Custom bluetooth keyboard

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Revision as of 18:49, 13 September 2011 by Benbergman (talk) (→‎Available approaches)
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Bluetooth conversion of a Kinesis contour keyboard to a bluetooth keyboard.

Brainstorming

Available approaches

  1. USB HID to bluetooth adapter
    • Pros:
      • No modification of the keyboard necessary
    • Cons:
      • USB HID host chips are uncommon and expensive
      • Programming USB HID host may be complicated
  2. PS/2 to bluetooth adapter
    • Pros:
      • Simpler to decode than USB HID
      • Any microcontroller can do it
    • Cons:
      • USB version of keyboard may or may not have PS/2 output
  3. Custom replacement keyboard controller with integrated bluetooth
    • Pros:
      • Getting data directly from button matrix is likely simpler than decoding some other protocol
      • Opportunity to add extra features
      • Likely better battery life
    • Cons:
      • Kinesis keyboards have some advanced programmability - reimplementing that on a custom controller could take some time
      • Requires interfacing with the key matrix directly which either requires special connectors or soldering to the key matrix

Features

  • Bluetooth module might have HID and audio capabilities
    • Use keyboard as audio extender - include a headphone port in keyboard
    • Kinesis has a key recognition click speaker built in which can be hard to hear when listening to music, but might still annoy others
      • Overlay key click sound over bluetooth audio signal
  • USB interface for charging
    • disable bluetooth while charging and instead use the USB connection
  • Saving, editing, and uploading custom keyboard layouts to the keyboard from the computer
    • Cross platform application

Reference

Retrieved from "https://wiki.skullspace.ca/index.php?title=Custom_bluetooth_keyboard&oldid=1662"