If you’ve got a nice mechanical keyboard, typing on anything else can often become an unpleasant experience. Unfortunately, full-sized versions are bulky and not ideal when you’re travelling or for certain portable applications. [Applepie1928] decided to create a small travel keyboard to solve these problems.
Meet the Micro Planck. It’s a simple ortholinear mechanical keyboard in a decidedly compact form factor—measuring just 23 cm wide, 9.5 cm tall, and 2 cm deep. You could probably stuff it in your pocket if you wear baggy jeans. Oh, and if you don’t know what ortholinear means, it just means that the keys are in a straight grid instead of staggered. Kind of like those “keyboards” at the bowling alley.
The build relies on Gateron KS-33 switches installed on a custom PCB, with a ATmega32U4 microcontroller running the popular open source QMK firmware. The keyboard has a USB-C port because it’s 2024, and all the components are wrapped up in a neat 3D printed shell.
Overall, it’s a tasteful design that packs in a lot of functionality. It’s also neat to see a mechanical design used which offers more tactile feedback than the rubber dome designs more typical at this scale. Meanwhile, if you’re cooking up your own nifty keyboard designs, don’t hesitate to let us know what you’re up to!
