A Custom Keyboard from the Ground Up

This is a personal project done in my spare type to help me type more comfortably and improve how I use my computer.

Design Process

The Space Between You and Me is a split ortholinear 3x5 keyboard with 4 thumb keys, a trackball, and a rotary encoder, based on foostan’s Corne keyboard.

PCB

The PCB was designed with a reversible design. The same PCB can be used for the left and right side of the keyboard and can be assembled with a rotary encoder or a trackball on either side of the keyboard. This PCB was designed on KiCad. An assembly guide is included in my GitHub repository.

Case

The case was 3D printed and fitted to the keyboard for the most compact design.

The trackball was resin printed and shaped like a space cat :D.

Trackball and Rotary Encoder

I used a PMW3360DM trackball sensor and a 34mm trackball for the mouse. This can be placed on either side of the keyboard.

The rotary encoder is a simple encoder with a switch that I used to scroll up/down, change volume, and can be re-programmed as needed.

Programming

The firmware I used for this keyboard is QMK with a custom layout, but it can be programmed with any layout you want.

Extras

I couple of my friends were interested in building this keyboard as well. Here is the picture of one of them with a Halo inspired theme.

Links:

• Keyboard Repository: https://github.com/cgxeiji/cgxkb/tree/main/tsbym