I've been working on a aluminum and wireless version of the ErgoDox and the group buy will start this weekend. It will be around $350 excluding switches and keycaps.

With DSA keycaps (the shortest possible one) the total height is 29mm (including rubber feet).

You can see the details of the earlier laser cut prototype here (and subscribe to the mailing list for updates): https://www.xudongz.com/blog/2020/ergoblue/. The details of the aluminum version will be announced when the group buy is officially announced.

You can find also my contact information on my homepage for questions and feedback.

I'm glad I came back here. I'm interested, but had some questions.

What's a controller? It sounds like some sort of combined battery pack/bluetooth adapter... How much extra desk space does it take? Do you have photos of that?

Also re: battery life, I assume the reason why having a "central" half reduces battery life is the same as the first version. Why can't the computer keep track of modifiers/layers? If you have two keyboards plugged in, you can press shift on one and type on the other and you'll get capital letters.

Is the group buy just for parts or is it for (partially) assembled keyboards? I'm not a DIY eletronics sort, both from an equipment and know-how perspective.

https://www.xudongz.com/blog/2020/ergoblue/firmware/ has a lot more information about the controller (with photos). In summary:

- The dongle is reasonably small. If you're traveling with it, you can toss it in your bag with a battery pack and it acts as a Bluetooth keyboard (for your phone/tablet/laptop/etc). You can plug it into your desktop, in which case it acts as a USB keyboard in addition to Bluetooth for other devices (phone/etc)

- Modifiers work fine but layers don't because some software still needs to maintain state. For example you might have the layer switch key on the left but want the next key to be on the new layer on the right. Theoretically one can do this with custom software on the computer though an external controller/dongle is straightforward and doesn't need to account for OS/platform differences. It also lets you connect to multiple devices simultaneous via Bluetooth.

- There's an option for hot swap switch sockets, in which assembly is putting the case together, soldering some header pins, and popping in the switches. There will be an assembly service for people who just don't want to do it but the process itself has been thoroughly optimized that it shouldn't be difficult.

Oh thanks! I didn't realize the dongle attached to the computer, I thought it was like a power brick for the keyboard itself. That looks pretty nice!

So basically all the smarts so to speak are in the dongle, which you reprogram, etc?

That is correct. Typically if want to update your keymap, you would just update the firmware running on the dongle. The firmware on the two wireless keyboard will pretty much never change.

I think bluetooth is just hard to get right.

I was recently in the market for a Filco Majestouch Minila keyboard. I was very scared off by a few reviews which said that bluetooth just stopped working after a while. Is $500 worth it if it could break after a year? Maybe if it was under warranty. Anyway I opted for the wired version.

Never mind my Logitech MX Master 2 mouse which I could never get to work using Bluetooth, and even disconnected all the time with the USB receiver.

A USB dongle would be fine! If there was a FOSS one as good as the Logitech Unifying Receiver that would be incredible.

I use the Redox Wireless [1], maybe check that one out? The receiver has an incredibly small range though, and it's not low profile unfortunately...

[1] https://falba.tech/19644-2/?v=24d22e03afb2

This looks super promising, thanks!

There are bluetooth adapters meant to convert a USB keyboard to a wireless one. Maybe worth a shot?

It’s not just a Bluetooth adapter, the ergodox has a wired connection between the two halves as well. Really I want to everything to be wireless.

Ah right - I don't really see that as an issue (when do you ever want to split them in a way the cable becomes problematic? also you now have two individual units to hook up with battery)

I guess this is why you don't really see many attempts.

But maybe something like this will do the trick?

https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove-Serial_Bluetooth_v3.0/

I’m very broad so my keyboard is split wide, it comes almost to the end of the cable so having two wireless halves would make a nice difference. The shield looks promising, but with all of my other projects I just lack time to hack together a keyboard.

I'm using an Ergodox EZ which I really enjoy and I'm hoping wireless plus a trackball is in the next iteration. Even just being wireless (or a wireless add-on) would be great.

That would be epic. I asked the Ergodox folks about it and they said they’ve experimented with a wireless Ergodox EZ but there’s problems with latency with the two halves being wireless. So I’m skeptical that they’ll produce anything soon.

I'm also looking for a low profile/travel, wireless ergodox. It also has to include QMK or a similar FW that is completely customizable. Unfortunately it is difficult to find a combination to DIY such a keyboard as well.

I spent last weekend looking for exactly this! You are not alone brother.