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AsetNiop4Teensy

Teensyduino usb microcontroller driver for low actuation AsetNiop keyboard.

AsetNiop is a keyboard layout that only uses around 15 keys, 10 in this configuration (counting mouse buttons). This is possible by chord typing (forming characters by pressing multiple keys at once).

I have a connective tissue disorder that severely limits my ability to type. As a programmer, you can see why that's a problem. I've tried several 'traditional' solutions. Speech recognition, on-screen keyboards with head movement tracking, low actuation force keyboards, even a laser keyboard. But none of those enabled me to input text accurately and fast enough to make programming possible.

Then I found asetniop (asetniop.com). At the time it was still in development but the idea seemed so promising that I contacted the developer and started implementing it in an os x keyboard remapper (KeyRemap4MacBook). With asetniop and a low actuation force keyboard I was able to type better and faster than I had ever been able to.

Unfortunately my illness is progressive, and as I deteriorated I realized I would need even lower actuation force keyswitches. I decided to build my own keyboard before I wouldn't be able to any more. Thus asetniop4teensy was born.

The hardware

The cherry keyswitches that are most common in high-end keyboards require too much force, so I decided to go with low-actuation force microswitches. This type only requires 0.15 N for a keypress. Combine this with a teensy 3.0 microcontroller, and a boat load of polymorph, and you've got a keyboard. Well, sort of. More of an input device. Or just a mound of plastic, depending on how you look at it.

As for the physical layout, I am going for a datahand-like device, with the exception that I'll use 1 key per finger (2 under the left thumb), with the hands tilted upright and completely supported. I also want to add a trackball under my right thumb so I won't have to move my hands between keyboard and mouse all the time.

The software

We use platformio to compile and get the code onto the microprocessor, because that just works so much easier. Especially coupled with a version control system like git.

When all's said and done, the input device will seem like a normal keyboard to the computer. Any operating system will be able to recognize it, as long as arduino is supported (that's the case on most operating systems).

Current state

We've started from scratch for the second time, and hopefully the last. A lot has changed in the physical design of the keyboard, and we have waited for a semi-usable prototype before further developing the codebase. Now is that time.

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Teensy usb microcontroller AsetNiop keyboard.

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