The Dactyl Lynx Keyboard

The Dactyl Lynx is a parameterized, split-hand, concave, columnar, ergonomic keyboard.

This is my fork/rewrite of the original Dactyl. I've changed a few things:

• Rewrote the generating code in Python instead of Clojure, using SolidPython2 and spkb.
• Rotated thumb clusters to be close to vertical (inspired by the Dactyl-ManuForm and the way my thumbs move; see also Viktor Eikman's DMOTE and Concertina keyboards)
• Steeper tenting angle
• 1U or 2U keycaps - easy to source (look for ortholinear keycap sets, or possibly Ergodox sets with a few extra keycaps)
• Added a magnetically-attached back cover, with different variants (plain, or with feet)
• Modified keyswitch holes to support Kailh hot-swap sockets
• Added a TrackPoint module between the D, H, B, and M keys (H, J, N, and M on QWERTY)
• Added support for my single-keyswitch hot-swap PCBs
• Created a new RMK-based firmware project (RMK is a keyboard firmware system written in Rust, with Vial support)

Future plans

• Adding mouse buttons and a scroll ball from an Apple Mighty Mouse next to the right-hand thumb cluster
• Adding a thumbstick to the left side
• Mounting the left thumb cluster on a hinge so it swings out of the way to access the thumbstick; when swung out of the way, it can trigger a microswitch to change to the gaming layout
• Multiple user-defined key maps that can be uploaded via USB and easily toggled between on the fly (I want this to replace my Orbweaver) - Maybe use Vial. (though Vial has a limitation of 4 layers - it turns out you can force Vial to support more layers! It's still relatively limited, though)
• Adding support for ALPS or Choc switches instead of MX-style switches, along with appropriate hot-swap sockets (this will be mostly implemented in spkb first)

Assembly

Generating a design

Prerequisites

• Python version 3.11 or newer
• Poetry
• OpenSCAD development snapshot 2024.12.06 or newer
• POV-Ray (optional, for rendering high-quality images)

Installing dependencies

poetry install

Generating

poetry run python -m dactyl_lynx_keyboard.dactyl_lynx

To view the available options:

poetry run python -m dactyl_lynx_keyboard.dactyl_lynx --help

You can then generate STL files from the OpenSCAD files with:

scripts/render-stls.sh

You can also generate an image of the whole assembly:

openscad --camera=2,12,10,69.7,0,30,480 --autocenter --colorscheme BeforeDawn --imgsize 3840,1800 -o things/dactyl-lynx-6x5.png things/dactyl-lynx-6x5.scad

Or generate a much higher-quality image using POV-Ray by running:

openscad --enable lazy-union --enable predictible-output --backend Manifold -o things/dactyl-lynx-6x5.pov things/dactyl-lynx-6x5.scad
povray +L/usr/share/povray-3.7/include dactyl-lynx-6x5-1920x950.ini

or using any of the other .ini files.

Printing

Pregenerated STL files are available in the things/ directory.

Bill of Materials

• 2x microcontrollers - one of the following (see QMK docs for what combinations make sense)
  • RP2040 TYPE-C 16MB - recommended
  • Raspberry Pi Pico
  • STM32F4x1 Black Pill
  • STM32 Blue Pill
  • QMK Proton C
• 2x 4+-conductor jacks and matching cable to connect the two sides using full-duplex serial; one of:
  • 4-pin mini-DIN (A.K.A. S-Video) - recommended; if accidentally tugged on, it will cleanly disconnect without shorting anything and without pulling the other side of your keyboard off the desk
  • 4P4C, 6P4C, or similar modular connector (A.K.A. RJ11 or telephone plug)
  • TRRS audio jacks - not recommended; if you use this, be careful to not connect or disconnect the cable while the board is powered on!
  • any other 4-pin (or more) connector, though be wary of things like USB connectors that would be easy to mistake for other buses
• 74x MX-style key switches (or maybe Alps-style; I haven't actually checked if that will still work correctly)
• 74x signal diodes (1N4148 or similar works well)
• 74x Kailh hot-swap sockets (optional - you can pass socket_shape=mx_plate to the KeyboardAssembly constructor in dactyl_lynx_keyboard/dactyl_lynx.py if you want to solder directly to the switches, or pass socket_shape=mx_plate_with_board_mount to use either my MX single keyswitch hot swap board or my Choc single keyswitch hot swap board; eventually these will be a command-line option)
• A set of 74+ keycaps - symmetric unsculpted profiles work best with the sculpted form factor of Dactyl-style boards
  • 72x 1u keycaps
  • 2x 2u keycaps
• 24x 5mm x 3mm cylindrical magnets, plus an additional 12 for each set of different bottom cases you want
• A USB-C (or USB Micro-B, depending on your microcontroller) cable to plug in your keyboard
• connection wires (and ideally some Dupont-style connectors for the microcontroller side of things, so you can swap the microcontroller if/when needed)

Wiring

This is by no means a comprehensive guide to wiring a keyboard, but here's the approach I chose when building my first Dactyl Lynx:

• use COL2ROW diode orientation

• solder diode leads together for the rows

• use insulated hookup wire for the columns

• pick a pinout for wiring the 4-pin mini-DIN connectors:

• connect each column and row of a side to a different color of wire: (aside from some repetition because I ran out of colors)

  Position	Left Side	Right Side	Pin
  Column 0	brown	brown	2
  Column 1	red	black	3
  Column 2	orange	white	4
  Column 3	yellow	grey	5
  Column 4	green	purple	6
  Column 5	blue	blue	7
  Row 0	red	brown	8
  Row 1	orange	red	9
  Row 2	yellow	orange	10
  Row 3	green	yellow	11
  Row 4	blue	green	12
  Row 5 (thumb)	purple	green	13
  Row 6 (thumb)	grey	yellow	14

  Note: the right side's color scheme should probably not be used; it's definitely more haphazard because it was done ad-hoc. Note 2: the top columns cable on the left side finger well is wired in reverse; brown goes to column 5 instead of column 0, and so is on pin 7 instead of 2. The cable connecting to the thumb well is correctly wired, so the colors switch at the column connections.

Wire according to the key matrix in my whitelynx/dactyl_lynx QMK branch.

Firmware

I've set up two separate firmwares that can be run on this board. The QMK-based variant is more featureful, but I'm devoting more time to the RMK-based one now.

RMK-based (new, more minimal)

See the dactyl-lynx-rmk repo for this firmware. It's based on RMK. (with Vial support, written in Rust)

QMK-based (old, more featureful)

See the corresponding firmware in my whitelynx/dactyl_lynx QMK branch for instructions on building and flashing the firmware.

Customizing

When customizing your keyboard, you might want to look at API docs for the classes in dactyl_lynx_keyboard. You can use pdoc for this:

pdoc -t templates dactyl_lynx_keyboard

If you have cloned the source for spkb and/or SolidPython2, you can also include them:

pdoc -t templates dactyl_lynx_keyboard ../../spkb ../SolidPython/solid2

License

Copyright © 2015-2024 Matthew Adereth and David H. Bronke

The source code for generating the models (everything excluding the things/ and resources/ directories) is distributed under the GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3. The generated models and PCB designs are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License Version 4.0.