@andrei

heat-set all the inserts and bolted the pcb to the case and thats the hackpad done! looks awesome - now all thats left is to ship it :))

finished the soldering! not much to say other than now that left is to wait for the 3d printed parts to ship - its looking good!

and the backend is completely finished!
i first replaced the amend option with just an exit program because i assume if amending needs to happen, the user can manually faster do it in a spreadsheet program.
then pretty much the rest of the time was spent doing the markdown conversion and it sucked going through iteration by iteration but i managed in the end to get it to an acceptable state wherein the table is easy to paste into any github repo and works without any issue!

just a quick devlog cause i added validations for each of the queries so things arent left blank or whatever.
just imagine loads of these sprinkled into the rest of the code.

an hour of spaghetti code later and it works!!
i started by pre adding all the my columns from the bills of materials from other projects i’ve made.
then i made inputs for every single column type except item no. and unit cost because they can be automated with tracked variables.
finally, a bit of code to write them into the .csv file and voila, it shows up perfectly in excel!

alrighty so i’ve laid out a bit of a system in my head - would probably be better to actually flowchart it but im not bothered with all that lol.
currently i have just finished the main menu and have began the actual file creation system through pythons built-in open() function.
also imported datetime because i want the file to have the date of creation on it :)
for the actual file creation, the user types in the project name, then i ask the user to add the file path of where to put the boms, then put it all in a while loop so if paths r invalid it’ll just loop.
and finally the file actually gets created at the path with the name format ‘projectname-bom-dd-mm-yy.csv’.

nextly, i will pre-add all the columns that i use for the boms and allow the user to actually add items to the bom.

and so the design process comes to an end!
the readme has been finished and i’m very proud of how it looks - see for yourself in the images :)
now to submit the design for funding!!

renderring complete!
i made 5 renders in blender and i’m really happy with the results, which you can see in the images below.

all thats left is finishing off the repo, then i can ship it!!!

and that’s the base firmware complete!
i made sure all the gpio pins matched their assignment in qmk with the xiao documentation, and now have a (hopefully) functional piece of firmware to test the board with.

the firmware also includes encoder functionality and a basic rgb lighting pattern for the leds - although i will be further testing it once i actually physically build it!

the firmware does NOT include via functionality OR oled functionality YET - and i will be uploading both the non-oled firmware and the oled + via firmware to the repo when i get around to committing all the files to it.

for now - all that’s left is rendering and repo polishing!!

so, pcb art am i right?
i finished off my silkscreen art and im honestly so happy with it and all the little references that i put in :)

also a little aesthetic choice that i tweaked because it’ll end up looking cooler than before - the solder mask and case are now going to be white with the art showing in a black silkscreen (like ulquiorra’s skin in bleach)

next up is making the firmware, which shouldn’t take all that long, rendering the model in blender and updating the repo with all production files and the finalised readme!

the readme is like 70% of the way there already! (all the blank parts are placeholders for art and images )
i really like the designs of some of my other readmes, especially peroxide and pentoxide
(wasted a really cool idea on pentoxide and im still fuming)
so i copied most of the formatting from them and then once i get some batteries for my pen - ill make some art for the readme and the pcb!
next on the agenda is obviously art, but also renders, qmk firmware writing AND making it via compatible are the next courses of action!

downloaded the pcb’s step files and imported into onshape! designed a really low profile case - because i want the bare pcb kinda aesthetic - so its literally an angled plate with standoffs for heat set inserts.

spent a lot of time tweaking and tinkering with the case and also made some really quick of art to engrave in the case and encoder knobs :)

finally downloaded all the 3d models of the parts i will use, then assembled them using mates in my main assembly.

hackpad’s pretty much fully finished, so the next couple of devlogs will be dedicated to making art, a proper github page and firmware using qmk!

i came up with a design that i wanted to use before i began the project thats based off of bleach - so i began with that in mind.

i then looked at the hackpad website for all approved parts in the hackpad kit and placed in all of the components that i wanted in my schematic.

the schematic was easy enough to create as the pinouts for all the components are either widely available or on the hackpad website :)

after that, placed all the things i wanted down in the pcb editor roughly where i wanted to, tweaked a bit, routed traces and voila - bare pcb before i add any art to it!

spent a little bit more time doing lego instructions and cleaning the github page up :)

took 40 mins to make a parts page for the lego instructions but its fine yk :)

lost like an hour of time because idk how to use lookout lmao but its fine because i have finished writing the instructions to build the product and have also uploaded all the parts to thingiverse BUT have to wait 24hrs to publish to the public - so when that is done i will finally submit to get funding! in the meantime, might make some visual lego-like instructions to make it easier to visualise the assembly!

made a desk clamping system with parts to be 3d printed, will finish making the instructions for the demo link and then will submit for funding :)

im back from exams and the full shifter is finished!
added the limit switches and slots for each of them to be glued down when i build it.
the pcb has also arrived, now all i need is to buy the components (hopefully can get them hardware funded) and 3d print the rest of the components (hopefully can get that funded too cause i dont have a printer)

exported a 3d model of the pcb from kicad and added it into the cad model with mounting hardware and mounting holes. also created a shift knob that has an m10 internal thread so it can be screwed on to the threaded rod.
will be slowing down a lot over the next week and a bit because i have a full week of exams - but will come back with more updates than ever afterwards!