The Dactyl-ManuForm Keyboard - Python 3 - Cadquery

This is a fork of Dactyl-Manuform by Tom Short, which itself is a fork of Dactyl by Matthew Adereth, a parameterized, split-hand, concave, columnar, ergonomic keyboard.

While the code structure remains comparable to the original, Clojure and OpenSCAD have been replaced by Python and cadquery/OpenCASCADE. The predecessors were exceptional contributions to the ergo keyboard community by the authors but used a rather esoteric programming language, Clojure, and a relatively inconsistent geometry engine, OpenSCAD. My hope is that by converting the code the community will have an easier time modifying and evolving this design.

This is a forked repository. Following document is the original modified. Do not trust anybody to provide the same links. This includes me and go and check-out the original repository. I encorauge to check out the shop for great deals.

Content of this document:

• Introduction
• Features
  • TODO: List out outstanding features.
• Installations
  • Docker Environment
  • Conda Environment
  • Python Environment
• Generating your first project
• Working with a template
• Origins references to the previous document.

Collaborations and Donations

I decided to start accepting donations to help offset some of the prototyping costs and development time. There are 2 ways to contribute to this project:

Purchase a kit or keyboard from https://www.ergohaven.xyz/

I am also supported by ergohaven. The Dactyl-Manuforms are generated from this repository. After working with the owner on additions to support new features we decided to collaborate to evolve the designs they can offer and to support my work.

Donate directly

I opened Liberapay and Ko-fi accounts to accept donations. It is obviously not necessary, but is appreciated. If you do donate and have something specific you really want to see, please let me know. I want to be very open that I can't promise to complete all requests as there are many reasons like engine capabilities and generator construction that can make certain features unfeasible, but I will do my best to improve this repo for you and the ergo keyboard community.

Helpful Feedback

At this point there has been tons of feedback form the community and I greatly appreciate it. While I can only work on this in my free time, I do my best to respond to anyone who posts a comment or question. Feedback on issues or just possible new features is always welcome.

Updated Geometry Engine, generating STEP files

As part of the effort to create a new engine I converted the code to cadquery/OpenCASCADE. While OpenSCAD has provided an open source 3D engine that is extremely popular, it frankly creates barely passable STLs when you have complex geometry. After being extremely frustrated trying to fix the mesh I realized it is just not a stable engine to create high quality files. OpenCASCADE is extremely powerful but requires extensive detail to operate. cadquery provided an excellent platform to run a stable geometry engine with a simplified API.

Features

Following features were added by the original maintainer and maybe few new ones.

Docker Autobuild

At the excellent suggestion of martint17r I have added docker configurations with a Windows batch file to assist with getting setup. If you have docker desktop installed, the batch file will create the dactyl-keyboard image and 4 containers:

• DM-run: runs dactyl_manuform.py,
• DM-config: runs generate_configuration.py
• DM-shell: starts an interactive session to manually run from shell
  • tip: run bash after entering to get a better shell environment
• DM-release-build: runs model_builder.py to generate a number of keyboard variants

All apps bindmount the src and things directory to allow editing in the host and running in the container. While not exactly hard drive space efficient, this hopefully helps those having issues getting cadquery running and prevents local Python conflicts. It works well on my computer, but I don't use docker often, so please let me know if you find any issues with the approach.

Refactored

Your settings are now created by generate_configuration.py or by direct modification of the run_config.json file.
This allows you to save run_config.json to share your configuration.

Additionally, the OpenSCAD/solid python and OpenCASCADE/cadquery versions are merged with separate helper functions to decouple the generator from the target library. This also lets me stay sane by only modifying one file for most updates. Running dactyl_manuform.py will automatically load the run_config.json file.

Everyone gets a thumb cluster!

Added support of for the thumb clusters in the carbonfet Dactyl library. These are the "mini" and "carbonfet" thumb clusters. Additional trackball cluster added as well more info to be added after additional build and debug time.

Feel free to try them out with by setting 'thumb_style' to 'DEFAULT', 'MINI', 'CARBONFET', 'MINIDOX', 'TRACKBALL_ORBYL', and 'TRACKBALL_CJ'.

Trackball features accommodate a Perixx PERIPRO-303. Others may fit, but this was the target ball diameter for the design. It is a little smaller than a Ploopy to try to fit better in the cluster.

Rendered and actual images to be added in future commits.

Clippable switch mounting

Tired of hot glue and constraining the socket with "nubs"? I've added an adjustable undercut for using the clips on the sockets. May require some tweaking and little filing, but I have my DM built without any glue and you can too.
Just use plate_style = 'UNDERCUT'. I've also added an improved local undercut using plate_style = 'NOTCH'.

Kailh Hotswap

Added a new switch for hot swap and a way to include any additional geometry in the key plate by use of an imported file. For hot swap just use plate_style = 'HS_NOTCH', plate_style = 'HS_HOLE', or plate_style = 'HS_NUB'.
To import an arbitrary geometry set the plate_file = None and plate_offset = 0.0.
The file must be .step for OpenCascade / cadquery and .stl for openSCAD / solid python.
The zero reference should be the key center (XY), and the top of the plate (Z).
Plate offset is a Z-axis translation for minor adjustments without modifying the geometry file.

DISCLAIMER: I have not built the hot swap version and cannot speak to the geometry. I found it running around in various places and don't know the origin. At least one user has claimed it works.

If you know the origin I would like to credit the originator. If you test it I'd love to know how well it works or if you come up with a better geometry I'm happy to add it.

Message me on Reddit u/j_oshreve if you are really stuck. I don't have much time to help, but can answer the occasional question. Also feel free to put in a pull request if you come up with something crafty and want to give others access to it.

Multiple Controller Mounts

Added an external mount for a separate controller tray. Looks to work with lolligag's controller trays / holders:

• Promicro V1
• Promicro V2
• Elite-C V1

Just use controller_mount_type = 'EXTERNAL'.

This is a new feature so any feedback is appreciated. If you have issues, message me on Reddit and I will try to help correct them.

OLED Display Mount

Added 3 OLED mounts. Have printed them stand alone with success. I suggest clip, but it may require some tweaks based on your printer (over vs under sized).

oled_mount_type = 'CLIP' creates an opening to set the OLED with a clip on face plate to hold it down. This is the preferred mounting, but needs the OLED to have a removable connection.

oled_mount_type = 'SLIDING' creates an opening such that you can slide the screen up through the back and into place. Needs a piece of foam or a bit of glue to lock in place.

oled_mount_type = 'UNDERCUT' creates an opening with an undercut to create whatever custom holder you want. Will not work without additional part creation from the user.

This is a new feature so any feedback is appreciated. If you have issues, message me on Reddit and I will try to help correct them.

Screw Post Locations

You can now have slightly better control of screw mounts. Set to 'screws_offset':'INSIDE', 'screws_offset':'OUTSIDE' or 'screws_offset': 'ORIGINAL' to control screw locations relative to the wall.

I am planning to deprecate outside and original at some point. I don't see the need to carry all of them and the hidden look the best. If you disagree feel free to let me know and I may keep a second form.

Status / Future

This is now a bit of a monster of many minds and yet continues to bear fruit.
I plan to continue to use this code to try new geometries and features to share for the foreseeable future.

Installations

There are three different environments in which you can run this application. Depending on which you choose, the installation process will vary.

• Docker Environment
• Conda Environment
• Python Environment

Docker Environment Installation

Running the application with Docker is the most convenient way to do so. In addition to a straightforward installation, this also allows you to generate models in the background without having to keep a shell open.

Note: If you are using Windows, see Docker Autobuild.

Before you proceed, ensure you have installed Docker and the docker command is available from your terminal.

There are two tools you can use to help manage the Docker containers associated with this project.

Make

If you prefer, you can use make to manage the containers. Type make help to see the available commands.

Bash Script

The dactyl.sh bash script provides a CLI to manage the containers. Type ./dactyl.sh --help to see all CLI options.

In addition to the CLI you can run ./dactyl.sh without any arguments to use an interactive menu.

Upon running the script, you will be prompted to build the dactyl-keyboard Docker image.

Once the image is built, you can choose which containers to run on an as-needed basis. In general, you can start, stop, rebuild, inspect, and remove the containers via the CLI/Menu.

You can also remove all of the Docker artifacts by running the included uninstaller.

Tip: Run ./dactyl.sh shell --session to jump into a bash session inside of the shell container.

Direct installations

These chapters talk about installing this directly on your system. Some are easier than others and all can impact your host operational OS.

If you are using Fedora LiveUSB, you can go straight to Installing additional SW and continue with Python Environment.

Installing additional SW

Once you have a python 3 enabled distribution, there are some apps that you will likely use. Here is a list of them and they are located in many repositories or stores.

• OpenSCAD for reviewing and rendering results from solidpython library.
• FreeCAD for reviewing and rendering results from cadquery library.
  • Required Conda envoronment and package management.

On Fedora: sudo dnf install freecad freecad-data openscad openscad-MCAD conda.noarch

Conda Environment Installation

After the Docker installation, Anaconda is the next best option because CadQuery requires it.

Before you begin, ensure you have installed Anaconda and the conda command is available from your terminal by typing conda -V it will print the version: conda 4.10.1

You can install all of the dependencies by hand, but you can automate the install by running the bash script ./conda.sh. This will create a python 3.7 environment named dactyl-keyboard and install all of the required dependencies.

If you would like to install into a conda environment manually, check the bash script to see all of the required commands.

If you would like to remove the conda artifacts, run ./conda.sh --uninstall.

Python Environment Installation

You can install the application in a regular python environment, but it is not recommended. You will not be able to take advantage of the updated geometry generated by the CadQuery engine, as this is only available via the Docker/Anaconda installation.

1. Clone or download the project. ls dactyl-keyboard
2. Create virtual environment to avoid collisions. virtualenv -p python3 dactyl-keyboard cd dactyl-keyboard
3. Activate the environment source bin/activate
4. Install dependencies. pip3 install numpy scipy solidpython dataclasses-json
5. Navigate to the src folder. cd src/

ls dactyl-keyboard
virtualenv -p python3 dactyl-keyboard
cd dactyl-keyboard
source bin/activate
pip3 install numpy scipy solidpython dataclasses-json
cd src/

When you are running it again skip step for creating the environment and just navigate to the folder and activate it. This allows you to switch environments and resume work between projects. source bin/activate

Related projects and apps

Setting up the Python environment - NEW

• Install Python 3.X or use your favorite distro / platform (Anaconda)
• It is advisable, but not necessary, to setup a virtual environment to prevent package/library incompatibility
• Install Numpy, easiest method is pip install numpy or pip3 install numpy on linux.
• Install dataclasses_json, easiest method is pip install dataclasses-json or pip3 install dataclasses-json on linux.

cadquery install

• Install scipy, easiest method is pip install scipy or pip3 install scipy on linux.
• Install cadquery, many options (see link), but easiest method is conda install -c conda-forge -c cadquery cadquery=2. Props to the creators/maintainers, this has the power of Open CASCADE with nearing the simplicity of OpenSCAD.

OpenSCAD install

• Install SolidPython, easiest method is pip install solidpython or pip3 install solidpython on linux.
• Install OpenSCAD

Generating your first project

These steps should result in similar outcome as the provided things.

Until I get the DockerFile working properly the instructions are for direct installations. Interactive shell for docker works similarly and is already in src directory.

1. Navigate to src/ as the scripts use pre-defined paths from this directory.
   cd src/
2. Get familiar with the options. (Q for quiting the help window.)
   python3 generate_configuration.py --help
3. Generate a config with specific config name.
   python3 generate_configuration.py --config FirstOne
$EDITOR ../configs/FirstOne.json
4. Generate solids with the same config name.
   python3 dactyl_manuform.py --config FirstOne
   • This will regenerate the things/ files (or in subdirectory if defined in config)
     • *left.*
     • *right.*
     • *plate.*
     • *oled_clip.* (if applicable)
     • *oled_clip_test.* (if applicable)
5. Browse your generated solids.
   • Use OpenSCAD to open a .scad files.
     ls ../things/FirstOne/*.scad
   • Use FreeCAD or other application to open a .step file
     ls ../things/FirstOne/*.step

• You can edit the JSON and restart from step that generates solids.

1. When done, use OpenSCAD or FreeCAD to export STL files to use for printing.
2. Deactivate the virtual environment:
   • Python: deactivate
   • Conda: conda deactivate

Using the interactive option

I am adding an argument --interactive that splits the parameters into groups and provides help before asking for an uption.

This is meant to provide better alternative to manual JSON templates. For now use the templates.

It is using built-in help function and all it needs is rewriting existing comments to python DOCSTRINGS.

Working with a template

So the generate_configuration.py supports --update flag, but how to use it. Well the trick is to have a partial JSON that has different name of the save_dir and config_name than the name the JSON file.

For example: carquery.json like this:

{
    "ENGINE": "cadquery",
    "save_dir": "FirstOne",
    "config_name": "FirstOne",
}

Will update the FirstOne configuration file with just engine change, just by running:

python3 generate_configuration.py  --update cadquery
$EDITOR ../configs/FirstOne.json

You can supply both arguments to override the JSON as well. This can be used to make a copy:

python3 generate_configuration.py  --update cadquery --config SecondOne
$EDITOR ../configs/SecondOne.json

You can use these templates to develop your flavor without constantly checking for changes to smaller parameters.

Origins

The majority of the the rest of the below content is as defined by previous authors, except where noted.

The main change is that the thumb cluster was adapted from the ManuForm keyboard (geekhack). The walls were changed to just drop to the floor. The keyboard is paramaterized to allow adjusting the following:

• Rows: 4 - 6
• Columns: 5 and up
• Row curvature
• Column curvature
• Row tilt (tenting)
• Column tilt
• Column offsets
• Height

Assembly

Printing

Pre-generated files can be opened in OpenSCAD or FreeCAD and exported to STL. Bottom plate is available as a step file or dxf for cadquery or a .scad file to be exported from OpenSCAD.

Wiring

Here are materials tshort used for wiring.

• Two Arduino Pro Micros
• Heat-set inserts
• M3 wafer-head screws, 5mm
• Copper tape
• #32 magnet wire
• #30 wire
• 3-mm cast acrylic
• Veroboard stripboard
• 1N4148 diodes
• Female RJ-9 connectors

I wired one half using the traditional approach of using the legs of a diode to form the row connections. (I'm not great at soldering, so this was challenging for me.) For this side, I used magnet wire to wire columns. That worked okay. The magnet wire is small enough, it wants to move around, and it's hard to tell if you have a good connection.

For another half, I used stripboard for the row connections. This allowed me to presolder all of the diodes. Then, I hot-glued this in place and finished the soldering of the other diode ends. I like this approach quite a lot. Connections for the diodes were much easier with one end fixed down. On this half, I also used copper tape to connect columns. This worked a bit better than the magnet wire for me. For a future version, I may try just bare tinned copper wire for columns (something like #20). With the stripboard, it's pretty easy keeping row and column connections separate.

Note that a telephone handset cable has leads that are reversed, so take this into account when connecting these leads to the controller.

The 3D printed part is the main keyboard. You can attach a bottom plate with screws. The case has holes for heat-set inserts designed to hold 3- to 6-mm long M3 screws. Then, I used wafer-head screws to connect a bottom plate. If wires aren't dangling, a bottom plate may not be needed. You need something on the bottom to keep the keyboard from sliding around. Without a plate, you could use a rubber pad, or you could dip the bottom of the keyboard in PlastiDip.

For more photos of the first complete wiring of v0.4, see Imgur.

This is how the rows/columns wire to the keys and the ProMicro

Alternative row-driven wiring diagram for ProMicro:

NOTE: you also make sure the firmware is set up correctly (ex: change row pins with col pins)

Firmware

Firmware goes hand in hand with how you wire the circuit. I adapted the QMK firmware here. This allows each side to work separately or together. This site also shows connections for the Arduino Pro Micro controllers.

License

General Code Copyright © 2015-2021 Matthew Adereth, Tom Short, and Joshua Shreve Mini thumb cluster Copyright © 2015-2018 Matthew Adereth, Tom Short, and Leo Lou Carbonfet thumb cluster © 2015-2018 Matthew Adereth, Tom Short, and carbonfet (github username)

The source code for generating the models (everything excluding the things/ and resources/ directories is distributed under the GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3. The generated models and PCB designs are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License Version 3.0.