类型: IC
作者: FatFreeWater
发布时间: 2021-10-16
13:58:12
更新时间: 2022-05-08 09:02:37
原链接:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=115005.0
First Cerakote Colors and Upcoming Streams
Disastertron will be streaming the board today around
3pm EST /12pm PST. Visit his
Discord
to get notifications! I can’t wait to see how he likes
it.
TimKeyLess will also be streaming this board on
Monday 5/9 around 9:30 pm PST. Catch him on
Twitch.tv/timkeyless!
Additionally, I have two new colors, Galaxy
(Cerakote H-238 + Guncandy Cobalt) and Black Cherry
(Cerakote H-319), in very limited
quantities. Cerakoting done by Accurate Arms USA!
Babylon
is in-stock at
Trailblazer Keyboards!
Galaxy & Black Cherry
Sound Test
Sample A-stock Pictures
Kit Details
Aluminum: 6061
Mounting
Options: Float, Gasket, Both
Case Weight: Approx.
1.4kg
Typing Angle: 6.5 degrees
Front Height:
20mm
Front Bezel Width: 7.5mm
Side Bezel Width:
13.5mm
Surface Finishes: Anodized (Black, Blue, Silver)
& Cerakoted (Colors TBA)
Brass Treatment:
Sandblasted and Clear-coated
More
More Upcoming Streams and Soundtests
We will have upcoming streams and content from 5 more
amazing content creators. They’ll be getting sample kits in
hand next week, but dates are not set yet! Please follow
their social media and channels below to stay up to date!
Aerysten
-
Twitch.tv/aerysten
Disastertron -
Twitch.tv/disastertron,
Instagram
TofuTypes -
Youtube
TimKeyLess -
Twitch.tv/timkeyless
LightningXI -
Twitch.tv/lightningkeyboards,
Discord for Updates and Notifications
Production Update and Availability ETA
Babylon Units have been produced and QC’d. There is 1
rework remaining, which will be reworked after Lunar New
Year. (Feb 1st - Feb 8th) This is on the engraving on the
weight. The letter A has a bump, which needs to be removed.
I want to deliver the highest quality units possible and did
not accept this bump in the weight. ETA at this time will be
slightly delayed for the rework, around April 2022, to
account for 30-45 days shipping time too.
Remaining Rework
Babylon Units
Feedback from Buildstream
- Long Gaskets are hard to apply: Unfortunately for round 1 the gaskets are already produced and they’re long. So it would be tough to reproduce them now, but users are free to cut them before applying. Cuts make little difference.
-
Alignment Pins to help center the plate: We’ve added
Alignment Corners to the main production run such that the
PCB is kept in place. This limits movement to a maximum of
1mm on all sides. Render to demonstrate this is below.
More
-
Vendors and Pricing: I’m waiting for the shipping cost to determine the final price since it’s too hard to estimate for both my manufacturer due to the current state of the world. The target price for the first in-stock round is around ~$350 with the weight added. I’ll be a sole vendor for this board for the first round, shipping out of USA with a total of 150 units.
Thank you for all the feedback! We’ve made some key changes in response to the feedback provided.
Feel free to keep providing feedback for Babylon on the form here.
Change Log: Added a brass weight.
-
Updated the kit with alignment walls to assist in building.
-
A lot of feedback said the case was too sharp, so I added a 1.2mm filet instead of using chamfers to break vertical edges. The cube look will still be maintained, without the sharpness. New photos will be available with the changed model at a later date.
-
Top case raised 1mm (19mm front height -> 20 mm front height) to cover keycaps from all angles.
-
Plates have been reproduced in blue due to a complication with black soldermask and lettering. Black plates are B-stock and will be offered accordingly.
-
Added a silver anodize color to the in-stock options.
-
We’ll be adding cerakote white to the in-stock options.
These changes do mean that the base kit will change in pricing, unfortunately. Pricing is TBA while I’m still working out the details for the new model w/ weight.
Requested Kit Specifications
Thank you for reminding me that I left off some basic details on my previous post. Aluminum: 6061
Mounting Options: Float, Gasket, Both
Case Weight: Approx. 1.4kg
Typing Angle: 6.5 degrees
Front Height: 20mm
Front Bezel Width: 7.5mm
Side Bezel Width: 13.5mm
Surface Finishes: Anodized, Cerakoted(White)
-
Brass Treatment: Sandblasted and Clear-coated
New Photos
R2 - Lightning Blue
More
R3 - E-white w/ Weight
More
Original post collapsed below to save space.
More
INTEREST CHECK FORM HERE
This data will help us realign the number of units
made for in-stock R1 vs R2/R3 with more colors.
BABYLON
65% “Float Mount” Keyboard
“Absolute”
Design
Innovative Gasket Mount
Fully Prototyped Demonstration
In-stock Availability Soon TM
In collaboration with
FJ Laboratories. Check them out!
Exploded View
Babylon is a
“float mount” keyboard that chases after the old-school
clacky sound signature, like an OTD 365 Mini. The process of
“Absolute” design – which is inspired by the absolute value
operation, in which a vector is reduced into a scalar –
brings every element of a keyboard back into scrutiny,
starting from something as basic as the number of screws on
the board. After re-evaluating the effect of flex cuts,
daughter boards, gaskets, and O-rings with the most
attentive efforts, only the most effective designs are
selectively incorporated into Babylon. The result is a
clacky, bouncy float-mounted keyboard with minimal flex cuts
to maintain uniformity of sound.
The PCB/Plate
Assembly is treated as a single unit in this gasket design,
allowing the whole unit to bounce up and down on the bed of
O-rings rather than bending the plate material or
compressing gaskets. With gaskets on top and o-rings on the
bottom of the assembly, both the plate and PCB are muted.
This removes the need for foams in our 65%. As a result,
this design provides the user with maximized control of the
sound profile through their switch and plate choice.
Build Guide
is provided here to help understand the internal mounting
system. It will be moved to our own website at a later
date.
Prototypes & Sound Tests
Does “Absolute”
Design work?
During the prototyping phase for Babylon,
multiple configurations were tested to obtain the most
optimal setup.
The resulting design – “Float Mount” –
is a high-performance, second-generation gasket mount that
deviates from the typical poron sandwich or o-ring between
pcb/plate.
Renders suck. Let’s get to the real
deal.
The blue displayed will be the “Lightning Blue”
offered in the first round of sales.
More accurate
photos from a proper photographer will be posted soon.
More
Full Album Here
FR4 Plate
(Production Run will be Black)
AD65 PCB - 1.2mm, QMK and VIA supported
(Production
Run will be Black)
Babylon has both the provided parts and features to
be constructed with standard poron sandwich gasket mount and
“Combo Mount” where both the traditional gasket and the
bouncy O-rings are used.
Feel free to request these
from streamers when they review the board! I’m not a fan of
the sound signature of alternative setups.
The main
reason for providing these alternative configurations is
because there are niche cases of extremely hard typers or
users who may exceed the typical usage cases of a standard
office keyboard.
Eg. Users who need to travel with a
board and want something more secure/not wiggling in
their baggage.
Notes:
- Babylon needs a harder plate material due to the O-rings pushing up from the pcb. Soft plates can bulge upwards.
-
70a O-rings prevent Babylon from shaking and rattling. If
you’d like to try a softer O-ring, a 50a O-ring will add
significantly more bounce and softness, but these will
cause the plate/pcb assembly to be loose and wiggle
more. That said, 50a O-rings presented no issues in all
typical standard use cases. However, 70a O-rings are
chosen for the kit to provide more foolproof access to
users. 50a O-rings can be purchased very easily
aftermarket as these are standard AS568-250 O-rings.
Schedule
R1 Prototype - Finished
R2 Prototype - Finished
Sound Tests - Finished
R3 Prototype - This is only to test the feet cutout and will only include the bottom case. No changes to the internals or mount.
Order units - Pending R3 Prototype
Arrange Streamer Reviews - Pending packaging and R3 Prototype. Expected Mid-November 2021.
Availability Date for Purchase - Expected Q2 2022
R2 Production - TBA
R3 Production - TBA
Availability
Babylon will be offered in-stock. 150 total units.
All Top Cases will be Black.
Bottom Cases are split between Black and Lightning Blue.
Interested in other colors? Fill out the poll here: poll
R2 and R3 will be arranged with the most popular colors in mind.
Unit count will not increase significantly over 100-150 units per round due to the space and labor limitations.
Trailblazer Keyboards will not use the group buy model.
Price per Unit will be $300, which includes:
1x Case
1x Plate in FR4
1x AD65 PCB - Solder ONLY
1x Stabilizer Shims - Discontinued after R1
3x Complete Gasket Sets
2x Complete Rubber Feet Sets
2x 70a NBR Orings (5in ID x 5.25in OD x 3/8in CS)
1x All necessary screws
Units will be sold on the storefront at Trailblazer Keyboards, which is currently in development.
External vendors are not considered at this time.
The plate file will also be available should you choose to make a new plate over FR4. I’ll include a commercial license for those who want to “GB” their plate run or sell as a vendor.
Shout Out & Thanks
The largest thank you goes out to Fishcord, FJ Laboratories, Keyboard Atelier for providing tips and guidance throughout the project. Public files for Daughterboards and Stabilizer shims from AI03 also had a major contribution to making this project possible. It greatly affects smaller and newer developers with the means to experiment. Without these communities, Babylon could not be possible.
Shout Outs to musicman123, Carbon, MeiSucks, Kurisu, MiggyBunny, Magmar01, StupidFish, MFChill, Hooker Fish, and Funbox in particular for dealing with these crazy shenanigans, providing moral support for the project, and offering constructive feedback throughout the process!
Interest Check Feedback Form
If you’d like to provide feedback on this IC itself or on any details of Babylon, please go to the form here.
Babylon is an extensively prototyped board already. We cannot guarantee that all feedback can be accounted for. However, if you’d like to reach out and provide feedback on the IC, please do so here and we will work to the best of our ability to accommodate.
We will read all feedback regarding the IC and adjust for future projects accordingly.
FAQ
More
Q: Woah, this is a bit ambitious for a first project and
first post!
A: “All that glitters is not gold.” This
isn’t even my first prototype or my first manufacturing
experience. However, I don’t see the point in showing bad
projects where I made mistakes and the outcome is less than
stellar. This is the first project that I believe justifies
a Geekhack post because it is fundamentally excellent.
Q:
What is on the plate?
A: It’s Babylonian Cuneiform
glyphs. The triangle and dash is a mark created from the
stroke of the reed. The plate is decorated with typography
referencing the name, instead of traditional silver
accents.
Q: Why is it named Babylon?
A: It
references the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of
the Ancient World within the city of Babylon as an analogy
to the mounting style.
Q: Why is the title 00.65? Not
01.65?
A: Babylon is not recognized as the debut board.
It is a mere proof-of-concept. Babylon lacks the design
aesthetics leveraging available finishing (PVD Brass, Mirror
Polish, Burnt Ti, Etc.) to be seen as a true designer &
collector keyboard.
Q: Why is the only color option
blue for the first run?
A: Look up the Ishtar Gate and
Lapis Lazuli. All elements on this board have their own
meaning and connection. It’s a little bit unfortunate if
another blue round is not desired as it is a very special
element to the name. Hoping you guys like it!
Q: Why no
external vendors?
A: While this would decrease shipping
costs for some buyers, external vendors would limit the
flexibility of the in-stock model. Expect Babylon to
continue differing from traditional keyboard sales to
provide greater access to users and lower access to
flippers. Whether or not this works is up to fate, but I’ll
be trying my best to skew the odds in users’ favor.
Q:
$300 is a bit high for a full aluminum two-piece board.
A:
I would agree with you. Pricing reflects in-stock
availability rather than Group-buy availability. Also,
pricing for keyboard production is very erratic during 2021
as aluminum prices are increasing, power irregularity for
manufacturers, and pandemic issues with shipping. Please
consider this a worst-case scenario at the moment, with a
realistic perspective that I might not be able to do much
about it.
Q: Why are stabilizer shims discontinued
after r1 as part of the kit?
A: It turns out the main
stabilizer brands (Durock v2, Everglides) do not need these,
even with the 1.2mm PCB. A lot of users have reported not
using these with Durock v2 in the Polaris, Vega, or other
1.2mm PCB builds. I had to order shims to test as this is my
first 1.2mm PCB as well, but I concluded that the shims do
little. The preferred building method is to install
stabilizers naturally without shims. As a result, these will
be removed to simplify the kitting.
Future answers to
questions in the comments section will be posted here.