imchipwood/dumbpad

dumbpad is a simple macropad with support for up to two rotary encoders, designed to use QMK firmware.

Gallery

Top two boards are v0.2, bottom two are v0.7. Bottom right is v0.7 with components soldered to the bottom, moving the rotary encoder to the right side.

In this repository

This repo is separated into five main folders:

• combo houses the main PCB design which includes support for up to two rotary encoders and three status LEDs intended for the Pro Micro.
• combo_oled was created by KEEBD and replaces the layer LED/Resistors with OLED display support and converted to KiCad.
• combo_teensy is the same as combo but designed for the Teensy2.0.
• reversible is an older, single-encoder revision using custom reversible Cherry MX sockets to allow the rotary encoder to be moved to the right side.
• hotswap_rgb - v3.x dumbpad featuring per-key RGB and Hotswap sockets

Each folder includes the Eagle or KiCad files as well as exported Gerber files for manufacturing. These folders also include readmes specific to those designs - check them for more info.

Getting Started

To build your own dumbpad you will need to follow a couple of steps to get started. Described below are the minimal steps you will need to take to to assemble one dumbpad but every board configuration might require different steps.

1. Choose version.

You can choose from one of the five different versions shown in the step above.

2. Order your parts.

Every board needs at least the following components but check the right folder for your parts list.

• 1 x PCB
• 16 x MX-style mechanical switches
• 17 x 1n4148 diodes (thru hole)
• 1 x Arduino Pro Micro or pin-compatible ATmega32u4-based MCU (Or teensy for the teensy version)
• (optional) 1 x EC11 rotary encoder with pushbutton (7-pin)
• (optional) 1 x 6mm tactile switch (to reset MCU)
• LEDS and OLED required for different configurations

3. Assemble your dumbpad

For this step you will need a minimum of a soldering iron and a pair of tweezers

• Solder the diodes, switches, and Arduino Pro Micro (Or teensy) to the PCB

4. Flash your firmware

You can use QMK to create and flash firmware to your dumbpad. You can configure every key to you can use the QMK configurator. Head over to the QMK configurator and select dumbpad/[your version]. Once you have configured your board, click on compile and then on firmware to download the firmware. Check qmk_firmware/keyboards/dumbpad for compiling & uploading instructions

Once you have downloaded a .HEX firmware file we can head over to the QMK toolbox and flash the firmware. Plug in your dumbpad to your computer and set your QMK toolbox to ATmega32U4 for most Arduino Pro Micros. You will need to press your 6mm tacticle switch twice to enter the bootloader, wait for your computer to reconize the dumbpad and click on flash.

Features

Status Indicator LEDs

All PCB revisions in this branch support up to three LEDs.

LED_00 (right) and LED_01 (center) indicate the layer by displaying the layer number in binary:

LED behavior can be changed in the QMK software if you'd like them to do something else. See v1x.c for reference.

(Optional) Reset Button

combo, hotswap_rgb and reversible have a 6mm switch socket that is optional to include when building your dumbpad. This socket shorts RST to GND to make it easy to enter the bootloader. This is not included in the combo_teensy design as the Teensy has a reset button already.

If you don't want to solder this switch, make sure to include the RESET keycode somewhere in your keymap. If you don't include this keycode, you can still enter the bootloader by shorting RST to GND while plugging in the USB cable.

PCB Dimensions and Cases

97mm x 78.5mm rectangle, with chamfered corners (chamfered edge is 2.828mm long).

There are several cases available for printing, some can be found in ./case. Another nice case was designed by f00k3r and uploadead to printables: Dumbpad Hotswap Case.

Mounting holes

There are four 2mm holes in a 40mm square centered at (x, y) 58.575mm, 39.425mm. These holes are not plated.

Mounting hole coordinates:

Notes

• In particular, clickable rotary encoders take significantly more force to click than a keyboard switch, so place a rubber foot directly under or at least near any encoders

Making the PCB

Every parts list includes at least one PCB. You can order a PCb yourself by different manufactures like; PCB way or JLC Pcb Submit one of the gerber zips from the folder of the type of board you want to make to your preferred manufacturer (or the Eagle .brd file if supported).