row of keys for kensington orbit

This is an print of mine for the kensington orbit trackball. The purpose was to have an extra row of buttons next to my fingers which i could apply common shortcuts to. To get the correct spacing between my finger and the row of keys i used DCS keycaps to have a variation in depth so individual keys were easily identifiable without looking down. The part names are just the standard solidworks naming convention.

Part 1 is a four button row which i found worked well for long ball movements but due to my lacking knowledge of how to make quick macros in the qmk software i found the amount of keys limiting thus why i made a second and finally a third revision.

Part 3 is an X button "stadium" design for multiple shortcuts right next to your fingertips, this is angled to the left for right handed uses and can be mirrored in your slicing software. The keyswitches have handsoldered leads on them which are mounted to a breakout board with dupont connectors for easier removal. Its designed to sit right ontop of the trackball lead. I found this to be wobbly and ended up adhering it to the contacting surfaces between the 3d print and the trackball with a thin line of hot glue like chaulk.

Category: Computer