Naginata Style (薙刀式) for typing in Japanese

Naginata Style (薙刀式), by author Toshihiko Ōoka (大岡俊彦), is a Japanese kana-based keyboard layout which caught my interest. It was developed to work on traditional keyboards with spacebar used as central shift, but also works well on small ergonomic keyboards with thumbs-keys. The most common kana are a single key press, but generalising the idea of shift keys any other kana requiries a two-key combo (including compounds like "きゃ" or "kya"), or at most a three key combo (compounds like "ぎゃ" or "gya" with a ten-ten modifier). The layout is more ergonomic than Qwerty and the rarely used JIS Kana layout, and needs less key presses than romaji.

My first self-built computer keyboard - the Gamma Omega TC36K

This week I finished my first self-built computer keyboard, the Gamma Omega TC36K. I've just used it to type up this brief summary of my descent down the "Rabbit Hole" into madness the world of custom keyboards to reach this milestone.

My first keyboard PCB design - a diode-free 36 key ergonomic layout

My previous blog posts talked about diode-free keyboard designs using topology, and specifically using a partial Tutte-Coxeter graph for keyboards with 30~42 keys. As hinted at, I spent June making my own no-diode topology-based 36-key ergonomic keyboard PCB design using the Open Source tools Ergogen and KiCad. This is designed as an alternative PCB to fit the existing Gamma Omega keyboard's 3D printed case design (case design or modification can be a future project).

Mechanical keyboard wiring using the Tutte-Coxeter graph

Following my post on Topology meets Keyboard Design, I spent a few days exploring small less symmetric graphs, trying to find something in the region of 30~42 edges, 20~29 vertices, and as good a girth as possible (especially to have better rollover for the modifier & layer keys) for use in an ergonomic keyboard design. Then I realised as a starting point we can just use part of the 30 vertex Tutte-Coxeter graph, and get 6-key rollover automatically.

All 30 vertices in Tutte-Coxeter graph

28 of 30 vertices in Tutte-Coxeter graph

26 of 30 vertices in Tutte-Coxeter graph

Topology meets custom keyboard circuit design

Lately I've been reading about ergonomic keyboards, including DIY, spilt keyboards, and custom layouts. I'm currently learning to touch type my own variant of the inverted Hands Down Promethium layout on a pre-assembled Corne spilt keyboard (and on my laptop). I'd like more pinkie stagger, so perhaps I'll design and build my own keyboard - but I don't like soldering, so am drawn to the diode free designs.

The microcontrollers used in most DIY keyboard designs have at least 17 pins available to connect to keyboard switches. In the simplest designs each pin is connected directly to one key switch, which in a split design is enough for a 34 key layout. But what happens if you want more keys than your available GPIO pins, and you don't want to add diodes? Enter topology and the Heawood Graph, 14 vertices (GPIO pins) and 21 edges (key switches).