Markwadt printing

[ayakael]

I'm very interested in printing my own Markwadt case with pcb as to be able to have keyboard support on my rM2. You had mentionned that you were still waiting on the PCB to come in in may 2022. What service did you use to print your PCB?

Many thanks!

[ayakael]

Did so more research on my offerings. I have a few questions for you:

• PCB: I've found OSH Park for PCB printing, so I shouldn't have any issues there.
• Casing: My local 3D printing shop offers many differents kind of materials for the casing. What material would you recommend (SLS, SLA, PDL, POLYJET, and DMLS)?
• Magnets: Where do you source these, as they are different than what you point to in README
• USB-C / Pogo: Could you share your digikey links to these?
• Recovery: Will this work for recovery purposes? I know for a fact that pogo -> microUSB works fine, but I don't enough about USB-C design to know if what you do with ID pin will work.

After succesfully building this, I'd be happy to send a PR with an up-to-date README.

[ayakael]

Amazing what more research will do!

• PCB: Resolved
• Casing: Not resolved, still wondering what meterials would be best
• Magnets: Resolved, looking at an image of your prototype that I found, it looks like you use the same magnets. Indeed, found digikey source
• USB-C / Pogo: Resolved, found the info in your kicad file. For prosterity: pogo, usb-c, 5.1k resistor - needs 2, switch
• Recovery: Maybe resolved, I see that the switch is used to allow shorting ID to GND. If memory serves, grounding ID turns the USB port into host mode, right? Thus, for recovery, ID should not be shorted to ground as to initialize USB as slave.

Time to order the parts and PCB!

[qubist]

Hey sorry, I'm just seeing this.

• Casing: I used PLA.
• Magnets: I think the link in the existing readme is correct: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D28-N52&cat=168 Help me understand how they're different than those?
• Recovery: Exactly right, that's why the switch is there.

If it's not too late and you don't want to order PCBs I can send you some, I have a bunch now but am just distracted from this project. Can also send other components.

[MorvinBear]

Antoine, PLeasure to meet you, and to see this thread alive. I have another project that I'd love to chat with you about that I'm 94% certain you're going to be like, "oh, whoa, yeah!" or some variation of that about. Please ping me at baeslurchstein AT geemayel dotcom, and we can setup a time to connect! Best, Bear

…

On Wed, May 31, 2023 at 5:37 AM Will ***@***.***> wrote: Hey sorry, I'm just seeing this. - *Casing:* I used PLA. - *Magnets:* I think the link in the existing readme is correct: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D28-N52&cat=168 Help me understand how they're different than those? - *Recovery:* Exactly right, that's why the switch is there. If it's not too late and you don't want to order PCBs I can send you some, I have a bunch now but am just distracted from this project. Can also send other components. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAV7DOTUBRJD4G6VSLLVUY3XI43PRANCNFSM6AAAAAAYCN3LKA> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[aflusche]

Time to order the parts and PCB!

@ayakael, Did you build this?

I had version 13 of @qubist's connector printed, and I'm having a check of a time getting everything to work. Even without the 3d printed part, I can't get a reliable connection between my pogo pins and the RM2.

[qubist]

Hi @aflusche,

I've built one that works, but not of the current iteration that's posted here. It used an older clunkier design of the PCB and 3D-printed part but everything was electronically and magnetically the same. And I had pretty good luck using it. I coded for a whole day using the RM2 as a display with my ZSA Moonlander keyboard.

Can you show version 13 that you're talking about? Did you go back in the history of this repo to find it? And what's the exact problem you're encountering? Pics would help.

[aflusche]

Thanks @qubist !

I ended up abandoning the pogo attachment idea because I just couldn't get it work reliably. I'm using the USB C port to connect like this project. (I'm making a page turner pedal for sheet music.)

Here was my initial pogo connector plan. I slightly modified your 3d design to accommodate another connector on the opposite side as the RM. I was going to have another pogo connector that would magnet up to the top portion of this, then lead down to my foot pedal.

I ended up abandoning that approach due to my poor soldering skills to connect the two pogo pin sets that closely.

The next plan was to just wire directly to the pins that touch the RM and shove it all in the plastic piece that magnets to the RM:

I could sometimes get the RM to see my input, but not often. The power pin would work, so my input device would be getting juice from the RM. But the RM wouldn't respond to my input.

The connection also seemed pretty unsteady. Ex: when I could get it connect, it was often by using manual pressure on the 3d piece to hold it in place.

Your work is awesome and inspiring! Hopefully my experience will help others. And maybe I was just making a stupid mistake... I plan to post my final working pedal when it's finished; hopefully next week.

[qubist]

Got it, thanks for sharing your progress!

The newest version of the 3D printed part I designed has these kind of wings that grip the RM2 from the front and back that helped a lot with the connection. I see the one you printed was an older version without that, maybe that contributed to it not having a reliable connection.

Here's a picture of a prototype in action:

Notice the the teal part.

If you're interested at all I can help find that version of the STL. Though it seems like you've got a better approach now.

Good luck with your page turner!

[aflusche]

Very cool! Yes, I saw the teal updated design when I went looking for solutions to my poor connectivity. I don't know how I missed that before I ordered my 3D print. :/

Don't worry about the STL for now, but thanks for the offer! I think my new version is going to work better for my purposes. I'm running a battery test right now to make sure my lipo rechargeable battery has enough battery life to be reliable.

The world is an amazing place: multiple people who've never met can collaborate on a project and literally produce physical parts that are figments of a person's imagination.