CyberKeeb 2040

A mechnical keyboard and a cyberdeck. Powered by PicoMK for communication between RP2040 and Pi Zero. Watch the demo on YouTube 👇.

Table of Contents

• BOM
• Build Instructions
  • PCB
  • Case
  • Soldering
    • Pi Zero
    • Diodes
    • JST Connector
    • JMD0.96C OLED Display
  • Software
• Photos
• PCB Library Licenses

BOM

Component	Count
Pi Pico	1
Pi Zero W or Pi Zero 2 W	1
Pi Zero 2x20 Header Pins	1
SD Card	1
JMD0.96C OLED Display	1
4 Position DIP Switch	1
0.1" 3 Pin Header + Jumper / 0.1" Pitch SPDT Slide Switch	1
Hotswap Socket	66
Keyboard Switch (Hippo Linear)	66
Keycaps (Redragon Crystal Keycap)	66
EC11 Rotary Encoder	1
Encoder Knob (Glorious)	1
1N4148 Diode	84
M2.6 x 10mm Self Tapping Screws	8
M2.6 x 16mm Self Tapping Screws	7
3mm Acrylic Sheet	2
1.5mm Acrylic Sheet	1
3D Printed Rivet + Spacers	15
JST-PH 2.0mm 4 Pin Female Connector	2
Stablizer Set	1
330Ω THT Resister	1
10kΩ THT Resister	4
1206 0.01 µF Capacitor	2
(Optional) 3.5 inch TFT Display HAT	1
(Optional) 0.1" 3 Pin 90° Header	1
(Optional) 0.1" 4 Pin 90° Header	1

Build Instructions

PCB

Everything is in PCB/MainBoard dir. Designed with Kicad 7.0. Make sure Perfect DOS VGA 437 Font is intalled on Windows. Gerber directory is generated with PCBWay's specs. You might need to regenerate according to your fab's specs.

Case

The case comprises three acrylic plates and various 3D printed rivets. The original Fusion 360 archive is Frame/MainBoard/CyberKeep 2040 V2 v34.f3d. The spacer heights are parameterized.

• Frame/MainBoard/TopBar.dxf: 3mm acrlyic
• Frame/MainBoard/Plate.dxf: 1.5mm acrlyic
• Frame/MainBoard/Bottom.dxf: 3mm acrlyic

The case is held together with 3D printed rivets and spacers.

Step 1: Assemble the rivets and bottom spacers

Place the rivets through the holes on the bottom place. Then fit the spacer rings.

Step 2: Place the top spacers

Place the PCB on top of the bottom spacers. Then place the top spacers as shown.

Step 3: Secure the top plates with screws

Place the top bar acrylic plate and the switch plate on top of the top spacers. Then secure the whole assembly with screws. Use M2.6x16mm screws for the top plate, and M2.6x10mm screws for the switch plate.

Soldering

Pi Zero

Soldering of Pi Zero is the trickiest. You need to solder the pins simultaneously to the keyboard PCB and the Pi Zero, via the castellated hole on the PCB.

This is viewed from the bottom, at the castellated hole. The green PCB is Pi Zero. Solder joint should form between the copper on the keyboard PCB, the plates on Pi Zero PCB and the pin. To make things easier, it's recommended to tape down the Pi Zero and headers:

It's also recommended to solder all the pins for structural strength.

Diodes

Align the dark side of the diode with the square pad.

JST Connector

Install the JST connectors on the back of the PCB. You can either solder on the back side or on the front. If on the front, tape down the connectors first.

JMD0.96C OLED Display (Marked as J4 on the front of the PCB)

If J3 is installed on the back of the PCB, place a tape on the back of the display to avoid shorting.

Software

Keyboard firmware: https://github.com/zli117/PicoMK/tree/main/configs/cyberkeeb_2040. Follow PicoMK's instruction to build the firmware and upload it to Pico microcontroller.

Linux driver for accepting key strokes from SPI: (You'll need an external screen and an external keyboard for this setup)

1. Install kernel headers: sudo apt install raspberrypi-kernel-headers
2. Checkout PicoMK: git clone https://github.com/zli117/PicoMK.git
3. Build the driver and device tree overlay:

   cd PicoMK/linux
   make -j
   make device_tree

4. Install the driver:

   sudo -E make install
   sudo depmod -a

5. Copy over the device tree overlay: sudo cp spi1-picomk.dtbo /boot/overlays
6. Add this line to the config.txt. Make sure SPI1 is not enabled.

   dtoverlay=spi1-picomk
   

7. Add this line to the /etc/modules file:

   spi_picomk
   

If you're using the 3.5 inch TFT screen, you can install the driver from https://github.com/juj/fbcp-ili9341.

Photos

PCB Library Licenses

• Pico symbol, footprint from https://github.com/ncarandini/KiCad-RP-Pico under CC-BY-SA 4.0. 3D model for Pico is obtained from Raspberry Pi Foundation.
• Pi Zero symbol, footprint and 3D model are from SnapEDA under CC BY-SA 4.0
• Key switch footprints and 3D models are from https://github.com/kiswitch/kiswitch
• PJ320A symbol, footprint are from Keebio-Parts.pretty under MIT License.
• Other symbols are from KiCad library which is under CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.