Bolt Industries has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to finance the production of his Pico 87 mechanical keyboardwhich, as the name suggests, exploits Raspberry Pi Pico, flexible microcontroller based on the RP2040 processor (dual-core ARM Cortex-M0 + with 264KB of internal RAM and support for up to 16MB of off-chip Flash memory). Programmable via the Arduino IDE, the Pico 87 keyboard is without numeric keypad and has a integrated two-port USB 2.0 hub.
In case you need a numeric keypad, for easier digit entry and on-the-fly operations, another object of this Kickstarter campaign is Pico 14, a real independent device (it has a separate Raspberry Pi Pico inside) that can also be used in conjunction with the keyboard. This allows, for example, to disconnect it when not needed, so as to make your desk more tidy.
Of course, the keyboard is compatible with all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS) and can be connected to any device via port USB Type-C. As for the materials used, Bolt Industries employs three layers of glass fiber reinforced epoxy laminate screwed together, while ABS doubleshot keycaps can be purchased in any color. Full freedom also for Galtron switches, available tactile or linear in seven variants.
On the software front, a open-source custom firmware called BMKwritten in C ++ for the Arduino IDE and downloadable from GitHub repo by Bolt Industries, which allows you to reprogram the function of any key. The keyboard is also compatible with KMK, firmware that runs on CircuitPython.
At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign is already a success, as € 6,591 (out of the € 5,335 requested) were collected, thanks to the contribution of 61 supporters and there are still 28 days to go. If you are interested, we advise you to consult the page dedicated to the project.
