Build your own ergonomic low-powered wireless keyboard!

Lotus 58 - unWired, is a programmable wireless split keyboard in the Lotus keyboard family.

Lotus 58 - unWired is a drop-in ready PCB that fits the Lotus 58 case and plates, with no wires or charger needed. It has no screens, encoders, or RGB on the keyboard. It's just plain and simple a wireless keyboard with excellent battery life, no more, no less. Instead, it uses a small unobtrusive USB type C dongle to connect to your computer.

Sold as a pair of PCBs with the dongle of your choice, you will need this kit and accessories to make a complete keyboard.

unWired vs Wireless - What's the difference?

Wireless usually means Bluetooth™ BLE in the DIY world, and often using the excellent nice!nano controller with the option to add the low-powered nice!view screen. And the Lotus 58 - BLE fills that role in the Lotus keyboard family.

But BLE has disadvantages mainly in power consumption. And adding encoders and RGB to the keyboard, you are further compromising on the battery life, needing a larger battery and more frequent charging. And, it's not actually wireless in a true sense, as you somehow have to plug in and charge the battery.

unWired means exactly what it sounds like, and what wireless really should mean. There simply are no wires to the keyboard, none, no-where, no-how, never. Never ever. It simply isn't possible to plug it in. There is a dongle, however, since without BLE you still need to talk to the computer somehow. This builds on what started with the Mitosis keyboard and is very much a modernized version of it.

unWired means low power. The coin cell battery (one per hand) doesn't need to be recharged! And since the keyboard does just one thing when you press a key, which is to wake up and send the keystrokes to the dongle, and nothing else, you will be surprised by how long that small coin-cell battery lasts. For most users, even if you use the keyboard for your entire workday, it should last you not weeks, not months, but more likely years. Yes, actual years, as in at least a year, probably more.¹

unWired is NOT Bluetooth™ BLE or Tri-Mode, even though the wireless module used is capable of BLE, if configured for it. The simple reason is that this would require a more complicated power circuit with a larger battery and a connector to plug in and charge for it to function over a longer period, given BLE's much higher power consumption.

For reference a non-RGB split keyboard using the nice!nano v2 with Bluetooth™ BLE and a 220mAh² battery lasts around 3 weeks for the main half according to ZMK Power-profiler. The Lotus 58 - Unwired should last roughly 30 - 40 times as long with a coin cell of the same capacity.

The dongle for the Lotus 58 - unWired, can be quite small like the unWired Mini if you prefer that option, or it can be hidden in a macro pad with additional options for an encoder, OLED, and RGB to use as layer indicators, or whatever you fancy like the UnWired Media. Both powered by an RP2040 Zero, they have more than enough memory and performance for whatever keymap, macro, or other programming you would want to do.

The dongle means you are using QMK/Vial to map your keyboard, even though QMK has no real support for wireless. We simply don't tell the firmware that it is wireless (Shh! 🤐) The downside is, well, you need a dongle. The upside is it's easy, familiar, and works quite well. It also works flawlessly in BIOS etc, where BLE keyboards simply will not work.

The dongle also means that the link has the technical capacity to have a lot lower latency than BLE, if the signal quality is good enough, although the actual link quality and latency will vary greatly depending on your wireless environment. In practice, the link will be just as good as with BLE, and potentially better in good conditions.³

Lotus 58 - unWired

Main Features

Keyboard:

• Features 58 keys, with a 4x6 main matrix and 4+1 thumb keys per hand.
• Designed with no diodes for fully interrupt-based key sensing.
• Kaihl Hot-swap sockets for Cherry MX compatible switches.⁵
• Fully QMK and VIAL compatible, with every aspect of it being programmable.⁵
• Nordic nRF52810 chipset.
  • Ultra-low-power sleep and dormant modes.
  • Nordic Gazell wireless protocol - Low power, short range.⁷
  • Support for Encrypted Pairing with AES-128 (Currently not implemented in firmware).⁸
• Powered by a single CR2032 Coin-cell battery per hand (Non-rechargeable primary cell).⁹
• Designed with a Sandwich-style plate/case as part of the design and 3D-printed cases as added options.

Dimensions per hand (LxBxH): 145x115 mm, Case height 11-13mm, Height with keycaps ~35mm

Dongle:

• unWired Mini - Small and unobtrusive dongle.
  • RP2040 MCU, Dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz.
  • 264KB of SRAM, and 2MB of on-board Flash memory.
  • USB-C connector, (USB 1.1 device and host support).
  • Single RGB LED usable as an indicator.
  • Dimensions (LxBxH): 28x18x8 mm
• unWired Media - TBA
  • Dimensions (LxBxH): LxBxH mm

Build Features:

• The PCB design is reversible, making the PCB for both hands identical for a much lower cost.
• Simplified design with almost no components, extremely easy to build.

Basic Components

Parts included in the Keyboard:

What do you need to buy?

You can buy most parts for a full-functioning keyboard in this listing or as additional components in this store. You will however need to add switches and keycaps of your choice from other sources, as it would be impossible for me to stock a reasonable selection of what the market can offer.

For a bare minimum functional keyboard you will need:

• This PCB Kit (Sold as a pair with dongle)
• RP2040 Zero Clone (1 pcs)
• Case Kit (x2) with hardware or a 3D printed case or similar

Required Accessories

• Key Switches, Cherry MX compatible (56-58 pcs)
• Key Caps, Cherry MX compatible (Set)
• CR2032 3V Coin-cell batteries (2 pcs)⁹

The Sandwich Case

Lotus 58 is designed as a complete keyboard with a sandwich-style case of the same FR4 fiberglass material as the PCB.

The FR4 fiberglass plates used are quite stiff and give a good intermediate feel for keyboards, making it the ideal low-cost material for a case. The 'case plates' are available in black or white.

Specific caveat for Lotus 58 - unWired & BLE: These products should not be used with a metal case (both ferrous and non-ferrous metal, ie Aluminium), either CNC machined or as plates, as it reduces wireless performance and increases battery consumption noticeably.

Build Level

DIY Kit

This one is fairly obvious. You get a pair of PCB and parts, and you solder all the parts yourself, and you flash the needed firmware. Note that this requires you to have a hardware device⁴ to flash the wireless modules. You will also need to add an RP2040 Zero of your choice to finish the receiver. (Either a clone of your choosing or the original from Waveshare).

Partially Built

If you do want to build the keyboard yourself, but are either a novice at soldering or unsure and want a little help. Or, in this case, if you simply do not want to purchase an additional hardware device to flash the firmware for the modules. With this option, the modules are soldered and flashed with a basic firmware. ⁷

Fully Built

This option allows you to have a fully built, ready-to-use keyboard, where you simply need to configure the firmware (Vial) of the receiver and assemble the case/keys/caps you have chosen to start using it. This option includes the RP2040 Zero needed for the receiver.

Pre-order

This product will initially be sold by a pre-order campaigns, with the remaining overstock from each campaign being sold as a limited stock.

What do you mean by 'overstock' and limited stock?

I need to order the blank PCB's in multiples of 5 from the manufacturer, and a pair is needed for each keyboard, so 10 PCB's or 5 keyboards is the logical batch size. Meaning that for every multiple of five keyboards after the first five which is started on the pre-order, I need to order a larger batch of PCB's to be able to fill the orders, even if I only need some of those PCB's for the actual orders sold.

This means that if the pre-order stops at for example 6-9 keyboards, there are now overstock, meaning keyboards that I have to buy parts for, but I'm not delivering to a customer and getting paid for right now. It also means that if I though the campaign manage to order a larger batch of the wireless module, I have the modules on hand to finish them and sell them as 'stocked' until I would need to order either more PCB's or modules.

This overstock will be sold at slightly higher price then the pre-order price, making me some profit for keeping stock, and also giving an incentive for the pre-order. (Roughly at around a 10-15% difference.)

¹ In testing, using the prototype for a normal work week, battery life has greatly exceeded this, but results may vary with usage.

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_cell - CR2032 has a nominal capacity of 220 mAh.

³ https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF52810 - This describes the technical specifications and quality of the theoretical link, as per the chipset and API. Be aware that your experience may vary greatly.

⁴ Segger J-Link - Flashing the modules requires a Segger J-link or equivalent hardware flasher.

⁵ Please note that Lotus 58 supports only Cherry MX type switches (3 & 5 pin), NOT Kaihl Choc, as they require a different PCB and plate design.

⁶ The dongle is the part that uses QMK/Vial, and the keyboard parts act as peripheral parts over a serial link. Firmware for the nRF modules is made available as pre-compiled binaries and source.

⁷ The communication is currently unencrypted with the base firmware, with an effective range of <2 m LOS, so sniffing/spoofing is technically possible but highly impractical and unlikely to happen.

⁸ This pairing requires a hardware flasher to achieve, and re-flashing to remove or to re-pair the units. This option is only available to compile and flash by the end user, and not supplied with a pre-built/pre-flashed keyboard.

⁹ Lotus 58 unWired is compatible only with CR2032 primary cell, non-rechargeable 3V batteries and optionally ML2032 rechargeable batteries (3V nominal voltage). There is no regulator to reduce the voltage of LIR2032 type or similar cells with a higher cell voltage (>3.6V). Please do not attempt to use these!

Normal handling time is 3 - 5 working days, not including build items (Those usually take 1 - 2 weeks).

Shipping is done with insured/signed for parcels, where no such service is available the parcel is sent as insured parcel, but may not be fully traceable the entire transit. If no insured or traceable service is available, parcels will be sent as uninsured/untraceable at the buyers responsibility. All of which is clearly stated on checkout.

All packets are represented to courier services and customs at their true sale value, and all responsibility for import fees, taxes and tariffs lie with the buyer.

The SE/EU "Act on Distance Contracts and Off-Premises Contracts (SFS 2005:59)" allows returns of the items in undamaged (unsoldered!) condition within 14 days of receiving it. Return shipping on returned items are the responsibility of the buyer.