Raspberry Pi Pico Chording Keyboard

QWERTY keyboards have been around for well over 100 years, and whether optimal or not, have become the de facto standard for computer text input. As an alternative, chording keyboards allow you to efficiently “type” characters with one hand, keeping fingers in one position by recognizing combinations of key presses. The concept is similar to how several inputs are used to form a single chord in musical instruments.

As reported here, if you’d like to try this input method, Rob Miles has the solution in the form of his PICO Chord keyboard. The device is controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico running a CircuitPython program that scans the keys and sends them over a USB connection to a computer, in a 3D-printed case that houses six keys and a four-digit, 14-segment display. Each key switch features a NeoPixel LED for status indication, and can be used together to type capital and lower case text, as well as numbers and other symbols.

As shown one’s hand nominally rests on five of the keys for standard character entry, while the sixth key can be pressed for capitalization and extra functionality. The keyboard is configured for right-handed usage, but a customizable CAD file and a generally open layout means that the same concept could be modified for lefties – or anything else you can imagine. There’s even a game and text-based help functionality to assist you getting started.

Code and more info for the build can be found on GitHub.