[b10nik] wrote in to tell us about a pretty sweet project that he just finished up. It’s a mechanical keyboard with an integrated Raspberry Pi 2 Model B inside.
[b10nik] purchased a new Filco Ninja Majestouch-2 keyboard just for this project. Although it may make some people cringe, the keyboard was immediately taken apart in order to find an open cavity for the Raspberry Pi. Luckily there was space available towards the left rear of the keyboard case.
If you are familiar with the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, you know that all of the connections are not on the same side of the board. The USB, audio, HDMI and Ethernet jacks were removed from the PCB. The Ethernet port is not needed since this hack uses WiFi, but those those other ports were extended and terminated in a custom 3D printed I/O panel . The stock keyboard case had to be cut to fit the new panel which results in a very clean finished look.
There’s one more trick up this keyboard’s sleeve, it can be used with the internal Raspberry Pi or be used as a standard keyboard. This is done by way of a FSUSB30MUX USB switch IC that completely disconnects the Raspberry Pi from the keyboard’s USB output.
For another RaspPi/Keyboard solution, check out this concept from a few years ago using a Cherry G80-3000 mechanical keyboard.
clean housing for a pi, looks pretty nice. the usb switching is a nice touch.
I would add an RTC and maybe a software power solution.
also wouldn’t have ditched the ethernet, not that much effort to solder on a piece of twisted pair and find a female RJ45 that he could fit onto his 3D-printed backplate.
because keyboards should have many many wires and cables coming from them, even if they are not necessary
what are you talking about ?
Just like C64. Wires for power, video, disk drive, 2 controllers, and a network cart with network cable.
keyboards shouldn’t have wires or keys.
Very nice project.
Though, I think from the blog he actually rejected the Filco keyboard.
why not put a pi in one of those new commodore cases?
Because none have been delivered yet.
Oh sure, let the mere lack of existence of parts get in the way of a good idea.
No…. take your vitamins.
I didn’t say it wasn’t a good idea (and actually already plan to do so myself.) I am in the kickstarter campaign for a couple.
I said that’s why it hasn’t been done yet.
You may want to re-calibrate your sarcasm detector.
http://i.imgur.com/F636xiP.gif
It’s actually WASD keyboards v2 tenkeyless, Filco didn’t have enough room, unfortunately.
Meh… my Logitech K800 does me just fine. My 10-year keyboard dream finally realized. Wireless. Backlit. Rechargable.
Boy, we’re talking adult keyboard here (mechanical), no slimy shiny glowy art-deco gadget.
This. I would never switch back to a membrane keyboard after having used a mechanical. They feel so much nicer to type with and don’t wear out anywhere near as quickly.
Pretty neat. Basically a modern commodore 64 that can plug into a pc to be used as a peripheral device. Would be even better if it could have the mouse plugged into it then chose to forward that to the pc or rpi.
mice are overrated
As long as I saw in the [b10nik]’s website; he didn’t purchase a Filco Ninja Majestouch-2; he purchased a custom made cherry blue-MX 88 key keyboard from WASDKeyboards.
Static on the display – twist the HDMI wires. Those are high speed differential signals. Some shielding would also help.
yeah I found a really nice keyboard with a small computer built right in, it’s got ethernet and USB and sound and an SD card interface.
Maybe you might have seen one of these, it’s called a “laptop”
You found a laptop with a mechanical keyboard for the price of a raspi+keyboard? Did it fall off the back of a truck?
OH NICE! i haven’t seen the kickstarter for that yet, can you link me?