BlingBox™ keyboard

[admin]

If the stretch goal #8 is met I will be able to include a case into the family mold for the frame assembly, and create an entirely new product (perk), and that is a complete stand alone keyboard in a case.  I call this the BlingBox™.

The BlingBox™ features the same main circuit board that the Blingboard64 uses.  The same switches and keycaps are all used.  The control board is completely different!

Keyboard Features:

There is LED lighting, macro key recording and playback, firmware updates via WiFi, etc.  All the same basic features as the Blingboard64.

The BlingBox™ can function as a keyboard with any device that can use a USB keyboard (PC, Mac, Linux, Rpi, etc.).  There is a DB25 port interface that lets you use it with the Commodore SX-64 and Commodore C128D computers using a standard DB25 male to male parallel printer cable.  Using different special DB25 cables you can also use it to emulate a keyboard for:

• Any computer that uses a PC/XT port
  
• Any computer or device that uses a PS/2 port
  
• Any Amiga with a remote keyboard (A1000, A2000, A3000, and A4000)
  
• External keyboard for your C64
  

There are two expansion ports inside, on the BlingBox™ control board.  One is for an external TFT display (any size), and the other could be used for a variety of functions, but an SD card socket (with an audio port?) might be a good choice.  There are recesses in the case to pass out a cable for wiring so that the display can be mounted on the keyboard (typically to the back/center).  With a TFT attached the CPU system is powerful enough to run many different computer emulations, arcade machine emulations, and more - so it could actually be a game station (even able to play DOOM) when it wasn't be used as a keyboard.

There is currently no support for Bluetooth, because there is no ability to make this a fully portable/wireless keyboard (yet).  The reality is that it is actually too low of profile currently to house a battery.  I am looking at some options.  The size is 405mm (L) x 130mm (W) x 21mm (H).  I am currently working on the flip-out leg design so that it is at the correct typing angle.

If the stretch goal is not reached, then I won't make this a product and I will have to show off my one-off at various retro events. 

   
   

[Marsupial]

In update#22 there is talks about the blingbox and how it will be Bluetooth compatible. Will efforts be made to get it compatible with the blue-64 Bluetooth interface for the commodore computers?
The blue-64 is compatible with "low power Bluetooth keyboards" (unsure what that entails...)

https://github.com/sideprojectslab/blue-64

BTW I hope we get this perk unlocked.

[admin]

Yes, this is the exact same type of dongle I want to make for the Blingboard64. You just plug it in and pair it. I didn't know that something already exists. This should be fully compatible with the Blingboard64 since Bluetooth is universal.

EDIT: I looked at this design and I am pretty sure it won't work with any program that doesn't scan the C64 key matrix the exact same way that the C64 does, which is drive the rows low sequentially and read the columns. If you do the reverse, which some programs do to try to eliminate "ghost" keys (multiple simultaneous key presses that can result in a random key appearing to be down), it is likely that it won't work. I tried this in the beginning, just using a couple of analog muxes to emulate the cross-point switch and that is when I discovered the issue that requires the expensive solution. This works fine for BASIC and simple things, but anything custom can be fail.

[AlbertoGP]

I can help you make the configuration tool for the BlingBox.

I own several programmable keyboards and have done some preliminary work on my own configurator for them, so I already have some idea of what is needed for this.
I have professional experience writing multi-platform software, and have Linux, Windows, and MacOS machines to test on.

The idea is to make a native application in C. Some configurators use Electron (HTML, JavaScript, C) and I have done that kind of application for customers, but for myself I would like to have a nimbler implementation.

[admin]

I am currently chatting with a developer on Fiiver to get something made. It would a C++ Windows app, but having cross platform support would be great.

There are a LOT of features that I need to support. The Blingboard64 and BlingBox™ both use the same USB interface that sets up a COM port. So you would just select the correct COM port and then communicate using a simple packet system to be able to load/save the various settings. There are packets for direct access to do diagnostics, test settings, setup any displays or expansion devices, etc. There is quite a bit of work to support everything.

I prefer a native app as well, but I also have the ability to do everything wirelessly in a browser as a web app. This means no code required at all on the PC/Mac/Linux side, just a lot of code on the keyboard side to do everything, but it certainly could be done this way.

[AlbertoGP]

I prefer a native app as well, but I also have the ability to do everything wirelessly in a browser as a web app. This means no code required at all on the PC/Mac/Linux side, just a lot of code on the keyboard side to do everything, but it certainly could be done this way.

That’s a good idea, this way you can skip implementing the serial protocol.
The UI could use the Keycap Color Explorer assets as a starting point.

[admin]

Yes, and although there is a lot of free code space on the CPU, I can simply fetch pages and pictures from my web server (like the color explorer) to provide the graphical side of what is needed.

[Marcio D.]

Hi Jim,

Would you be able to make the BlingBox compatible with THEC64 Mini ?

Most generic keyboards work with THEC64 Mini.  But oddly enough, the recently-released 8BitDo C64-themed mechanical keyboard doesn't work with THEC64 Mini !

I'm guessing if the BlingBox is made to be compatible with THEC64 Mini, then it'll also naturally work with THEC64 Maxi and THEVIC20 Maxi.


Thanks.

[admin]

Any system that uses a standard HID keyboard should work with the BlingBox™. I don't have a mini, but I will get one for testing.

[Marcio D.]

Any system that uses a standard HID keyboard should work with the BlingBox™.  I don't have a mini, but I will get one for testing.

Awesome, thanks for keeping THEC64 Mini in mind.

Don't forget to update its firmware:  https://retrogames.biz/support/thec64-mini/upgrade/


Cheers!