Seeed Fusion invited Tamás Dovenyi, the webmaster of KBD.NEWS, to judge the outstanding keyboards together with us. So the judges are made by Seeed staff and Tamás Dovenyi. The average of the ranking determines the winners. The scoring criteria involve: the usability and originality of the design, quality of the documentation and media provided, available source files, aesthetics of the keyboard, popularity on social media, etc. Hereby we announce the 11 winners of the contest:
For more information, please read this blog.
Marc Rühl
TOTEM | a tiny splitkeyboard with splay
Christian Lo
Beyblock20 | a magnetic, modular MacroPad
Sonal Pinto
Purple Owl | a 60% keyboard powered by Seeed XIAO RP2040
Shashank
KLEIN | a wireless ergonomical keyboard
policium
GRIN Quern | an ergonomic keyboard on center trackpad
Yu Sanagi
Kidoairaku Swallowtail | a cute butterfly-shaped keyboard
illness072
Ten-Key | a minimalist wireless 10-key Num pad the size of a business
Evgenii Vilkov
Pica40 | Split keyboard with 40 keys using XIAO controllers.
junzhe
Kretsträd | a 34 keys split keyboard running on ZMK firmware
Julian Becker
Shortcut Keyboard | a shortcut keyboard featuring 4 mechanical switches and a Display
alin m elena
m4 | an ortholinear keyboard set in lego 2×2 with optional encoder and oled
After our internal discussions, we have selected 3 keyboards to license. Seeed will assist with all electronics manufacturing including structural parts, testing, certification, provide engineering and quality assurance services, and promotion, sales and distribution around the world using Seeed’s own network and channels. For more information, see Seeed Licensed Product Program. The 3 keyboards below are the licensed products in this contest:
Shashank
KLEIN | a wireless ergonomical keyboard
Julian Becker
Shortcut Keyboard | a shortcut keyboard featuring 4 mechanical switches and a Display
Cristian Palma
MacroBoard | 9-key hotswap mechanical macropad
“The humble keyboard is the most used tool in the life of an ever increasing number of people: not just writers, journalists, software developers, bloggers, gamers, etc. Others use it for hours a day, but whole industries depend on it. However, the standard keyboard is obsolete in many ways. It’s based on an almost 150-year-old design. We can do better. There have always been tinkerers who tried to think outside the box, fought path dependency, and created their own keyboards (and even custom typewriters by the way). ” That’s what the webmaster of KBD.NEWS, Tamás shared some of his thoughts when we interviewed him about why he runs a website all about keyboards.
| Items | Seeed Studio XIAO SAMD21 | Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 | Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 | Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840 Sense | Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | SAMD21 | RP2040 | nRF52840 | nRF52840 | ESP32-C3 |
| Wireless Connectivity | N/A | N/A | Bluetooth 5.0 /BLE/NFC | Bluetooth 5.0 /BLE/NFC | Dual-mode WIF I/BLE |
| Memory | 3 KB SRAM 256KB FLASH | 264 KB SRAM 2MB onboard Flash | 256 KB RAM 1MB Flash 2MB onboard Flash | 256 KB RAM 1MB Flash 2MB onboard Flash | 400KB SRAM 4MB FLASH |
| Interfaces | 12C/UART/SPI | 12C/UART/SPI | 12C/UART/SPI | 12C/UART/SPI | 2C/UART/SPI |
| PWM/Analog Pins | 11/11 | 11/4 | 11/6 | 11/6 | 11/4 |
| Onboard Buttons | N/A | Reset/Boot Button | Reset Button | Reset Button | Reset Button |
| Onboard LEDs | N/A | Full-color RGB 3-in-one LED | 3-in-one LED Charge LED | 3-in-one LED Charge LED | N/A |
| Programming Languages | Arduino CircuitPython | Arduino CircuitPython MicroPython | Arduino CircuitPython | Arduino CircuitPython | Arduino |
| Price | $5.40 | $5.40 | $9.90 | $15.99 | $4.99 |
Get inspired!
"Worldwide lockdowns and working in home office brought the average user's attention to ergonomics, improving the working environment, especially keyboards -- thus, the mechanical keyboard hobby exploded while attracting new consumers, makers and manufacturers alike. As a result, many people realized the ideal keyboard has to be tailored to their own body: one size doesn't fit all. KBD.NEWS is an attempt to gather and organize the knowledge necessary to design and create your own custom keyboard."
"I wanted to challenge my design skills across a few of my interests, and build a project that incorporated function, form, circuit design, and 3D printing. I've needed a numpad for a while, and I'm really pleased with the outcome. The form factor of the XIAO RO2040 is perfect."
"Seeed XIAO RP2040 form factor and USB-C connector makes it a perfect fit for various modern mini mechanical keyboards. I used in ANAVI Knob 1 and ANAVI Knob 3 with rotary encoders convenient for audio and video editing. They run with the open source KMK firmware written in CircuitPython which allows reprogramming of the encoders for use as a macro or even as a dedicated shortcut keys, making them suitable for a number of applications across various industries."
"Making a keyboard from scratch is a great learning experience. For me, however, much of their appeal comes from customizability. We can use different keycaps, change their mechanical switches, and in some cases even swap out microcontrollers to get a keyboard that’s tailored to our preferences."
"Worldwide lockdowns and working in home office brought the average user's attention to ergonomics, improving the working environment, especially keyboards -- thus, the mechanical keyboard hobby exploded while attracting new consumers, makers and manufacturers alike. As a result, many people realized the ideal keyboard has to be tailored to their own body: one size doesn't fit all. KBD.NEWS is an attempt to gather and organize the knowledge necessary to design and create your own custom keyboard."
"I wanted to challenge my design skills across a few of my interests, and build a project that incorporated function, form, circuit design, and 3D printing. I've needed a numpad for a while, and I'm really pleased with the outcome. The form factor of the XIAO RO2040 is perfect."
"Seeed XIAO RP2040 form factor and USB-C connector makes it a perfect fit for various modern mini mechanical keyboards. I used in ANAVI Knob 1 and ANAVI Knob 3 with rotary encoders convenient for audio and video editing. They run with the open source KMK firmware written in CircuitPython which allows reprogramming of the encoders for use as a macro or even as a dedicated shortcut keys, making them suitable for a number of applications across various industries."
"Making a keyboard from scratch is a great learning experience. For me, however, much of their appeal comes from customizability. We can use different keycaps, change their mechanical switches, and in some cases even swap out microcontrollers to get a keyboard that’s tailored to our preferences."
Each person is limited to 2 PCBA boards 100% FREE for one design. The custom design must include any of these five microcontrollers: Seeeduino XIAO, Seeed XIAO RP2040, Seeed XIAO BLE, Seeed XIAO BLE Sense and Seeed XIAO ESP32C3.
Prepare your BOM File & Contact Fusion team support ([email protected]) to apply a Coupon
When you are preparing the BOM file, just add one of the three SKU or parts.
1) Seeed SKU 102010328 or the part number Seeeduino XIAO
2) Seeed SKU 102010428 or the part number Seeed XIAO RP2040
3) Seeed SKU 102010448 or the part number Seeed XIAO BLE nRF52840
4) Seeed SKU 102010469 or the part number Seeed XIAO BLE nRF52840 Sense
5) Seeed SKU xx or the part number Seeed XIAO ESP32C3
* Then, add the order to the cart and contact our Fusion support ([email protected]) to obtain the coupon for settlement.
Manufacturing and Assembled your custom keyboard with Seeed Fusion by using Seeed XIAO Series
Publish projects on your own platform
Participate in the selection and win prizes
We will invite well received keyboard designs to the Seeed Marketplace where your products can be listed, sold and shipped directly by Seeed on the Seeed website. We will also support designers to reach thousands of like-minded customers and distributors with Seeed’s global sales channels and social media presence. Get Involved Now!
