tgjohnst / dna-keyboard

Documentation for building a simple 4-key USB Keyboard that has ACGT to act as the equivalent of a tenkey for bioinformatics

DNA-Keyboard

Documentation for building a simple 4-key USB Keyboard that has ACGT to act as the equivalent of a tenkey for bioinformatics

Rationale

DNA Sequence entry is a pretty common task when dealing with informatic stuff. The letters CGT all use the same finger on a QWERTY layout, which makes them slower to type in sequence. What if we had a keyboard to do just that?

Parts

The first build will be based on the 4Pack macropad

Parts

• PCBs and plates - 4pack PCB fabricated by JLCPCB
• Pro Micro microUSB (or Elite-C v4 USB-C, will try both) controller with pin headers ordered from KeebIO
• 9mm M2 standoffs and 6mm M2 screws from KeebIO
• Keycaps - R3 milk blanks.
• LEDs - 3mm round flangeless dome-top LEDs (RGBY)
• Resistors (2) (100 Ohm)
• Gateron KS-9 Red MX Keyswitches
• White silicone SKUF feet from KeebIO
• microUSB / USBC cable

Tools

• Soldering iron + Solder + Solder wick + Third hand + Ventilation

Firmware

Installing QMK

Install QMK (using conda within WSL, because I prefer a unix environment)

conda create -n qmk python=3
conda activate qmk
pip install qmk
qmk setup # Answer y to prompts

Compiling the firmware

qmk compile -kb 40percentclub/4pack
qmk config user.keyboard=40percentclub/4pack
qmk config user.keymap=tgjohnst
qmk new-keymap

Changing the Keymap

Edit the created keymap.c (to open /home/lotus/qmk_firmware/keyboards/40percentclub/4pack/keymaps/tgjohnst in explorer just cd there and do explorer.exe .) in a text editor. Change the layout to:

const uint16_t PROGMEM keymaps[][MATRIX_ROWS][MATRIX_COLS] = {
    [0] = LAYOUT( /* Base */
        KC_T, KC_G, KC_C, KC_A
    ),
};

Then, compile the new keymap (assuming the defaults were set with qmk config above

qmk compile

Flashing the firmware

You cannot flash directly from WSL, so install QMK Toolbox https://github.com/qmk/qmk_toolbox .

Load up QMK toolbox and select the .hex file you created in the last compile step. Select Auto-Flash.

Connect your keyboard to a USB 2.0 port (3.0 has issues). short out the ground and reset pin twice in quick succession to initiate a reset. QMK toolbox should detect the device and start flashing.