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9/4/25
PCB
The PCB has arrived! I got everything soldered up and I hope to find some time to get it programmed and tested. I plan on getting it programmed with simple QMK firmware and mapping, just to confirm I designed the board correctly. Then I will move towards the final programming. Some key take aways thus far:
I will want to use hot swappable sockets in future. I soldered (intentionally) the switches without use of a plate, which caused some of them to not be straight.
Any board mounted MCU needs to be socketed rather then permanently soldered
Although I did manage, I found the SMD joy switch a little fiddley to get soldered. I may investigate through-hole options or having pre-soldered
The stabilizers I purchased don't fit. I knew it was a gamble, but more digging will be required to find the proper size for the low profile switches.
The D-pad switch is very sensitive to angular movement. I will need to design the cutout to limit motion to prevent false inputs.
Full Sized Keyboard
Admittedly, I've been having second thoughts regarding the one handed design. Especially after spending some time with it. I certainly see a niche, particularly as an accessibility device. But this project is first and foremost about a device for myself to use and after experimenting with the design I'm not entirely sure I really want to relearn all that muscle memory. So I've been exploring reworking design to incorporate a full set of keys. I'm playing with concepts ranging from 28 to 40 keys total.
I did design a 28-key keyboard in the same foot print, but it's a 7 col, 4 row ortholinear. So while it includes all the letters, it's still too small for two handed typing. I might experiment a bit more with that to maintain the small size.
Luckily, despite the major changes to the size of the unit, the core systems (hinge, cable management, power, buttons, etc) are more or less the same. So any actual development time wouldn't be nearly as long as the first time around. Probably a few days of designing and printing test prototypes. As far as the keyboard, I may utilize an existing PCB (as full sized keyboard designs are actually available) or design my own. Given that a full size keyboard actually simplifies the project in the end, I'm thinking this will be fairly straight forward.
I'm still considering finishing this design, or at the very least, testing the PCB and releasing files in case someone wants to pick up where it ends up.
8/30/25
Lid Clasp
Just a quick update. Made some additional changes after some more testing. The most notable is adding the magnetic closure system with 8x4x2 neodymium magnets. Should be receiving those in day or two, so we'll see how well it functions. The lower magnets don't require to be embedded in the print, however the top lid ones will likely need to be inserted during the print process. I will have to play around with the printing process to streamline that process.
Also tested the cable pass through sizing and movement with a mock cable harness. Using 6+2(pwr)30AWG cable everything fits nicely with no pinching or binding. I had to adjust some of the tolerances for easier assembly (see below). I will need to double check the specifications for power delivery, but it looks like silicone jacketed 30AWG is an excellent choice. It's highly flexible, which works very well with the pivoting. Once I get the crimp pins and connectors I will be mocking up a real harness for testing.
Other Minor changes:
Added finger indent on top cover
Remodeled cable pass-through in lower body to accommodate larger cable and eliminate need to 'snake' cable through.
Remodeled upper body cable through to eliminate interference with Inkplate board
Added IO icons
Added center bolt on upper keyboard cover
Remodeled keyboard cover to reflect current PCB revision
Adjusted tolerances on upper keyboard cover to prevent binding
Added side trim indent and designed trim inserts (more work needed, I want to make these swap-able, currently have to be glued)
Adjusted rear handle holes tolerances
Adjusted hinge cutout tolerances
Adjusted button tolerances
Adjusted top lid tolerances to eliminate rubbing when closing and to compensate for any variances in hinge mounting
Prototyping a soft closure insert using TPU along to edge. This is primarily experimentation at this point.
8/28/25
Well its been a bit since the last update and there's quite a bit to update on.
PCB
This started a bit slow, and I had a few false starts (my first keyboard PCB after all), but the the first revision is now complete and prototype boards are being manufactured. The design is slightly different than your average keyboard. Communication with the Inkplate requires serial communication, so data/power transfer will happen via a small header instead of the typical USB. Also a small D-pad switch has been added for navigation.
Obliviously, still a ways to go, as I need to receive the PCB prototype, solder all the components on, and then get things programmed up and functioning. Assuming my design doesn't have major errors, I suspect it will take 1-2 weeks to receive prototypes.
Most everything was purposely design using through-hole components, so that even those with minimal soldering experience could manage to populate a blank PCB. I may go back later and slim down the design utilizing SMD components, but we will see.
Enclosure
I am now on the third printed revision of the enclosure. Most notably, the hinge design has been completed. I've gone back to using the original cylinder embedded hinges. It took a few rounds of designing to really dial in tolerances, but I'm pleased to say that I'm extremely happy with the results. Its easy to assemble, and the action is smooth with zero alignment issues. For such a small device 2x 0.1Nm combined are a bit stiff, but it's minor and in my experience these commercial torque hinges tend to loosen a bit during their break in period, so it may be perfect.
The Inkplate mounting and button inserts are also basically done. I'm still tweaking tolerances on the button inserts, but they are working smoothly and consistently; I'm just eliminating some wobble. The cable passthrough is designed, but I'm waiting on some wiring to come in to test it completely with the planned wiring harness. The only thing that may need tweaking there is the size of the channel.
The battery lives inside center of hinge area. It's utilizing a AA/14500 style battery, which should provide capacities up to around 1000mAh. I'm waiting on the battery holder assembly (keystone 2461), to finalize fit and wire routing.
Thus far these prototypes have been what I call 'fitment tests'. They give me a indication of how the physical parts fit together outside a CAD environment, and whether I need to adjust tolerances. It also gives me a chance to monitor how they print and make adjustments to the designs to ensure printing is as easy and accurate as possible. You may notice the quality is dialed back, as I get closer to a finalized design I'll start dialing in the printer settings more maximum quality.
I've been mainly printing the test prototypes out of whatever filament I have lying around, but eventually I will start playing with different color palletes and layouts. This will probably be one the final aspects of the design, along with the other 'beautifying' refinements (smoothing edges, adding visual flairs, and etc). It's mostly function over form right now.
The biggest outstanding 'mechanical' portion still remaining is the clasping system. The torque hinges have some spring back, so the lid doesn't firmly shut. Right now the plan is to use magnets like every modern laptop. I'm working on a reshaping the front portion to accommodate the proper sized magnets. I'm also considering adding in a TPU or rubber ring to add a softer feel to the lid when it closes.
The back offset handle is a late addition, right now it keeps the device from tipping with the lid extended past 90 degrees. However i suspect this won't happen once the components are in the lower case. In theory it could also provide a spot to add things like carabiners. Not sure if it'll provide enough utility to make the cut, but we'll see how things go.
State of the Project
Things are moving right along. As I wait for the prototype PCBs I am continuing to refine the physical design, there are several areas I need to go in and adjust tolerances and sizing to dial in the fit and print accuracy. I'm also smoothing out the 'superficial' design of the enclosure, making things look pretty more or less. the main focus however is the clasp system specifically. Hopefully, by time the PCB's arrive the physical enclosure will be good spot as I move into the programming/electronic comp assembly stage.
The great thing about this design, is that its core components can easily be applied to different form factors. The same hinge, case, and etc can easily be scaled with minor modifications to a foldable with a full QWERTY keyboard. I also have a 'slab' style of the one-hand design in the works that can utilize the same PCB. So as I finalize more of these components, it will open the door to quick development to new and different devices.
Future of the Project
My focus has been assembling a functional device, but I thought I'd touch on where I see this project going in future. I have many other design concepts bouncing around in my head. So If I can manage to complete the core components, expect to start seeing a variety of devices. One the top goals is revisiting the ole' trifold concept (Pomera DM30) Unfortunately, this little hobby doesn't provide financial income (the opposite actually, haha) and I'm a one man show having to split my time with my actual job. I hope to show consistent, albeit, slow progess moving forward.
When will it be finished?
In a perfect world, where everything works the first time, I suspect the project has at least another month before I will have the first fully functioning prototype. The reality however is there will likely be some unexpected slow downs, especially when it comes to getting firmware written and functional. I also suspect there will likely be at least one more PCB revision. Given the time I can dedicate to the project, a more realistic timeframe is probably between now and end of the year.
Will it Open Source?
The project will be released for free once it hits it's Rev 1.0 state. That means all CAD files, BoM, and available firmware. I never really finish designs, so there's a good chance it will continue development with additional revisions being released periodically. The firmware of the project will be running on the ZeroWriter Core platform (shout out to all the help thus far on this project). I will likely be starting a github or file repository at some point.
Will I be able to buy a completed unit?
I'd love to offer this device and any others that follow for sale either as a parts kit and/or as completed units. However I will have to gauge interest to determine viability. I know from experience that the commercialization product is whole other animal. There are a lot leg work there from parts sourcing, licensing agreements and etc. However if there is notable interest / successful crowd funding, I'm more than willing to spin up that drum. I'm making this project, first and foremost, for myself to use and because I enjoy making it. I'd be delighted if there is an avenue for commercial production, but it's not the end goal.
How much would this cost?
Prototyping is an expensive endeavor and never close to the true cost of a device, and sitting down and calculating actual device costs hasn't been a priority. I make no promises until I crunch the numbers, but ideally $160 -/+30% would be my target (for this particular device). Of course there are a lot of variables here like is it DiY? parts kit? A completed unit? And things like parts cost, tariffs, and etc. Once I have the Rev 1.0 designed and functioning, I will be drafting up a BoM that will give a good indication of parts cost; at least for those who want to DiY it.
Will there be one with a full keyboard?
A one handed keyboard is a rather niche device. My reasoning for going this route was simply a fascination with the ideal of small (almost pocket-able) device. However, as I've noted, the core design is easily scalable to a larger platform. I'm doing most of the leg work now. I fully plan on working up a revision utilizing a full QWERTY keyboard. This may actually appear sooner then expected too, as I plan on utilizing these design concepts to build out the retrofit case for the ZeroWriter (once I get my hands on one).
8/7/25
The pocket writer project would be dead at this point if it I hadn't stumbled upon a post on a forum about a old device called the FrogPad, a long discontinued one-handed keyboard. The concept fascinated me, and the reduction in keyboard size really offered a chance for a truly pocketable device. Creators in the keyboard circles have since replicated or released FrogPad inspired builds, most notably the ScottoFrog. From videos I've seen, one handed keyboards are generally fairly quick once you adjust to it. Albeit it would be a much more niche device, but fits the goals I'm aiming for; a very portable device for note taking or short on-the-go writing sessions. Obliviously there is a trade off here utilizing a macropad instead of a full size keyboard, but again, I'm hoping this will fill a particular niche and not really replace the more comfortable writer decks available. The system is still going to utilize the Zerowriter software, but most of the hardware will be different.
At the moment, I'm using the Scottofrog as my base for the keyboard, although instead of hardwiring I will be designing a PCB. There are also some other changes as well, like integration of the MCU and addition of basic navigation controls (aka a D-pad). I have started the PCB design, but admittedly I'm not the most proficient in this area, I'm finding it may take me a while to complete it to the degree of quality I want. I also don't enjoy that part of the design as much as the mechanical part, so I find myself procrastinating one it a bit. I'm considering seeing if I can find someone in the keyboard/maker community who may be interested in helping out, whether as a paid commission or as someone who is genuinely interested in the project and wants to join the team.
I've also binned the idea of utilizing commercial friction/torque hinges, at least for now. Again, this mainly stems from the idea of keeping things as accessible and simple as possible. Instead I'm using 'homemade' friction hinge utilizing a basic shoulder bolt/spring washers. It's not in it's final form yet though, I still plan on refining it a lot once I get the prototype finished. We will see how things turn out.
I'm itching to get out of the CAD environment and start physical prototyping. I want to post something other than renders 😆.... I have ordered parts/hardware. Hoping to start printing enclosure prototypes this weekend, with the primary goal of refining the hinge assembly, Inkplate case, button inserts, and IO ports. Also finalizing things like battery size/placement and cabling passthrough.
I should note that all renders are prototype units. There is a long list of refinements and changes that I'd like to see in the final designs. But I have to resist the urge to work on that fun stuff until I can assemble a real physical basic working prototype. So in theory the final design should be slimmer, more sleek, and have a more complete feature set. Features like modular accessory kits, a screen night light, and etc. So as always, these renders may not be indicative of the final form, both in terms of function and style.
I'm leaving the conceptual phase and moving into physical prototyping phase (finally). Hopefully most of the core systems and designs will solidify into their final form in the coming weeks. And most importantly, there will be a physical device I can test to see how useable this type of device actually may be. I suspect there may be more digging and experimentation of the layout/ergonomics of the keyboard design.
Ideally I'd really like add 1-2 people to the team. Particularly someone with a lot of experience with PCB design/software integration. This is so I can focus firmly on mechanical design and overall direction of the project. If I can find someone, this will significantly speed up development time and likelihood of success. However, since this is primarily a passion project, this will be dependent on whether I can find someone who is genuinely interested in the project and wants to jump on board as a 'volunteer'; I'm not ruling out paying commission for design work, but I'm not entirely sure I can justify the cost at this time. If you have the skills and desire to join the team, please reach out!
Once there is a physical working prototype that can be shown off, I will gauge public interest. If there is enough I may consider offering a commercially available product, whether it is in the form of a self-assemble kit, fully completed project, or both. This is highly dependent on the volume of interest and startup costs.
Regardless of whether there will be a version available for purchase, the completed project files would all be made available for free for those who wish to build one on their own.
I will likely split this project into it's own page for future updates, so be sure to watch for those if you're interested. For now, here are some of the latest concept renders. Again, this are pre-prototype renders and their function is being a starting point for the design and to give a general idea of the type of device I'm shooting for.
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