber friction pads into each of the 6 empty rectangular indents on the back of the Base Case
3. Then you can put in the PCB with the Plate ontop of it. Now we have the Top Cover and Translucent Emblem left, so put the Translucent Emblem into the matching cutout on the Top Cover, and insert those joined pieces into the top of the case, to keep everything pressed down. Lastly, add the encoder knob and you're done!

How To Flash

Freeboard uses QMK Firmware running on a Raspberry Pi Pico. The firmware source is available in firmware/freeboard.

The firmware supports: An 81-key matrix 91 SK6812MINI-E RGB LEDs An I2C OLED display A rotary encoder connected through an MCP23017 GPIO expander Media and RGB controls through a function layer

To start building the firmware, install and configure the QMK development environment, then copy the Freeboard firmware into your QMK installation:

cp -a firmware/freeboard ~/qmk_firmware/keyboards/ cd ~/qmk_firmware qmk clean qmk compile -kb freeboard -km default

After a successful build, the flashable firmware will be located at:

~/qmk_firmware/freeboard_default.uf2

Flashing Sequence

Unplug Freeboard from the computer. Hold the BOOTSEL button on the Raspberry Pi Pico. While continuing to hold BOOTSEL, connect the keyboard to the computer using USB. Release BOOTSEL when a removable drive named RPI-RP2 appears. Copy freeboard_default.uf2 onto the RPI-RP2 drive. The drive will disconnect automatically and the keyboard will restart with the new firmware. Flashing future updates

Hold Fn and press Esc to enter the RP2040 bootloader. When the RPI-RP2 drive appears, copy the newly compiled freeboard_default.uf2 onto it.

CONTROLS

The Fn key is located between Right Alt and Left Arrow.

Input Action Rotate encoder Adjust volume Press encoder Mute or unmute Fn + Esc Enter the bootloader Fn + Home Toggle RGB lighting Fn + Page Up Select the next RGB effect Fn + Page Down Select the previous RGB effect Fn + Up Increase RGB brightness Fn + Down Decrease RGB brightness Fn + Left Decrease RGB hue Fn + Right Increase RGB hue Fn + End Increase RGB animation speed RGB brightness is limited in firmware because all 91 LEDs are powered from USB VBUS. Increasing the limit could exceed the available USB current.

BOM

Notes:

The BOM file itself is in ~\FREEPCB\PRODUCTION, and the keycaps, switches, stabilizers, and encoder all probably have to be bought from an external retailer. So prices may vary. And there are screw holes for M3 screw inserts if needed. All of the parts will be friction fitted and pressed down flush but if they do come apart unexpectedly glue is always an answer since almost all of the parts need to stay in static positions anyways.