Day 150 Post Kickstarter
over 3 years ago – Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 02:26:57 PM

Summary and TL;DR

We are about to place the order for key switches, This is the last chance to change your Glove80 key switch choice. Please make your revisions by 27 July Wednesday.

TL;DR

What an incredibly full-on and busy month.

We made great progress in electronics, firmware, test jigs and certification planning.

We ran into some delay with injection mold refinement.

The revised shipping date is the end of October.

Progress - Electronics & Test Jigs

We completed the validation of “hopefully final” PCBs. The results were great. Everything (except one) complies to our expectations. The new RGB LED power circuit is a vast improvement. The power efficiency is excellent and exceeds our design parameter. Here is an infrared thermal photo of the Controller while powering the RGB LEDs at the maximum brightness; there is no more hot spot.

However we did find one minor issue with the Controller PCB. When the Glove80 is powered off but with the USB-cable plugged in, one of the GPIO lines is pulled up to 5V by the USB port. This is strictly speaking outside the nRF52840 specification. On the off-chance (but unlikely in reality) that it may cause long-term degradation, we have nevertheless decided to re-spin the Controller board.

As we reported last month we revised the Finger PCBs to add test pads to facilitate production QA. These final Finger PCB and Controller PCB samples have just been completed by the PCBA factory ahead of schedule.

The test jigs we designed last month have arrived. We have completed the programming of Key Switch and RGB LED Test-Jig, which will help to identify issues with key switches and soldering. We have made great progress in the Controller Test Jig too: we have validated most of the test jig and we are halfway through the programming.

Progress - Injection Mold

Injection mold refinement is progressing, but slower than expected. Refining each key switch hole turns out to be an herculean effort. Each key switch hole points in a different direction and impacts 4 surfaces with complex and unique mold design for each hole.

We discovered an issue that when the palm rest is attached, the palm rest legs are not always level with the keyboard. This is due to the complex shapes of the keyboard and palm rests and the shrinkage of plastic leading to a very slight distortion. Shrinkage and distortion are no strangers to anyone involved in injection molding, but it is something we need to fix. The injection molder is working on varying the parameters to control the shrinkage.

We have also decided on a design change on the palm rest that will better allow for the shrinkage; this requires modification to the palm rest mold.

Progress - Certification

With the testing house and our contract manufacturer, we worked through the logistics and planning of the certification process.

With the delay in injection molds, our original plan has been impacted. However we are changing our plans to keep to the schedule as best as we could.

Schedule

At this point we are expecting mass production to begin in September, with the aim to ship out from the factory at the end of October.

We will be placing orders for key-switches in the coming week. As such, if you wish to make changes to the switch choice for your Glove80, please do so now (before Wednesday 27 July). We won’t officially lock the Backerkit orders yet, but please don’t change your Glove80 variation after 27 July.

What's next?

We are assembling the certification units in the next 2 weeks. Assuming no hiccups, we hope to complete certification by the end of August.

We will continue to work on the injection molds and test jig implementation as well as manufacturing planning.

There are only a few pre-order Glove80s left in the Backerkit store. If you would like to get one or an extra, please head off to https://glove80.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders#store if you are not yet a Backer, or log-in to your Backerkit account if you are already a Backer.

That’s it from us for now.

Day 120 Post Kickstarter
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Jun 26, 2022 at 03:19:54 PM

Overall picture/TL;DR

TL;DR: We are now deep into pre-production territory. Chris has been enjoying typing on a Glove80 with a T0 injection molded case and “hopefully-final” PCBs. The custom parts are all using pre-production tooling, and the non-custom parts are from the candidate suppliers. We are continuing to finalize the tooling and getting ready for certification.

Progress - Injection mold

We received the T0 (first injection mold test) samples in early June. The T0 samples look beautiful and work much better than our previous SLA 3D-printed cases. Please note that T0 samples do not yet have texture, and the mold will undergo a couple more milestones (T1, T2) before finalized.

The case is so much more rigid compared to the SLA 3D-printed prototypes, which were already quite solid.

The top and bottom fit so much better than I could imagine. I was really quite worried, as the tolerance is tight. We had lots of difficulty with SLA 3D-printed prototypes with the fit due to the shrinkage and warping. But the T0 is just perfect in this regard.

The new press-fit thumb screws for the palm rest work really well. You will no longer need to use a screwdriver to attach or detach the palm rest onto/from the keyboard. This is a new “surprise” improvement we kept quiet, as we were not sure if it was technically achievable due to the many constraints. We worked hard with the injection molding factory, and together we managed to find a solution.

 That said, being super picky that we are, we have compiled a list of each of the functional issues and cosmetic issues that we are working with the factory to improve, including:

• The key switches are a little loose in their holes, so they will be tightened to fit the switches snugly
• The palm rest has some minor warping that makes it slightly wobbly. The injection molders are modifying the molding parameters (temperature/pressure/duration etc) to counter the problem
• Various cosmetic imperfection such as sink marks on the palm rest which are expected for a T0 mold

The factory has been busy the last couple of weeks fixing these issues. Due to how finicky it is to tighten the tolerances of each of the 80 key switch holes, and the quality level we expect, it is taking longer than we planned. But all in all, we are really happy with the progress.

Progress - Electronics

The “hopefully final” PCBs arrived a few days ago. They are working great so far. In fact Chris’ new daily driver Glove80 uses these “hopefully final” PCBs.

We still need to run a few more formal tests with the oscilloscope to complete the validation. But so far the Controller PCBs are working perfectly.

The new finger PCBs fit the curvature of the plastic shell far better than the previous version, which means less stress on the key switch solder joints. However we will make one more round of finger PCBs for minor tunings to improve the efficiency of production PCB assembly, as well as adding test pads to facilitate QA testing.

Progress - Bootloader and ZMK Firmware

We have finished the work on the bootloader. The enhanced bootloader has:

• Ability to enter into USB mass storage mode for downloading new ZMK firmware by simply pressing a key combo at power-up, even if the ZMK firmware is bricked.
• Ability to completely wipe the run-time configuration of ZMK by pressing a key combo at power-up, so that the two halves can be paired together again without using the complicated ZMK procedure. This feature is useful for replacing one half of a Glove80, or to recover from corrupted run-time ZMK configuration.
   

We have also started working on upgrading the ZMK firmware. Chris’ new Glove80 is now running the (almost) latest version of ZMK with:

• Recent ZMK features such as macros, and RGB support for split board
• About ⅓ of the new ZMK/Glove80 specific features we intend to add
• Improved battery life

Progress - Test Jigs

Quality assurance and a repeatable manufacturing process are the keys to successful mass manufacturing. As a wise man and hardware hacker extraordinaire once said “The test jig is the product behind the product. In some cases, a product designer may spend even more time designing a test jig than they spend designing the product itself.“ (https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=5450)

Towards that end, we are planning a series of custom test jigs to help our factories efficiently and effectively attain the quality we expect from Glove80.

The first and most complex test jig is designed to automate the comprehensive testing of the two Glove80 Controller PCBs (i.e. the brains), with the goal of:

• Flashing test firmware
• Testing every connector
• Testing every key voltage in the system
• Testing the LiPo charging circuit
• Testing that Glove80 works on both USB and battery power sources

These tests should exercise most of the solder joints on the Controller PCBs.

A second test jig will help the factory ensure that the key switches and RGBs are properly soldered, and that the key switches themselves are of good quality. It will help detect sticky switches, glitching switches, and switches that are not properly soldered.

These two test jigs are the most complex electronics-wise. We have completed the design of these two test jigs, and they are now being made. The next steps are to write the test applications, and to test the test jigs when they arrive.

Oh, and Covid

Progress was a little slower this month. My family finally got struck by Covid. We had been lucky in New Zealand in the last two years being so sheltered from Covid. I am now 80% recovered, after a rough week or two.

What's next?

The highest priorities are to finalize the injection molding tooling and finger PCBs as well as completing Controller PCB validation, so that we could work towards attaining the product certifications. As part of that process, we will need to write the draft user documentation for Glove80.

That’s it from us for now.

Day 90 Post Kickstarter
almost 4 years ago – Wed, May 25, 2022 at 05:18:31 AM

New International Keycaps & Supplementary Keycaps

Amongst the contoured keyboards on the market today, Glove80 has the unique feature of allowing a user to easily swap any keycaps to match the chosen keyboard layout. On this basis we have developed a range of keycaps to support several international layouts.

During the Kickstarter campaign, some of our supporters asked for even more different legends to match various extra use cases. We have been working with our Discord community, and together we have created and finalized these lovely supplementary keycap sets. We would especially like to shout out to @tynstar for his organization effort.

New items on Backerkit

As a result of the community work on the new international keycap and supplementary keycap sets, they are now available on Backerkit. If you wish, you can add them to your order at https://glove80.backerkit.com

We have also added black opaque caps as add-ons, but they do come with a big caveat: the indicator LEDs would be much less visible especially during day-time. We generally recommend to use white translucent keycaps with Glove80 for the keys that work as indicators.

If you have ordered a white add-on keycap set during Kickstarter, and would like to change to the equivalent black add-on keycap set, please contact support at Backerkit for manual adjustment.

Please note that the Glove80 keyboard itself does not have a black keycap option; for detailed reasons please see the #glove80-info channel on our Discord.

Progress - Injection mold

We have reached the very important T0 milestones for all Glove80 molds.

The top case has proven to be a mighty challenge for our injection molder, due to its incredible complexity and fine details. However the molder managed to overcome these challenges after a small delay (while navigating the Covid lockdown too). Instead of regular milling, a large portion of the mold has to be machined using electrical discharge machining (EDM). EDM is a machining process that uses a high voltage spark to chip off bits of metal. Think of it as targeted lightning to blast bits off. EDM is typically used for precision molds; the details achievable by EDM is stunning but an EDM mold takes significantly longer to make.

Now that we have reached the T0 milestone, the factory will continue to refine the mold.

Progress - Electronics

We have validated the new LED driver circuit. The factory is now currently manufacturing a batch of “hopefully-final” prototype circuit boards. We are expecting the factory to ship this in the coming month for us to begin our validation process.

Progress - Firmware

We have started enhancing the Adafruit nRF52 bootloader that we use in the Glove80.

Case color

In the last update, we mentioned that we made the choice of RGB #57595c for the keyboard case. It turns out that this color is a tad too light when injection-molded. We are now trying to match a color closer to RGB #3c3e3f https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp?colorhex=3c3e3f

Referral Gift

If you are eligible for a referral gift, you should have received an email with a list of choices. Please reply with your selection as soon as possible.

What's next?

We will continue to work on the bootloader improvement, production planning and PCB test-rig design.

That’s it from us for now.

Day 59 Post Kickstarter
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Apr 24, 2022 at 12:55:36 AM

Backer Survey

So far almost 95% of Kickstarter backers have completed the Backer Survey. That’s an incredible response rate. Thank you!

If you find that for some reason you have not received an invitation to the Backer Survey, please contact us at [email protected]. We noticed that a number of backers with Apple email addresses had problems receiving the invitation.

Please do note that we will not yet lock the orders. In fact we are working towards releasing a new batch of add-ons asked for by our backers, including the supplementary keycap sets and the black keycaps. We will send a Backer’s Update when they become available.

Case color and black keycaps

We have been working on the selection of the color of the slate grey case. It is more an art than a science to achieve an exact plastic color. After receiving the black and grey keycap samples, and consulting with our designer, we have decided to select a dark grey with a more neutral tone so that the grey case will work better with both the white caps (which come with Glove80) and the optional black caps. The slate grey chosen will be closer to a charcoal grey (roughly RGB #57595c).

The opaque black MCC-profile POM keycap samples have arrived. They are beautiful, and the legends are crisp. Do be aware that these black keycaps are opaque, so they won't let through the LED light; it will be difficult to see the Glove80 LED indicators in day-time. White translucent MCC-profile caps are recommended for Glove80, and these are what will be shipped with Glove80. The opaque black POM keycaps will be available on Backerkit as add-ons.

If you would like to update your choice for the case color, you can do so on Backerkit. If you would like further discussions on the case color, please find us on Discord.

Progress - Injection mold

The injection molds are progressing well. The designs for the molds are completed, and molds are being made. The injection molding factory has produced the first test article with the palm rest mold. 

Progress - Electronics

We have been busy working on the redesign of the PCBs. The Kickstarter process and our Discord community have given us plenty of ideas for improvements.

We have been listening. Here are the improvements we are incorporating into the controller PCBs:

• LiPo battery connectors, so that no soldering is needed to replace LiPo batteries.
   
• A more powerful LED driver to power LEDs at a brighter setting. Previously limited to 300mA (per side), now the LED current will be firmware limited to around 700mA (per side).
   
• Improved battery life through a combination of electronics and firmware improvements.
   
• More extension GPIO pins for electronics hackers. Previously 4, now 6!
   
• An 1.27mm male pin header for GPIO extension. This is particularly exciting as it makes it far easier to extend the capability of Glove80. You will be able to plug-in a pre-made add-on module into the 1.27mm male pin header, without soldering.
   

To say that life is interesting in electronics-land is a bit of understatement at the moment. You will have heard of the supply chain crisis, but apparently it is getting worse and not any better. Quite a few of our preferred components are now globally out of stock, so we had to look for alternatives. Unfortunately this does mean that we have to test and re-qualify each of these replacement candidates, and to re-design the PCB around the replacement component.

We have completed the layout of the two controller PCBs. However we still need to complete the validation of the new LED driver design before we can make a batch of these (hopefully final) prototypes. We are now working on the PCBs for the fingers and thumbs.

Referral Gift

If you are eligible for a referral gift, please be reassured that we have not forgotten about you. We are waiting for the black caps and the supplementary keycap sets to be finalized before sending the questionnaire.

What's next?

We will be continuing to work on the PCBs and to produce these (hopefully final) prototypes. The next major chunk of work would be production planning and PCB test-rig design.

That’s it from us for now.

Your chance to have your say in Glove80 supplementary keycap sets
about 4 years ago – Mon, Apr 04, 2022 at 06:43:03 AM

With its support for completely rearranging all keycaps, Glove80 offers a high degree of customizability when it comes to keycaps:

• The labelled version of Glove80 ships with a total of 86 labelled keycaps
  Note: we include a second "Alt" key which is not in the picture.

• Availability of add-on keycap sets for a range of international layouts (GB, DE, SE, NO, DK, JP & French AZERTY). Add-on keycap set for French BÉPO  layout is coming.
   

However, in our Discord community, many backers have expressed interest in supplementary keycap sets covering media keys, OS-specific symbols, neutral/universal symbols or other, "nerdy" keys.

If any of this sounds like something you are interested in, we need your help! Please fill out the Google Form below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyFAW8drtloGkUA9PGX1WpR25XNu-QFCg0hhzBtvDSMth8mQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Note for backers: this is unrelated to managing your Kickstarter pledge or customizing your Glove80 order on Backerkit. Also, even if you don't fill out this form, you will be able to add keycap sets on Backerkit once we add them there. This Google Form is for collecting data so that we could determine what to include in each supplementary keycap set.

If you want supplementary keycap sets, you would help us greatly by also providing more specific data: please open our Glove80 Keycap Candidates for Supplementary Set(s) spreadsheet where we collect votes for individual keycaps.  Add your Discord name (or a unique nickname) to each keycap that should be in a set that you would buy.

If you have questions or would like to discuss supplementary keycap ideas, please join our Discord community at https://discord.gg/F9bHduXbq9 and open the channel #glove80-supplementary-keycaps.

A big thank you to @tynstar and other supporters on Discord for driving this effort. Thank you again.