Designing a trackball sensor PCB

In this video I will explain how I designed a sensor PCB for the Charybdis and Charybdis nano trackball keyboards.
Interested in a Charybdis: bastardkb.com/bastard...
Interested in a Charybdis-nano: bastardkb.com/bastard...
Build guide: docs.bastardkb.com/hc/en-us/c...
Website: bastardkb.com/
Discord: bastardkb.com/discord
Github: github.com/bastardkb/
KZbin channel: / @bastardkb
Instagram: / bastardkeyboards
Twitter: / bstiqco
Patreon: / bastardkb

[@Nebulorum]

Really nice video. Sharing these experiences is really nice. We often see only the good side, but these battle scars are critical.

[@bastardkb]

Thank you !

[@jared9190]

So cool. I write firmware for a living and design/hardwire keebs occasionally. This makes me want to build one of your kits!

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! Feel free to check out the github files and/or join the discord :)

[@GiuseppeRota]

Loved it, can't wait for the next one

[@bastardkb]

Thanks !

[@ebrewste]

Really great stuff! Very interesting to hear about your journey.

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! Glad you found the video interesting

[@willdeit6057]

Very well done thank you and thanks for designing it, superb.

[@rafaeldelboni]

Cool video! Very interesting format and content, I would love to see more of this :)

[@bastardkb]

Thank you !

[@Kfoo-dj4md]

I loved the video a lot! thanks for making it!

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! I'm glad it was interesting :)

[@nnov1nn]

Very interesting! Thanks for taking the time to make your experience into a video.

[@bastardkb]

Glad you like it !

[@GenkiEdits]

I've been studying your repo for this board for some time and this video was great insight! thanks for all your work on the PCB 🙇 I'll be using it for a build!

[@bastardkb]

Thank you ! Good luck with the build !

[@frzen]

Thanks for making this video it is very interesting I hope there are many more in the future

[@bastardkb]

Thank you !

[@WillianMolinari]

Amazing video! Just adding a comment to say I would love to see more of these. :)

[@bastardkb]

Thank you !

[@airdedman3221]

Thanks for sharing the story, dude bro you are a genius.👍

[@bastardkb]

Thank you ! Glad you like the video.

[@did-you-miss-me]

Thanks for the good content. I will be soldering the sensor PCB soon and I was very interested in how all the components on the board work.

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! Let me know how it goes

[@joeldunnington1515]

This guy is legit.

[@RowdyDangerous1]

OMG nice to hear words.

[@Ashwekar]

You are just amazing man. I probably will never build one myself but salute your effort.

[@bastardkb]

Thank you !

[@Ashwekar]

I have to ask though. Why a trackball and not a trackpad like the cirque or azoteq ones? Some even have multi-touch gestures right? Won't they be more precise?

[@bastardkb]

@@Ashwekar I have trackpads on my Dilemma designs because they are made to be portable. On the Charybdis, I added a trackball because it's imho easier to use in the long run on a desktop. There are also user mods on the github repository to install a trackpad instead of it if you prefer that

[@Ashwekar]

@@bastardkb good to know. Thanks

[@tangzero]

love it

[@bastardkb]

Glad you liked the video !

[@powerfulghost8076]

Another way to solve the noise issue may be a capacitor between the output of regulator and GND, as long as the power consumption of the chip is lower than the power the regulator can provide (in theory). The capacitor serves as a buffer.

[@powerfulghost8076]

Excellent Industrial design btw!

[@bastardkb]

@@powerfulghost8076 Thanks for the info ! With more recent designs I use capacitors but mostly for the electrical noise, usually for RGB. I don't play with power regulation that much anymore except for the RP2040. I'm creating a "better" version of the splinky which is giving me all kinds of issues with half/full duplex

[@CodeWithNode]

Your 3d prints always look so clean! Do you do a lot of post-print processing?

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! Those specifically are Nylon prints from JLC3d, died black. No post-processing at all. The metal plates are from laserboost, stainless steel sandblasted

[@markus8955]

Noticed that dilemma board with encoders in the background.

[@bastardkb]

Yes ! Thost *might* be prototypes of the upcoming v2... the details are on github, but it brings a lot of new stuff (rotary encoders, bigger memory, additional thumb key, per-key and underglow RGB, LCD compatibility...)

Why are you so cool

[@bastardkb]

Thank you so much ! I'm looking forward to the next projects :)

[@AUS10indeed]

Awesome story. I have a variable controller that causes my led strips power supply to whine. It only happens at 30-80% power. Full power or very low power its inaudible. I need a new power supply 😆

[@bastardkb]

Thanks ! I felt crazy when I first heard it. I normally always have music playing, so almost didn't notice it - it had to wait for a day in complete silence.

[@pkchutrainer]

I want to do this.

[@bastardkb]

Please do ! The files are on the release section on github. Just make sure to grab the appropriate ones (DIY or assembly)

[@levo9198]

look nice, one question, I would like to use it on my yanghu/unicorne, can that psi output be adapted to 4 pin of the OLED?

[@bastardkb]

Hey, I don't think so. The trackball needs 4 signal pins + 2 power pins

[@levo9198]

@@bastardkb well, ill puta a pimoronni o a cirque. And in a time mount your keyboard

[@KelvinNishikawa]

Can the current spike be fixed by just adding a capacitor?

[@bastardkb]

Hey! That was due to the activation of the sensor. Maybe by storing some energy to make it available when it triggers it would be doable... but that was also not directly advised in the technical datasheet, which is why we just upgraded the regulator

[@frederic_millenial]

Where can I find french communities about custom kbd ?

[@bastardkb]

Hey, check out the "Mechanical Keyboards France" discord community, they have a DIY channel: discord.gg/DVN8GeSvSV. If you're fluent in English, you can also come by our own discord server: bastardkb.com/discord

[@MineOrebaker]

Broo will you help me do design me my frist 3d modal of my keyboard

[@bastardkb]

Hey, thanks for the interest but I don't offer private classes. I have a few fusion360 tutorials on the channel, feel free to check them out !

[@MineOrebaker]

@@bastardkb I understand nevermind!

[@terrablader]

Would you sell one

[@bastardkb]

Hi ! You can find kits on my website. I don't sell the sensor PCB as standalone unfortunately, but all the files are on github.

[@terrablader]

@@bastardkb the trackball looks really nice. any fatigue using it?

[@bastardkb]

@@terrablader I've been using this keyboard for more than a year and so far no. I like thumb trackballs though, and sometimes switch to mouse for eg. CAD work

[@-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

Just sell a ready-made product. Not as many people want to build from scratch.

[@bastardkb]

I do on my shop ! :)