beyblock20 and knoblin3 are now in states that I consider to be usable by eager alpha testers! (mongus48 pre-prototyping still underway: I need the shift registers to come in to confirm that it works)
(the knoblin3 case also needs mounting holes :( )
You get get to be on the bleeding edge of modular keyboard technology!
I have the KMK firmware working, and with a period of testing, I think I got it to a point where it all seems to generally work enough to use casually.
With this alpha program, you get modular keyboards today, open-source files to tweak to your liking, and the ability to contribute to this project and shape it.
I've confirmed that the rotary encoders work (aside from button presses, though adding support should be doable), TRRS works, I2C hotswap is generally stable, etc. I'm confortable enough to suggest technically apt people to try this out if they wanted to tinker around.
If you're looking to make a modular keyboard of your own, you also get to play around with my implementation of it, and play around with it for yourself.
If you want to build a module on top of this system, you're more than free to do so, and get bragging rights for making the next killer module!
To be explicit, the project is provided "as-is", and should not be considered to be a product but rather a side-project. There is no liability or promised support for this project. You will be expected to have some technical knowledge to diagnose any issues you encounter at this phase of the project. Issues in Github may not cover all issues you will encounter yourself.
Some degree of technical literacy/ willingness to learn and tinker:
- I think there's still some edge cases here and there with general UX that I haven't tended to. Being able to debug KMK (as well as the stuff I built on top of it) for yourself will give you an ability to unstuck yourself if needed.
- I will try to document issues when I encounter them in the issues section.
- I will try to help answer questions as they come up, but I cannot guarentee that I can put hands to keyboard times into software refinements.
Willingness to get new revisions:
- The PCB dimensions should be fairly stable, though there is a case redesign in the works (e.g. I need to add mounting holes to the cases). In the interests of making the best project possible, I reserve the ability to make new (breaking) revisions if absolutely needed.
- The most likely case is I want to add a few new components, in which case you'll have to get a new board to get the features from said components.
- This point is to emphasize that you will likely want a way to be able to make new cases/obtain new pcbs, and that the current ones aren't final. I would not recommend alpha to anyone who could only affort 1 keyboard for the next few years.
Patience and kindness:
- The two points above are reinforcements of this point. While I think there's a few more things I personally want to add to the project, I want people be able toy around with the project as they want if I need to reprioritize this project in my life. By making this sort of Alpha program, I hope to release a prototype others can play with and build apon. I make no promises about where this project will go, but only what it currently is something usable to interested parties without being obligated to fix every edgecase and problem that arises
- Please be understanding for any new features/fixes. I cannot promise anything, but I'll try to help where I can when I get the chance
- Feel free to create an issue if you want advice or help. Someone may be able to answer a question you have