-------- Original Message -------- From: Christopher Havel laserhawk64@gmail.com Apparently from: arm-netbook-bounces@lists.phcomp.co.uk To: Eco-Conscious Computing arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk Subject: Re: [Arm-netbook] modifying a 7 inch notebook cabinet to accept apc card Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 17:40:52 -0400
Keyboard is easy if you know a little electronics. A laptop keyboard is a matrix keypad. Rows and columns. One key connects one row to one column.
Look up a little thing called the "Teensy" -- it is a microcontroller board. You can (if you are very good at soldering) connect from the keyboard's PCB connector (cut the
Can the teensy make the key mapping correct and the key mapping will be correct when arriving at the computer's usb port?
PCB and solder to the connector while it's still on there -- no shorts, mind you, or it won't work, and the pin pitch is usually insane...) to a Teensy and make a "custom keyboard" that way. You will of course have to program the Teensy but that's the easy part ;) an Arduino Leonardo clone from eBay (also try to find, if you still can,
Can you use a raspberry pi 0 to program a teensy?
"Arduino Micro" clones -- NOT the "Pro Micro" ones, they won't have enough pins). Same code will run there and work just fine.
Forget the battery, unless you have a reflow toaster oven (or other homemade reflow equipment, or access to the professional gear) -- you will need it for the kinds of chips that let computers talk to batteries, AFAIK. Too much trouble.
I am designing, for a competition on Hackaday, a "made from common modules" "laptop" that I'm calling the AnyTop. The goal is that anyone can build it if they can use a screwdriver, knife, and some sort of drill. (The drill is only needed in one place.) It won't have a battery... but it will be a laptop form factor and it will work. Luke, would some discussion of this be on-topic?