+++ /dev/null
-\documentclass[landscape,twocolumn]{article}
-\title{Atreus Keyboard Assembly}
-\date{ }
-\usepackage{pdflscape}
-\usepackage{graphicx}
-\usepackage[landscape,twocolumn]{geometry}
-\usepackage{wrapfig}
-\newgeometry{margin=2cm}
-\begin{document}
-\setlength{\columnsep}{1.4cm}
-\setlength{\parindent}{0cm}
-\maketitle
-\section{Prerequisites}
-
-Before starting, make sure your kit has all its parts:
-
-\begin{itemize}
-\item Case: top plate, switch plate, spacer pieces, bottom plate
-\item Sandpaper: 100-220 grit and 1000-2000 grit waterproof
-\item Key switches: 42 tactile or clicky, 5 red optional
-\item Printed circuit board (PCB)
-\item A-Star Micro controller\footnote{The controller and diodes will be
- attached to the PCB already in presoldered boards.}
-\item Diodes\textsuperscript{1}: 42
-\item USB micro cable
-\item Key caps: 40 normal, 2 long
-\item Screws and nuts: 8 each, 16mm M3 size
-\item Rubber feet
-\end{itemize}
-
-You'll also need to have these on hand:
-
-\begin{itemize}
-\item Can of spray lacquer, shellac, or polyurethane (for wood cases)
-\item Newspaper or other material to spray on (for wood cases)
-\item Soldering iron and solder (lead-free not recommended)
-\item Wire cutters (not needed for presoldered kits)
-\item Eye protection for soldering
-\end{itemize}
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-The latest version of this document can always be found
-online.\footnote{https://atreus.technomancy.us/assembly.pdf} If you are
-hand-wiring a board without a PCB, see the older assembly
-guide.\footnote{https://atreus.technomancy.us/assembly-hand-wired.pdf}
-The photos in this guide depict Matias switches (with rectangular
-switch stems), but you can use Cherry MX switches (with stems shaped
-like a +) as well.
-
-\section{Sanding}
-
-Acrylic cases can skip down to the ``Diodes'' step below. Otherwise
-start by sanding with your rougher sandpaper. The top side of the top
-plate and the bottom side of the bottom plate are the only surfaces
-that are exposed to the touch once the keyboard is fully assembled, so
-these are the ones you'll need to sand.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-\begin{center}
- \includegraphics[width=0.7\columnwidth]{sanding.jpg}
-\end{center}
-\vspace{1em}
-
-You may want to hold two pieces together while sanding for strength or
-placing it on a flat surface you don't mind scruffing up; too much
-pressure on a single plate could damage it. Be sure to get all the
-wood dust off the pieces before you go on. A clean tack cloth or other
-fine cloth works well.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Some people don't like the look of the exposed edges charred black
-from the laser cutter. You can choose to sand off the charring, or
-alternately cover it all with black ink from a sharpie marker for a
-more consistent look, or just leave it alone.
-
-\section{Wood Finishing}
-
-Once the case is sanded down all over with coarse sandpaper, find a
-good place to spray the lacquer or polyurethane; either outdoors or in
-a well-ventilated garage. Lay down the newspaper with the pieces of
-the case on top of it. Spray your first coat of lacquer to the face-up
-side of each piece. As you spray to and fro, overlapping the path of
-the spray slightly will minimize running. The evenness of the spray
-matters less on the internal surfaces of the case, so that's a good
-place to practice and get the hang of it.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Check the lacquer directions to see how long your particular product
-needs to dry; this can vary from half an hour to many hours. Once your
-first coat is dry, flip each piece over and spray the other
-side. Repeat for a second coat. After the second coat, you can ignore
-all surfaces except for the top of the top plate and the bottom of the
-bottom plate since only these are exposed to the outside. At this
-point you can take in the switch plate and continue the rest of the
-keyboard construction in between applying the further coats.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-The outer surfaces should have between five to eight coats applied
-total. As you get to the later coats, the end result will be smoother
-if you can keep them thinner. After your second-to-last coat dries,
-take your fine sandpaper and soak it in water, then sand over the top
-and bottom surfaces lightly. Add a final coat and buff it with a fine
-cloth. If you make any mistakes or are unhappy with the smoothness of
-the finish, let it dry and add another layer until you are satisfied.
-
-\section{Diodes}
-
-If you've got a presoldered board, you can skip ahead to the
-``Switches'' section.
-
-\vspace {1em}
-
-If you've never soldered before, there are plenty of good
-introductions online.\footnote{This one from Adafruit is great:
- https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/tools}
-Coat the tip of the hot iron thinly with some solder before you
-start. The key is to use the iron to heat both the hole and the lead
-sticking through it for a second or two, then bring in a dab of the
-solder. The solder should melt immediately if the joint is hot enough.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Take five diodes at a time and bend them into a U shape. Place them
-into the diode holes next to each switch slot on the unlabeled side of
-the board. Each diode has a black band on it; the band should be
-pointing in the direction of the arrow on the printed side of
-the board. Once all five are in, pinch the legs of the diodes together
-to keep them from falling out, then flip the board over and solder
-them in place. Make sure they don't protrude up more than necessary.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{diodes.jpg}
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Once each set of diodes is soldered, trim the diode legs with wire
-cutters. Pinch the diode leg as you trim it to keep it from flying
-across the room or into an eye. \textbf{Keep the diode legs}; they will be
-needed in the next step. Repeat until each diode position is
-filled. Note that each row on the bottom needs six diodes instead of five.
-
-\section{Controller}
-
-Once the diodes are in place, you can begin attaching the controller.
-If the controller came in a pink bag with its own header pins, you may
-be tempted to use them to connect the controller to the circuit
-board. Don't do this--they are too big and will prevent the case from
-closing when you're done. We will be using the diode legs we just
-trimmed instead.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-First take the PCB with the labeled side down and fill the four corner
-holes in the center ``A-STAR'' section with solder. Insert diode legs
-into these holes while melting the solder. Then repeat the process for
-the other holes on the left, keeping them pointing as straight as
-possible. Leave the rest of the right side alone for now.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-\begin{center}\includegraphics[width=0.8\columnwidth]{many-pins.jpg}\end{center}
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Fit the controller over the legs you've attached so far. You can trim
-the legs some if it helps get the controller on, but don't cut them to
-less than a quarter of the original length. Solder the four corner
-pins already connected to the PCB into the corners of the
-controller. (The bottom left corner pin of the controller is unused;
-the pin above it is used instead.) Try to ensure the controller is as
-close to the PCB as possible and not at an angle. Then solder the
-other left-side diode legs into the controller as well. Trim them all
-with your wire cutters when they are secure.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Eight right-side holes remain. For these, bend four diode legs at a
-time into an L shape, and insert them into four of the remaining
-holes. Flip the board over and solder the protruding diode legs to the
-PCB, then trim them down and flip the board back over. Straighten the
-diode legs, then solder and trim them. Repeat for the remaining
-right-side holes. From the PCB side, all the holes will be used, but
-from the controller side, there will be some unused.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-\begin{center}
- \includegraphics[width=0.8\columnwidth]{bent-legs.jpg}
-\end{center}
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Before you go on, take the time to double-check the solder joints on
-the controller. The solder should fill the hole completely without
-spilling over to adjacent holes. Also check that all the diodes are
-facing the correct direction with the black band pointing to the
-bottom of the board.
-
-\section{Firmware}
-
-Installing the firmware now isn't strictly necessary, but it will
-allow you to spot mistakes before the board is finished.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Plug in the USB micro cable into the controller, and plug the other
-side into your computer. Get a copy of the
-firmware \texttt{.hex} file \footnote{Available at
- https://atreus.technomancy.us/download} and \texttt{avrdude}. The
-first time you upload the firmware, you will have to use the hardware
-reset to enter the bootloader: take a diode leg or wire and touch one
-end to the reset pin and one end to the ground pin. (These are circled
-in the photo.) Touch them together twice in under a second and the
-LED underneath will begin pulsing in a smoother pattern from the
-original blinking. This indicates it has entered bootloader mode for 8
-seconds.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-While it's in the bootloader mode, run \texttt{avrdude -p atmega32u4
- -c avr109 -U flash:w:atreus.hex -P /path/to/usb} from the directory
-containing the firmware\footnote{See
- https://atreus.technomancy.us/flash for how to determine the USB
- argument and customizing the layout.}. The firmware should be
-uploaded, and it will start functioning as a keyboard once switches
-are connected. Next time you upload, you can use the reset key instead
-of touching the pins together.
-
-\section{Switches}
-
-Next take four switches and place each switch in a corner of the
-switch plate. (That's the case layer with all the holes in it.) The
-switches should be oriented so that the side with pins is to the
-``north'' of the board so they will fit into the holes in the circuit
-board. Put the switch plate face-down on the table with the pins
-sticking up.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Carefully fit the circuit board over the protruding pins with the
-labeled side down. Solder those corners to hold the circuit board and
-the switch plate together. The switches should be flush with the
-PCB. Take care that the switch pins are straight when you insert them;
-pushing in a switch with a pin that's a bit bent will bend it flat and
-prevent it from poking through the circuit board.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-\begin{center}
- \includegraphics[width=0.9\columnwidth]{some-switches.jpg}
-\end{center}
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Next fill in the rest of the bottom row (SW1:3 through SW10:3) and the
-leftmost column (SW0:1 and SW0:2). If your kit has red linear switches
-which do not have any tactile bump, you can choose to use these for
-the modifier keys (shift, ctrl, alt, etc) or to leave the modifiers
-using the same switches as the rest of the board.\footnote{Since
- modifier keys are held down, they do not benefit from tactility like
- normal keys do, so some people find they prefer linear keys there,
- but this is a matter of personal taste.} The modifiers on the bottom
-row are SW2:3, SW3:3, and SW8:3 in the default layout.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Solder the left and right pins of each of the switches you've placed
-so far, and then plug it in to a computer to test them to ensure that
-each row and column is connected back up to the controller
-correctly. Once you've confirmed this, solder the rest of the
-switches.
-
-\section{Wrapping Up}
-
-If there's a misbehaving switch, it's often caused by a cold
-joint. Reflow the solder on both contacts of the switch and the
-diode. If an entire row or column is affected, it's probably the
-connection to the controller. You can follow the traces for the rows
-back to the middle, but the columns on the back of the board are
-obscured when the keyboard is assembled; you can see them in this PCB
-diagram\footnote{https://atreus.technomancy.us/pcb}. Re-melting the
-controller's solder joint for the affected row or column is usually
-enough to get it working. If you still can't
-get it working, email me: \texttt{phil@hagelb.org}.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-You may want to add strain relief by wrapping the USB cable with
-electrical tape at the point just below where it leaves the case. This
-will make it so pulling on the cable does not dislodge it from the
-controller.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-After the switches are all in and tested, place the keycaps. They can
-take a fair bit of pressure to go on, so support the underside of the
-board while pushing them on. Once the caps are on, they are very
-difficult to remove again; don't try to pull them off without
-desoldering\footnote{Desoldering a single switch can be done with just
- an iron, but for doing more you may want a pump or wick. See
- https://blog.adafruit.com/2015/11/25/collins-lab-desoldering/} the
-switch first.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-All that's left is to do is close the case by placing the spacer
-pieces and bottom plate on the keyboard while upside down, then
-putting some screws in. Flip it over and place the top plate on, then
-attach the nuts. If the controller was not attached close enough to
-the circuit board, it may be necessary to sand down the USB connector
-to reduce its height in order to close the case. If the rubber feet
-don't stay on with the provided adhesive, white glue may be needed to
-secure them. If you have some wood finishing oil or beeswax, you can
-apply it with your fingers after the feet go on for a shinier surface.
-
-\vspace{1em}
-
-Congratulations! Enjoy your new keyboard. It will take a
-considerable adjustment period to get used to it, but it should result
-in much more comfortable and effective typing. Also remember that
-you're encouraged to customize the layout to make it truly your
-own. Happy typing!
-
-\end{document}
projects / atreides.git / commitdiff
