László Monda is the founder of the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard, a split, ergonomic, mechanical keyboard for developers.
He built it as a software developer who, when he started, had never programmed a microcontroller, designed a PCB, or funded a project.
In his words, he knew he'd have to "go from zero to hero."
He crowdfunded past $200,000, and today he funds production from his own customers instead of investors, assembles every keyboard in-house in Hungary, and ships to thousands of customers around the world.
His next keyboard needed to go wireless, and that's where it got harder.
A wireless split keyboard has a lot to juggle.
It has to talk to your computer over Bluetooth, the two halves have to talk to each other, and the whole thing has to feel as instant as a wired keyboard.
And all of it has to run on batteries tucked inside each half without turning the keyboard into a power hog.
So he came to my Hardware Academy for help, since he wasn't sure how to build it.
One chip to handle both USB and wireless, or a dedicated wireless chip?
How should the batteries charge, and how big could they be? He laid the whole problem out and asked.
An engineer named Martin worked through every piece of it with him.
He steered László toward a dedicated low-power wireless chip instead of the power-hungry options, told him exactly what was feasible and what the firmware would take, and mapped out the whole architecture.
László's reply:
"I'm officially blown away."
That first exchange turned into an ongoing working relationship. The same engineer went on to help him, in László's words, "redesign the schematic for battery-optimized operation."
That keyboard is the UHK 80. It's shipping now, and the positive reviews keep coming in from around the world.
There's a lesson in László's story, and it's about timing.
Look at what he asked: which chip to build around, how the batteries should charge, how big they could be.
Those are the decisions everything else in a design gets built on around, which makes them the most expensive ones to reverse later.
László got expert eyes on them while they were still unsettled questions, when changing course was still cheap.
If you're building something of your own, you can get that same help in the Hardware Academy.
You'll get support from engineers and product experts who've actually developed and shipped products.
Talk soon,
John Teel
Predictable Designs
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