“Two hands are required to type on a regular keyboard. A mouse needs one hand to operate. This results in needing to move a hand between the mouse and keyboard often, which gets tiring.
To solve this problem, I designed and built a one-handed keyboard that uses key combinations (chords) for inputting keys. This allows me to keep one hand on my mouse and one hand on the keyboard, while still being able to type. I built this in Ms. Berbawy’s Principles of Engineering class as part of my SIDE Project.
My project was inspired by CrazyRobMile’s 6-key Pico Chord Keyboard and Infogrip’s 7-key BAT keyboard, a commercial product that was discontinued. I would also like to thank cribbit from the geekhack forum for their “A modern handwiring guide” post.
Materials
- 7x Cherry MX Compatible Switches
- 7x Keycaps
- Raspberry Pi Pico
- Micro USB cable
- 20-pin female-to-male header
- 20-pin angled male-to-male header
- Solid core wire (red and black is preferred, but any color will work)
Tools
- Soldering station (including wire stripper and wire cutter)
- Multimeter
- CAD Software
- FDM 3D Printer, such as the Prusa Mini and corresponding slicer software
- Computer or laptop”