Project Pukeko
Greetings from Poland! I’m a silly computer user that is longing for a laptop with a full profile mechanical keyboard. The only thing that I have seen so far was probably the Acer Predator 21X and that was not really what I would consider a mobile device.
So, I devised a plan to make a laptop I would actually want and the FW13 motherboard seems the most compelling option to work with due to availability of documentation.
The Plan™
Currently I have worked out the pinouts and I would like to tap into the USB lines exposed by the input cover interface on the motherboard. Ideally, my PCB should handle the keyboard (obviously), touchpad and a power button. I plan on only using open source software in the design process and releasing the files once I have something reasonable.
I’ll probably mainly be designing around SA/DSA/OSA/ASA/XDA keycap profiles as those are my main areas of interest, but I will try to leave a margin that will allow to support most keycap profiles so you can bring your own keycap set.
The basic plan is as follows
- Map out the basic bottom chassis in CAD
- 3D print a prototype of the bottom chassis
- Design a PCB for the keyboard
- Map out an input cover in CAD around the designed PCB
- 3D print a prototype of the input cover and test fit them together
- Move onto designing a lid
- 3D print a prototype of the lid and test everything together all at once
- Repeat the loop and once I achieve a design that satisfies me, we move on to the long term plan
After the design is mostly finalized, I will order a complete sample case from some CNC provider. Ideally, I would like to use a local one, but I know supply chains and material costs can be somewhat expensive in Europe. If you know any cool European CNC providers, feel free to recommend them in the thread.
It is probably going to take a while as I have no previous experience with this stuff, but I’m willing to put in the effort.
I will be using this thread as my worklog and I will probably be making YouTube videos on the topic.
The Long Term Plan™
As mentioned previously, I will be releasing the files for anyone to grab.
I do not know where I will release them yet, as GitHub will throw anything I upload onto LLM training and I’m not really fine with that.
I also intend on offering conversion kits, conversion services and preassembled units if there is an interest in the project.
I do not intend for this project to be just a one off build for myself. I would like to build a community around it and have fun together sharing a common interest that is cramming a full profile keyboard into a laptop.
Why Pukeko?
I just love this silly bird and decided it’ll be the codename for this project. I love biology and animals so codenaming the project after some animal feels like the natural course of things.
Asking for community feedback
So I have a couple things I need to ask the community! After all it’s not to be a one off build so I’d like to know what you think! Please let me know in the thread.
For now, I have these outstanding questions.
- Would you rather have the switches buried below the palmrest height so that the keys are level with the palmrest or a big lip (~18mm to accomodate most keycap profiles) around the LCD on the lid?
- Would you rather see staggered layout or more Sofle/Ergodox-like layout? I have recently tried a Sofle board at a friend’s place and I can’t really decide now. I don’t know if I’m ready to commit to learning a different layout
- Would you like the fingerprint reader to be integrated? It would add complexity and project time to the board as that would mean I need to engineer the board around a USB hub chip or add a middle board with a USB hub and signal separation for other components.
- Would you like a ThinkPad-esque power LED on the outer surface of the lid that’d mimic the power button LED state? This also adds complexity as it’s routing more cables to the lid and breaking the signal out of the PCB.
What happens next
I’ll start designing as soon as I get my hands on a computer mouse. In the meantime, feel free to discuss about the project and ask questions in the thread!
