- Project overview
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Board preview
- Changelog
- Bill of Materials
- Acknowledgements
- License
The Mad Hatter is a freely available, open-source ergo keyboard Printed Circuit Board (PCB), designed to be compatible with TGR Alice plates and cases. All resources and software used to design this board are open-source and/or freely available.
Here's a list of the board's features:
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AVR ATMEGA32U4 processor;
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Kailh hotswap sockets
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QMK firmware compatible;
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USB mini connector;
Additionally, plate gerber files are also available so that the user can order them made from the same manufacturer as the PCBs and out of the same material (FR4, a fiberglass enhanced resin laminate). This makes production cheaper and faster.
Is this design functional and tested?
It's not yet tested. A prototype is soon to be printed for proper testing.
How can I obtain this PCB? Is there an IC or a GB thread?
Currently it's only DIY. You can order the PCBs from a manufacturer like JLCPCB (for instructions see this link starting at 1:02:00) and the components from LCSC (how to do that in this link) and build the board. This takes some expertise in electronics though, as the SMD parts require knowledge and specialized tools and supplies. This is why me and Steve hold Group Buys. Also manufacturers generally have a Minimum Order Quantity of 5 or 10 PCBs. Feel free to arranje a group buy with your circle of friends.
Can anyone contribute to this project?
Anyone is welcome to contribute, be it through feature requests, opinions or criticisms. This can be done through the GeekHack posts, issues and questions on GitHub or even through my Discord (#Gondolindrim#9738). If you want to actively contribute to the design, feel free to contact me and we'd be glad to have you.
Why open-source?
As I don't intend to profit from this, there is no reason to keep the design closed. I also have the opportunity to contribute to the open-source way of thinking: many heads are better than one. Following these steps I use only open-source stuff to design the keyboards: the ECAD design is made with KiCad, the renders and animations in Blender, the logo design in Inkscape. All these software are run on Arch Linux, which is a Linux distro heavily based on the OSS and KISS principles.
By adopting free OSS tools any newbie makers can take a look and learn from these designs, that is, I also have an educational reason in mind. In this regard, I also have a transparency principle, that is, anyone in the community can contact me and ask questions about the project and the design decisions or the design process. Any maker can also check my designs and points its flaws.
Second, there is also the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) principle in mind. Since this project is completely un-ambicious, I try to keep it as simple as possible, so that the design and community processes are fluid.
And why publish the design under a share-alike non-commercial license?
The reason for the license is twofold: first, while I want the design to be open-source, that is, educational and freely available, I think it's not just that someone could just take it, make little adaptations (like changing the logos) and profitting from it when the idea of the project is to have the open-source ideas in mind. It's not about myself -- although of course I have some pride in my designs and like to have credit for them -- but about the project ideals.
Second, I don't condemn the idea of commercializing my designs, I'd just like to know who is selling it so that I can have a good quality control.
What resources and software do you use?
All the footprints and symbols are available wither on the KiCad libraries or my MX library, which contains footprints and symbols for some components not available on KiCad.
The design, footprints and symbols are made through KiCad. The 3D models are obtained in sites where the content is free and widely available like 3D Content Central and GrabCad Community, and to edit them I use FreeCAD.
The logos were designed in Inkscape. The base image was taken from this page (last access: 26 feb, 2019). Although stated in the Vector Portal site that the designs are freely available to be used in commercially, I tried to contact the uploader, who goes by the name of "Yohan Plantec" with no success.
The renders and animations are made in Blender.
How can I follow your design process and learn from this project?
I try to stream the design process when I can. I generally do it at tuesdays and thursdays at 3PM PST (8PM BRT). In the streams I answer general electronics questions, and show how the board is designed. I stream at my Twitch channel. The past streams can be seen in my Youtube channel.
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This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 4.0 license, available in (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
To know more about why I published the project under this license, please look at the FAQ section.