HardLabs

Keygen

milindmadhukar·keygen·pcb/keygen.kicad_pcb

Keygen PCB layout, top view — open source Nordic nRF board by milindmadhukar

About the Keygen PCB

Keygen is an open source Nordic nRF PCB design by milindmadhukar, published on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board measuring 162.6 × 125.8 mm, with 216 components from 80 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the nRF52840 Pro Micro, from the Nordic nRF family. By type, the board carries 70 switches, 67 diodes, 66 LEDs, 4 capacitors, 2 ICs and 2 transistors.

It belongs with the keyboards, iot & wireless and displays & leds designs in this gallery.

From the project

One-off wireless split keyboard: Redox fork with knob, OLED, trackpad, per-key RGB, ZMK

A wireless split ergonomic keyboard with a custom two-layer PCB designed in KiCad 10.

Keygen is a one-off build: 66 keys over two column-staggered halves, a 2 × 2 thumb cluster, a rotary encoder on the right half, and per-key RGB that doubles as the status display. Each half has its own nRF52840 controller hidden on the PCB underside. The keyboard reaches the host over Bluetooth or USB-C, and the halves talk to each other over Bluetooth.

Keygen, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Keygen

nRF52840 Pro Micro

Keygen bill of materials (BOM)

216 components, 80 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
2
nRF52840 Pro Micro
U101, U201
1
AO3401A
Q101
1
AO3401A
Q201
2
LiPo 3.7V ~1000mAh
BT101, BT201
1
EC11
ENC201
1
=
SW101
1
1
SW102
1
2
SW103
1
3
SW104
1
4
SW105
1
5
SW106
1
Tab
SW107
1
Q
SW108
1
W
SW109
1
E
SW110
1
R
SW111
1
T
SW112
1
Esc
SW113
1
A
SW114
1
S
SW115
Show 60 more
QtyPartRefs
1
D
SW116
1
F
SW117
1
G
SW118
2
Alt
SW119, SW220
2
Shift
SW120, SW221
1
Z
SW121
1
X
SW122
1
C
SW123
1
V
SW124
1
B
SW125
2
Ctrl
SW126, SW227
1
`
SW127
1
Caps
SW128
1
Left
SW129
1
Right
SW130
1
Super
SW131
1
Bksp
SW132
1
Del
SW133
1
MSK12C02 power
SW190
2
Reset
SW191, SW291
1
-
SW201
1
0
SW202
1
9
SW203
1
8
SW204
1
7
SW205
1
6
SW206
1
\
SW208
1
P
SW209
1
O
SW210
1
I
SW211
1
U
SW212
1
Y
SW213
1
'
SW214
1
;
SW215
1
L
SW216
1
K
SW217
1
J
SW218
1
H
SW219
1
/
SW222
1
.
SW223
1
,
SW224
1
M
SW225
1
N
SW226
1
]
SW228
1
[
SW229
1
Down
SW230
1
Up
SW231
1
Fn
SW232
1
Space
SW233
1
Enter
SW234
1
MSK12C02-HB
MSK12C02 power
SW290
33
SK6812MINI-E
LED101, LED102, LED103, LED104, LED105, LED106, LED107, LED108 +25
33
SK6812MINI-E
LED201, LED202, LED203, LED204, LED205, LED206, LED207, LED208 +25
33
1N4148
D101, D102, D103, D104, D105, D106, D107, D108 +25
34
1N4148
D201, D202, D203, D204, D205, D206, D207, D208 +26
1
10uF
C101
1
100nF
C102
1
10UF
10uF
C201
1
100NF
100nF
C202
2
1M
R101, R201

Keygen design files

The KiCad project lives in the milindmadhukar/keygen repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Keygen: common questions

What microcontroller does the Keygen use?

The Keygen is built around the nRF52840 Pro Micro, from the Nordic nRF family.

How big is the Keygen PCB?

The Keygen measures 162.6 × 125.8 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Keygen?

216 components, from 80 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Keygen design files?

From the milindmadhukar/keygen repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Keygen design in my own project?

The repository has no license, so all rights stay with milindmadhukar. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.

Can I test firmware for the Keygen without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug Nordic nRF firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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