pizzaBoard

Time Spent: 15 hours

5/24/25 I made the schematic, which was somewhat difficult. I decided to make it using a bare RP2040, which was a questionable decision. However, the RP2040's Hardware Design Guide was SUPER helpful, so I mostly just followed that. The switches were really easy to wire up, as I've made diode matricies before. Next, I designed the PCB, which is where the pain settled in. First were the switches, which were easy, but just SUPER tedious. My hands started cramping when I finished wiring the diodes :skull:. But I eventually finished. I then began the RP2040's wiring, which was SUPER challenging. I routed and rerouted sooooo many times and my hands hurt SOOOOOO MUCH. After 5 failed attempts, I went on the Slack and described my pain, when @Cyao told me it was normal and it takes dozens of routing attempts to get used to it. That fueled my motiviation and I began once again! Evenutally, it was time to sleep.

5/25/25 Once I woke up, I did my morning routine and got straight to KiCad. I was determined to finish the keyboard. I routed a couple more times and eventually got it! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO rewarding. My design is pretty simple as it uses a ton of vias. The image I put below resembles multiple hours of blood, sweat, and tears /hj. The case was a breeze. It's super simple with a sandwich design like HackPad.