manufacturing

Module shipping and UHK 60 v2 progress

Hi there, and welcome to this monthly UHK status update!

Module shipping has peaked in June, and as a result, we’ve received some tweets which make us very excited.

Right now, module production is on a temporary halt, and it’ll resume in two days; we recently noticed that a large portion of module cases didn’t meet our quality standards, and we had to get new cases made. This issue set back module production by about one and a half weeks, unfortunately. We’ll be doing more thorough early incoming quality control to catch such problems early on.

We’ll keep churning out the modules, and we expect to ship every Crowd Supply order in the first half of July. The delivery of non-EU orders via Crowd Supply may take weeks longer due to the extra fulfillment and shipping step on their part.

We’ll continue with the modules ordered via the UHK webshop, and we believe we’ll ship most or all of them until the end of July, except for the modules of UHK 60 v2 customers who haven’t ordered a UHK 60 v1. We’ll deliver such modules together with UHK 60 v2 keyboards, as the modules are not helpful without a keyboard.

As for UHK 60 v2 production, we’re only two days away from having the final mold, but our injection molding supplier has an organizational restructuring which can delay the production schedule by about a week or two. When the first molded UHK 60 v2 parts come off the assembly line, we’ll see how much tweaking has to be made to the mold. We believe we can launch UHK 60 v2 production in late July.

From that point forward, we’ll continuously ship UHK 60 v2 pre-orders on a first-come, first-served basis as quickly as we can, possibly until the end of the year. We can’t provide a more precise production schedule yet, but we’ll keep you updated monthly as usual.

We appreciate your patience, and we’re looking forward to talking to you at the end of July.

Wrapping up Crowd Supply and module orders

Hi there, and welcome to this monthly UHK status update!

Module production is in full swing. When we started up, we could only assemble several hundreds of modules per month, and now, it’s in the thousands. We expect to ship every module order in June, excluding customers without a UHK.

It took me a lot of time to sync Crowd Supply orders with our database and tweak our backend system for order fulfillment via Crowd Supply. But now that our systems are ready and we have quite a few modules in our facility ready to be shipped, you can expect a heavy surge of module shipments In June.

If you got your modules, make sure to update to the latest Agent and flash the latest firmware as we keep smashing bugs and releasing new versions.

The modules are not helpful without a keyboard, so UHK 60 v2 customers without a UHK 60 v1 who also ordered modules will receive every item in one package, including their modules and UHKs.

Almost every part is available for UHK 60 v2 production except for keycaps and plastic parts. Our PBT keycap supplier confirmed that they’ll start shipping keycaps in mid-June, as previously discussed, and the silk-printed side legends of the final PBT keycap sample look great.

PBT keycaps with side legends

As for the plastic parts, tweaking the plastic module cases pushed UHK 60 v2 plastic part production further. As a result, we expect to launch the production of the much-anticipated UHK 60 v2 units in early July.

From that point forward, we’ll continuously ship UHK 60 v2 pre-orders as fast as we can, possibly until the end of the year. I asked our plastic supplier to hurry up without compromising quality.

The best way forward is to plow through every obstacle we encounter, and I’m sure we’ll end up with a keyboard like no other. We appreciate your patience on this journey, and we’re looking forward to talking to you at the end of June.

The first module batch has been shipped

Hi there, and welcome to this monthly UHK status update!

TL;DR: The first 400 modules have been shipped from our facility, and we’ll be continuously shipping the remaining module pre-orders. We’ve approved the latest PBT keycap set our supplier sent to us, and UHK 60 v2 production is expected to start in early June. We will try to provide estimates regarding pending orders in our next update.

Please make sure to update your shipping address if you have moved to another location since your order.

Also, please open the web address that you can find in the module boxes to be able to use the modules and make the most out of them. Don’t forget to update to Agent 1.5.12 and firmware 8.10.9 or any later version available.

Production progress

After all this time, we’ve finally shipped the first module batch, containing 400 modules. These are some of the modules.

We’ve ended up providing a red ball, a black ball, and a steel ball for the trackball modules because we’re unsure which one you’ll like best, and your feedback is much welcome.

We can’t wait to see your posts and hear your experiences regarding the modules. The following is the first we’ve received.

You may be wondering why you haven’t gotten your module order even though you ordered earlier than Domi. The reason is that so far, we’ve only shipped non-Crowd Supply module orders because Crowd Supply’s order database is not synchronized with ours yet. In a couple of days, however, it will be synchronized, at which point we’ll start shipping Crowd Supply module orders, too.

We’ll be continuously shipping the remaining module pre-orders in the coming months. We’ll provide an estimate regarding module shipping, but it’s too early as it was challenging to start module mass production, so the assembly speed of the first module batch is not representative.

As stated in our previous newsletter, the UHK 60 v2 is currently blocked by the lack of PBT keycaps and plastic parts. Our keycap supplier expects to start shipping the keycaps in early June, by which time the plastic parts should be ready, too, and UHK 60 v2 production will begin. From that point forward, we’ll continuously ship UHK 60 v2 orders, possibly until the end of the year, which begs some explanation.

The current and future state of delivery

Under normal circumstances, we ship orders in a matter of days, as we did from 2019 May to 2020 October.

As you can probably tell, the current circumstances are everything but normal for several reasons, some of which I’m about to explain.

  1. We’re releasing five different products (four modules and the UHK 60 v2). Every product has its own set of manufacturing challenges, and ramping up production is quite challenging even for a single product.
  2. We have quite a backlog, especially of modules that we need to fulfill. At the same time, the demand for our products has significantly increased recently.
  3. Our on-site, on-demand manufacturing operation is excellent when it comes to a steady stream of orders but not ideal for combating large backlogs. As a result, it takes more time to catch up than if we had an OEM in China.
  4. The electronics supply chain is a wreck due to Covid. We had to purchase several thousand ICs for the modules and the UHK 60 v2 for about ten times the price we usually pay, and we were told we’re lucky we could even get the parts.

We sympathize with every one of our customers whose order is delayed, and we’re doing our best to catch up.

If you need an ergonomic keyboard quickly due to health issues, the UHK is not the right choice now. (Unless you pick up the handful of UHK 60 v1’s left on stock.) But if you’re not in a hurry, it’s still worth purchasing because we’ll raise the price of our products after we catch up with pre-orders, and we deliver on a first-come, first-served basis.

On the upside, after shipping the current module and UHK 60 v2 pre-orders, we expect to ship most orders in 24 hours on workdays, faster than ever before.

Thanks for your understanding, and your continued patience is much appreciated.

Your tweets

Please keep spreading the word on the modules and the UHK in general. The following tweets put smiles on our faces.

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and plan to publish the following update at the end of May.

Module production is underway

Hi there, and welcome to this delayed monthly UHK status update!

TL; DR: The assembly of the first 400 modules is underway in our facility, and we expect to ship them in about a week. Afterward, we’ll be continuously producing and shipping module preorders as quickly as we can. One of our key contractors has become suddenly overloaded, and as a result, we expect to start UHK 60 v2 production around the end of April. There are a lot of cool demos in this update, so make sure to read it.

Module production

Module manufacturing has finally started, and we’re assembling the first 400 modules, including 100 modules per type. The following photo was taken after surface-mount assembly and shows the module panels:

Unlike the UHK panels, the module panels contain numerous PCBs. The key cluster panel looks like some kind of modern art:

The trackball panel is very densely populated:

It’s interesting to peek into the modules, so here are some pictures of them half-assembled and fully assembled:

The following modules have been assembled so far:

The modules’ look and accuracy have greatly improved since I made the last module demo videos, so I’ve made some new ones. At the end of the videos, you can see the scrolling navigation mode in action assigned to the Mod layer of my UHK 60 v2. This mode makes it easy to zoom through a massive amount of content quickly, and it’s great to skim through documents.

Let’s start with the trackball module.

We’ve tried many different balls, and we’re unsure whether to provide a light black resin ball or a heavier steel ball, so we’ll include both. We may eventually offer only one of these balls based on your feedback. The balls can be quickly replaced without tools, according to the following video.

The new, modified, injection-molded spacer improved trackpoint accuracy, and now it feels more accurate.

Beyond single tapping, the touchpad module supports two-finger tapping, two-finger scrolling, and pinch to zoom, but only tapping is supported at this point. We’ll add firmware support for every one of these actions soon.

Can the modules replace the mouse? It’s a question asked by many, so it’s worth an answer. The modules are a good fit to replace the mouse for regular desktop use, such as web browsing or interacting with applications. If you’re a graphics designer and spend a lot of time in Gimp or Photoshop, a mouse or a graphic tablet is a better choice, though. As for gaming, I think the modules are useful for specific games such as turn-based strategy, but I wouldn’t play fast-paced games, such as first-person shooters with them.

We keep shipping on a first-come, first-served basis, but the first 400 modules will be sent only to non-Crowd Supply backers. The reason for this is that Crowd Supply could potentially cause a weeks-long delay in delivery, and it is vital to get quick user feedback at the start of module mass production.

After shipping the first 400 modules, we’ll fully adhere to our first-come, first-served shipping policy, and we’ll be continuously producing and shipping module pre-orders as quickly as we can. So far, module mass-production has been a smooth ride, but it’s just started, so we don’t have reliable metrics on how long it’ll take to assemble all modules. We’ll provide you an estimate in our next monthly update.

In the meantime, make sure to update your address if you have moved to another location since your order.

Agent progress

Agent has evolved quite a bit recently, and now it’s able to detect every module and configure the actions of module keys and buttons.

A seamless experience of a fully-fledged product is kind of magical, and I believe that the above demo exemplifies it well. You can take a look at Agent’s web demo, which now includes the modules, too. We’re working hard to make the modules not only work for you but amuse you.

UHK 60 v2 progress

Two issues are blocking UHK 60 v2 production: PBT keycaps and plastic parts.

We’ve received a new PBT keycap sample set for approval since the last monthly update. This sample is a definite improvement over the previous one, but some keycaps’ shine-thru performance, especially the convex keycaps’, should be better. Our supplier is doing their best to maximize shine-through performance and provide improved samples soon.

As for the plastic parts of the UHK 60 v2, they’re larger than the modules and can only be molded with a larger machine. We have a great supplier who proved themselves, but due to a sudden influx of foreign orders, they’re quite overwhelmed these days and can only mold UHK 60 v2 parts around the end of April.

Most of you are very patient regarding such delays and primarily concerned about the quality of the final product which we highly appreciate, and we resonate with your mindset. Others are less patient which is understandable. We have dozens of suppliers, and even if one of them introduces a delay, the whole project gets delayed. These delays are often unexpected, and they’re among the top reasons why shipping hardware is so much harder than shipping software. We’ll do our best to push forward. We’re making sure that the wait worths it, and we’ll be keeping you updated.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your modules, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and are looking forward to talking to you in mid-April. There’s a lot to do nowadays, so the update may be a bit late, but I’ll do my best.

Module testing result and manufacturing progress

Hi there, and welcome to this monthly UHK status update!

TL; DR: We’ve shipped a couple of modules to select testers, and their feedback was very positive, but they’ve also noticed some small issues. PBT keycap and ABS tooling are late, which affects estimated delivery dates. We plan to start shipping the modules around the end of February or March and the UHK 60 v2 around late March.

Module progress

Shortly before Christmas, we finished assembling the following modules and shipped them to select testers.

The feedback we received was very positive but also revealed some new issues. For some testers, the top and bottom parts of the key cluster came apart.

As for the touchpad, some testers pushed the top board into the module case.

Regarding the trackball, we’ve learned during the assembly process that the sealing ring slightly interfered with the ball in some cases, causing the ball to get stuck somewhat. We’ve also noticed that adding a slight pattern to the ball significantly improves optical sensor tracking at high speeds.

We haven’t heard any critiques of the trackpoint, which is unexpected because the spacer that held the top trackpoint part was 3D printed and slightly wiggled. We already had an injection-molded spacer, but we improved it, resulting in lower trackpoint operating force, and the mold hasn’t been modified yet, hence the 3D-printed part. If the 3D printed part was good enough, then the final molded part will be great.

We’re also removing a small plastic part that connects the two case buttons of right-handed modules based on tester feedback. This way, the buttons will be easier to press along their entire surface. The small plastic part was needed for the 3D-printed button prototypes to be sufficiently rigid, but injection-molded plastic behaves much better, and we’re better off without this part.

Luckily, all of the above issues are easy to fix by tweaking the molds, and our contractor is working on the fixes.

It’s fair to say that we’ve learned a ton from the testers’ feedback and the module assembly. I think we’re at a point where apart from the above fixes, the module hardware is excellent and cannot be improved significantly.

Our mold making contractor expects to update the module molds by the middle of February, and UHK 60 v2 mold modifications are expected to get ready by the beginning of March.

Keycap progress

Our PBT keycap supplier has finally sent us samples for approval. The majority of the keycaps’ shine-through performance is excellent, except for a handful of keys, including Space and Mod.

Several UHK 60 v1 owners wanted consistent key cluster keycaps, and as a result, we will also provide ABS keycaps for the key cluster. Our ABS keycap supplier is ready with convex 1U keycap molds, and we’ll ship every key cluster with both PBT and ABS keycaps. We expect to discontinue ABS keycaps for the key cluster in the far future, but now they’re included for free.

Our PBT keycap supplier recently told us that they can only provide the keycap sets in late March, which surprised us quite a bit. Previously, we only used ABS keycaps, which weren’t subjected to such delays.

As it turns out, manufacturing high quality, custom PBT keycaps of excellent shine-through performance is much more time consuming and complicated than making laser-engraved ABS keycaps, hence the delay.

We’re pushing our supplier to provide at least the key cluster PBT keycaps in March, enabling us to start shipping the modules sooner. Unfortunately, the UHK 60 v2 PBT keycaps will have to wait until the end of March despite our best effort.

Module configuration options

Agent’s master branch can already visualize the modules in real-time, and remapping them should be possible soon. The following screenshot is a work-in-progress, but you get the idea.

Remapping the modules, however, is not sufficient to make them live up to their full potential.

It can be difficult to hit small targets or take too much effort to make large motions with the pointer when using the modules. That’s where speed and acceleration settings come in. The speed setting is a linear multiplier, and the acceleration setting is an exponential multiplier. We’ve been already playing around with these values, and they make a world of difference.

When it comes to module usability, another critical feature is navigation mode, which determines what modules do when using their mousing instrument:

  • Cursor mode: moves the mouse cursor
  • Scroll mode: behaves like a scroll wheel
  • Caret mode: moves the text cursor, just like with up/down/left/right arrow keys
  • Media mode: invokes volume up, volume down, previous track, and next track on upward, downward, leftward, and rightward motions, respectively

Speed, acceleration, and navigation mode will be adjustable on a per-layer and per-module basis. So, for example, you’ll be able to make the trackball scroll when the mod layer is active.

By default, the navigation mode of the base, mouse, mod, and fn layers will be set to cursor, scroll, caret, and media mode, respectively, which are sensible and intuitive defaults given these layers’ default behavior.

I can think of a couple more minor options, and I’m sure the community will make further suggestions, but by and large, I’m quite confident that the above configuration options will provide sufficient freedom to achieve excellent usability.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! I’m blown away by Sebastian’s review, Hubert’s chair mount hack, Alex’s custom tenting stand, and all the modded UHKs. Keep it up!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and are looking forward to talking to you in late February.

Major module mold progress

Hi there, and welcome to this delayed monthly UHK status update!

TL; DR: Except for small refinements, the molds of the modules are done, and we have some great looking samples to show you. We’ll send a couple of module prototypes to select testers in December. We plan to start module shipment at the end of January 2021. PBT keycap tooling is coming along nicely. Agent now has a dark mode.

The modules look almost perfect from the outside. Minor surface defects result from not using the final injection molding machine and not setting optimal production parameters, both non-issues for the final production run.

Despite their nearly perfect look, some tooling changes still have to be done to the modules. We’ll fine-tune the length of the bosses of the microswitches to achieve optimal actuation force, and some other internal tweaks have to be done to optimize the parts for assembly.

The key cluster plastic parts should be fine as they are, and we don’t plan to make changes to them. The keycaps on the above photo are not final. The final keycaps will be made of PBT, and the bottom two keycaps will be convex.

Due to popular request, we’ll include three extra blank ABS keycaps for every key cluster for no additional cost to make key clusters more consistent with UHK 60 v1 keyboards.

The inner trackball housing needs to be adjusted for the distance between the ball and the optical sensor.

The trackpoint is already working fine, but we’re experimenting with optimal trackpoint cap height, which may affect the inner holder part. We plan to add a nice texture to the big glossy area near the cap. These are minor tooling changes.

The touchpad plastic parts work flawlessly. The golden edge at the left side won’t be visible as the final mylar sheet’s size will be corrected. The marker text which contains the version number of the PCB won’t be featured on the final product.

The above module plastic samples are surprisingly good for a first run. We aim for a second run in December, at which point the samples should be nearly perfect, and we plan to do a third run in January when we expect the samples to be flawless, and we plan to start shipping at the end of January 2021.

Plastic tooling does take more time than anticipated. We’re doing our best to release the modules as soon as we can. We won’t make any quality compromises, however, and the ETA will be extended if needed. We appreciate your continued patience, and we’ll be keeping you updated.

PBT keycap progress

As for the UHK 60 v2, our supplier sent us a photo of production PBT keycap samples.

Almost all custom legends look fine, but Mod, Space, and right Shift will be revised.

Join the dark side

Mad props go to our fabulous contributor, Mikko Lakomaa, as he has almost single-handedly implemented Agent’s dark mode.

Update to the latest Agent version, go to settings, and join to the dark side.

Magnetic USB cable mod

Simon has written an excellent UHK USB magnetic cable modding guide, which you may want to follow.

You can join the conversation on Twitter.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your UHK, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK and are looking forward to talking to you in January or sooner.

Right-side module mold progress, part two

Hi there, and welcome to the monthly status update of the UHK!

TL; DR: Machining of the right-side module molds is still underway, and it's taking longer than expected; hence, we’re now estimating that modules will begin shipping closer to the end of November In the meantime, we keep testing the modules, making small refinements, and improving their firmware.

Our contractor has been making further progress with the right-side module molds.

I spoke to our contractor yesterday. Unfortunately, the production of the molds is taking more time than originally anticipated, so we now expect to begin shipping the modules towards the end of November.

Understandably, production delays are always unwelcome. However, I know that the molds take so long because our contractor is doing his best in terms of quality. If you have been following us for a while, you know that the UHK was also delayed, and the reception was overwhelmingly positive. I’m firmly convinced that the modules will receive the same reception as the UHK with the care we give them.

We use the extra time available to us wisely and spend these days obsessing over the details of the modules. For example, we noticed that the mini trackball PCB of the key cluster module interfered a bit with the lower right keycap when pressed at certain angles, so we slightly modified the PCB. We also saw that the FPCs are very sensitive to sharp bends, so we redesigned the affected parts mechanically to minimize the bending.

The extra time allows me to polish the firmware and add more features. Recently, I implemented two-finger tapping and scrolling for the touchpad, and zooming is now also recognized. As for the trackball, I've just noticed that it's possible to double the resolution of the trackball sensor IC, which allows a higher sensitivity. These developments will improve the overall experience of the modules.

Speaking of the trackball, some of you have asked whether it's possible to clean the ball quickly. I'm happy to say that it only takes seconds to rotate the outer ring around the ball, which releases the ball.

As for the modules, some of you asked if the modules will remain firmly attached to the keyboard when it’s tented. The answer is a resounding “yes” because the precision-milled steel guides of the UHK keep very stable under all circumstances.

We’ll keep you informed about the development of the modules every month. They may take a while, but we work very hard to make them worth the wait.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your UHK, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK, and are looking forward to talking to you around the end of October.

Right-side module mold progress

Hi there, and welcome to the monthly UHK status update!

TL;DR: Machining of the right-side module molds is well underway, and we should have plastic parts by the end of August. We keep developing the UHK firmware and Agent, and it’s worth updating - not just because of module support.

Our contractor has been making solid progress with the right-side module molds.

If everything goes as planned, we’ll have injection-molded right-side module plastic pieces by the end of August, and we’ll start shipping the modules in September.

We’ll be keeping you updated on a monthly basis, and feel free to change your shipping address any time.

Agent and firmware progress

We’ve been publishing about one Agent and one firmware release per month over the past couple years. These releases contain numerous improvements, so feel free to check out recent Agent releases and recent firmware releases to see them along with their changelog. Also make sure to star these projects to get notifications about their activity on GitHub.

Regarding the firmware, it’s worth mentioning a recent fix which made the UHK play nicely with Ryzen PCs. Previously, in some cases, the UHK only worked via USB hubs when connected to Ryzen PCs. Strictly speaking, the UHK firmware was actually bug-free in this respect. The Ryzen platform just happens to be unreasonably picky regarding USB descriptors.

Speaking of Agent, a new feature makes key swapping extremely easy. You just have to drag a key to another key to swap them.

Now we’re working on making Agent handle the modules. Agent will display the actual state of the UHK just as previously demonstrated, but with the modules included. This will result in a very seamless and intuitive experience.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your UHK, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK, and are looking forward to talking to you on 2020-09-15.

Key cluster molds are ready

Hi there, and welcome to the monthly UHK status update!

TL;DR: The molds of the key cluster module are ready. Machining of the right-side module molds is in progress. The design of the module plastic parts has taken more time than anticipated, and as a result, we expect to start shipping the modules in September.

The key cluster molds are finally ready, and the molded plastic parts look great:

Now, our contractor is working on the right-side module molds:

The right-side module molds are expected to be ready around the end of August, and we plan to start shipping the modules in September.

We’ve been working on the modules as hard as we could, but despite our best effort, the ETA had to be updated because the design of the module plastic parts has taken more time than anticipated. We believe that the updated September ETA is realistic, and we’ll do our best to hit it.

We’ll be keeping you updated on a monthly basis, and feel free to change your shipping address any time.

Reviews and tweets

Wildcat’s UHK review is a special one as he doesn’t say a single word, and yet, he tells much more than most reviewers. It’s an unusually enjoyable video which I highly recommend watching.

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets and posts, and we're always eager to read and feature them. If you got your UHK, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK, and are looking forward to talking to you on 2020-08-14.

Key cluster molds and PCBs are almost ready

Hi there, and welcome to the monthly UHK status update!

TL;DR: The molds of the key cluster module are almost ready. The PCBs are finalized and being panelized. Module parts are pouring in from our suppliers.

Our contractor is almost ready with the key cluster molds. This is how they look:

The testing of these molds is slated for the end of June, meaning that we’ll soon have key cluster plastic pieces to show you.

As for the right-side modules, András approved the design of the latest 3D-printed parts, and injection molding simulations have been made:

Even more importantly, our contractor started fabricating the right-side module molds:

As for the module PCBs, I’ve been making some small improvements to them. Their shape and layout have been finalized, and I don’t expect any more changes, so we’re in the process of panelizing them.

I’m very pleased with the overall design of the modules, as they do their job well, they are as simple as possible, and they’re highly optimized for production. In my book, this is good design.

Parts have been pouring in from our suppliers, and most have arrived - including the mini trackballs of the key cluster, the balls, optical sensors, and lenses of the trackball module, FPC cables, and FFCs (flexible printed circuits).

We’ll be keeping you updated about the modules. Feel free to change your shipping address any time.

Your tweets

You guys keep sending your awesome tweets, and we're always eager to read and feature them! If you got your UHK, please share your love!

We’ll be keeping you updated on all things UHK, and are looking forward to talking to you on 2020-07-14.

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