I would like to use a framework 13 or 16 keyboard and possibly even the trackpad wirelessly (2.4ghz or bluetooth) on another PC. Couch gaming sucks and there is no good solutions that are compact like the deck of a laptop (sans the screen) that I can haul to the livingroom setup.
Closest out there is the Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II, but that doesnt have a trackpad. The trackpoint ball is cool and all but really just looking for a trackpad–as couch gaming is also controller gaming.. so no need for a dedicated mouse.
Any pointers would be appreciated. A similar project.. or if its already a feature. I have heard framework supports QMK firmware but I am doubtful of there being radios present in the keeb+trackpads microcontroller..
Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately, for the trackpads at least, it would take more work than most people would be willing to do. And even the keyboard wouldn’t be ideal. In order to get good battery life, wireless devices need to be designed from the start with minimal power usage in mind, qmk is not. So you’ll need a larger battery than commercial wireless keyboards need & you’ll be charging it more often. That can get annoying enough that you have to ask if yourself if you’re really getting a benefit out of the setup, all things considered. You’re right that none of the keyboards or trackpads have radios, there is no need, so it would be burning money to put the in. For the FWL16 keyboard, there are dongles that exist which let you use usb keyboards wirelessly, that would be the way to do it with an amount of effort that most people would want to put in. The keyboard’s pinout is on Framework’s github.
If you’re willing to put in the work for this, I have an idea of how to go about it. If not, maybe someone could attempt it.
I would suggest a setup where you pull out the keyboard and trackpad and put it into a shell that contains a battery and the wireless adapters. Almost like moving them from one FW16 to another. You would need to design something that would connect the wireless and battery to the keyboard. I’d probably use another FW16 mid plate so you could just drop them in easily. Possibly use a FW battery just to keep everything in the ecosystem, but you could probably do with a smaller lighter battery. You could probably 3D print a shell that is similar to the FW16 for it all to sit in. The downside to this is that it would nearly be the size of a FW16.
I personally wouldn’t mind just the keyboard and numpad and just use a wireless mouse.
If you’re ok with a more involved project, and want the best battery life, then ZMK is the way to go imo. zmk.dev/docs/hardware. For a FWL16 keyboard, you’d replace the onboard microcontroller with a ZMK supported one. For a FWL13 keyboard, those don’t have onboard microcontroller. The FWL13 keymatrix pinout should be on FW’s github. How its columns and rows map to keys can be found here: howett.net/data/framework_matrix.