

Working Lego Computer Keyboard - an_error
http://jkbrickworks.com/lego-computer-keyboard/

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masklinn
That's a pretty fun project, but it's a bit sad that the electronics were
lifted form an existing keyboard.

Are mindstorms flexible enough to emulate USB HID?

edit: it looks like mindstorm EV3 is bluetooth-enabled. I don't know the
details, but it might be possible to get it bound as a bluetooth keyboard, and
thus to have a fully functional "pure-lego"[0] bluetooth keyboard.

[0] the mindstorm EV3 brick runs a Linux distro on a 300MHz ARM9 core with
64MB RAM and 16MB flash (plus a SDHC slot). Whether this remains "pure lego"
may be up to debate.

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dsr_
LEGO purists generally admit anything produced by the LEGO company, plus
generic consumables like batteries as specified.

So a sticker from an original set is allowed, but printing your own sticker
isn't; any 9V battery will do in a 9V battery box, and any SD card in an SDHC
slot, but not a newly made extra-long wire to carry power out to a motor.

There are companies that make LEGO-compatible bricks, which range from
execrable quality to slightly better than LEGO's own, but none of that would
qualify.

All that being said, I don't know of anyone who maintains LEGO purity except
in competitions and exhibitions with specific rules. LEGO themselves often
produce large sculptures with an interior support armature which is not made
of LEGO products.

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masklinn
Sure, but in this case the lego part is kinda minor, it's a basic sculpture
but the logic is lifted from and the layout imposed by the original keyboard's
contacts.

You can't create a better, more flexible or completely different keyboard
(e.g. recreate a symbolics keyboard, or a typematrix layout)

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sean-duffy
I liked that in the video he went to type "LEGOS" and then changed it to "LEGO
bricks".

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userbinator
I thoroughly enjoyed his creative symbolism for Caps Lock.

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scholia
and home...

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asgard1024
What I would like to see would be a keyboard where the full keys were like
LEGOs, and you could arrange them on the board in any layout you wished. But
this is a good start.

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orng
And you could keep "spares" to add and remove keys that are/aren't in your
chosen language. Really cool idea.

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jpetersonmn
So basically they took the keys off of a keyboard and glued some legos on the
keys instead? Not really impressed.....

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TomC7
I was disappointed when I saw the base was taken from a keyboard (I was
expecting that to be mindstorm based as it was posted on HN). But the
mechanism for the keys is very cool and well designed, it's a massive
understatement to say it's just Lego pieces glued on the keys

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vanderZwan
The way you can easily slide them to perfectly arrange them is pretty neat
too. I can see this work well in prototyping settings with DIY contact
switches (two layers of aluminium with a piece of foam and a hole, basically).

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kirkus
Excellent video and creation

