The internet is an amazing honey trap. I was looking for an ergonomic keyboard to buy, and ended up building one.
This repository records my building log. This project is my first big embedded project. I hope the repository can be a good reference for people who want to build a wireless keyboard or a similar project.
The build recipe is based on the Sofle Choc Wireless Keyboard. However, my demand is a bit different in the following ways:
- palm rest.
- joycon as a mouse.
- traditional profile switches.
I know I can get a prebuild one exactly satisfying my needs at around 100 dollars from Aliexpress. However I still want to make one just for learning, and for fun.
Sofle Choc Wireless Keyboard differs from the original Sofle Choc Keyboard in the framework.
| Feature | QMK | ZMK |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Use Case | Wired and highly customizable mechanical keyboards. | Wireless (Bluetooth) keyboards with a focus on low-power efficiency. |
| Hardware Support | Broad (AVR, ARM-based MCUs like STM32, RP2040). | Focused on ARM MCUs with BLE (e.g., Nordic nRF52 series). |
| Community & Ecosystem | Large, mature community with extensive documentation and forks. | Growing community, focused on wireless use cases. |
| Power Management | Minimal (not optimized for battery life). | Advanced (deep sleep, peripheral power control for long battery life). |
| Example Boards | Planck, Lily58, Drop CTRL, Keebio Quefrency. | Nice!Nano-based builds (e.g., Corne, Kyria), Wireless Split keyboards. |
We don't look for more advanced/suitable frameworks in this repository. From this comparision we know our framework of choice should be ZMK. Simply because I like wireless. My wishlist was generously fulfilled by ZMK docs
One thought: ZMK supports setups where a keyboard is split into two or more physical parts. How cool is that if I can include paddle(s) in the keyboard?
architecture-beta
group keyboard(server)[split keyboards]
service central(server)[central] in keyboard
service p1(server)[peripheral 1] in keyboard
service p2(server)[peripheral 2] in keyboard
central:L -- R:p1
central:B -- T:p2
service computer(server)[computer]
central: R -- L:computer
The idea would be interesting. But I don't have the time to implement it. So I just stick to the original plan. For now.
Here is a cost estimate for building the keyboard (2pcs). Here I surveyed the market and find the best price(s) for each item. US market and CN market are compared. In the table, U.P. means the unit price. Cost is the total cost for 2pcs. Source is the source I found the item. The survey was conducted in Mar 2025. The prices for US build are in USD, and the prices for CN build are in RMB. The exchange rate is 1 USD = 7.24 RMB.
| Item | Purpose | Number | U.P. US | Cost | Source | U.P. CN | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main PCB | main PCB boards | 2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Upper PCB ? can be replaced with Acrylic? | The PCB holds all components | 2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Under PCB ? can be replaced with Acrylic? | The PCB holds battery | 2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| nice! nano | main controller | 2 | $2.47 | $5 | AliExpress | ? | ? | Taobao |
For a list of PCB manufacturers, see PCB manufacturers.
Seems the original Sofle Choc Wireless Keyboard was designed with KiCAD. I am going to inherit the flow and spirit.