Project:FabricKeyboard

Fabric Keyboard

Apparently the foldable keyboards you can get aren't good for touch typists... So something better is needed for a decent keyboard for your Ipad/whatever.

So is there a way of making a fabric keyboard out of conductive fabric, that requires less pressure than the normal foldable keyboards, and can allow it to register multi key presses at once (without excessive cabling or fiddly threading). The XY-grid[1,2] I found simply seems to measure current flowing between two points (which can do two letter combos if they don't share an axis). I'd think some form of resisitive solution might be possible. Two tracks of conductive material per grid axis space 1mm apart, separated by an air gap in a foamy material with the other axis of material on another sheet of fabric on the back. Pressing down would complete two separate circuits, and you'd just have to look for the edges. This method wouldn't allow you to do three key combinations, unless all three keys shared no co-ordinates. Or they all shared the same one, it is when you have have the first two buttons not sharing any co- ordinates things become more problematic, you don't know which co- ordinate the new one shares with the others.I'm not sure if you can do better than that with a grid... unless the resistance of the the fabric is such that you can tell where it is being placed in contact. But then you could only do multiple key presses if you do it in the correct order (furthest away from the current source to closest). ctrl and alt might get their own lines...

Thinking arduino and multiplexers for the logic. We need 19-ish input lines so a couple of multpilexers, if we go for diagonals with separate lines for ctrl. Going for everything but a number pad.

And move to homebrew arduino for smaller package.

1 http://hackaday.com/2008/05/28/giant-fabric-keyboard/

2 http://web.media.mit.edu/~rehmi/fabric/

Todo

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Prep

Get real dimensions of keyboard, positions of keys Buy conductive fabric buy/scavenge non-conductive fabric buy/scavenge foam

Make

Make prototype

Make keyboard cover to print Print on transferable fabric Sew on (Or fabric glue) the conductive fabric