Hello,
Second part of my feedback and suggestion : About Keypad ergonomics.
My ideal for an ergonomic keypad would be to position the hand as much as possible in a resting position while being able to reach all the keys with minimal movement.
That's why I have the 5-way switch below my second thumb phalanx (if we consider the first being the one with the nail) and I can activate it in every direction while (it's not easy but it works) using the joystick :
This is also why I activate keys #37 #38 #13 #18 with my second phalanx :
With this ideal in mind, I see several issues with the Cyborg :
After reading various threads on "mods and customization" (especially this one), I reconsidered my hand positioning because I realized my thumb was still a bit too open relative to my hand. Indeed, when the hand is at rest, the thumb is almost parallel to the other fingers (at least for mine), so the joystick should be able to be ''inside'' the hand to respect this resting position of the thumb.
Since I was already at the maximum with the thumb position, I brought the index finger (and thus the other fingers) as close as possible to cheat a bit.
However, ideally, I still need another 1.5cm for my thumb to be in its resting position. Even though we are still far from my resting position, it's not too bad either.
Instead of having a dedicated ''finger rail'' for the thumb, it might be worth considering placing the joystick fixation point elsewhere. For example, under the palmrest or on the side of the block under the palmrest, right next to the profile switch button.
One of the problems causing the joystick to "push" the thumb outside of the hand is that the joystick attachment is from the back, adding 6mm of "unnecessary" thickness. We could consider placing this attachment "around" the joystick. This would allow us to gain 6mm and more placement options for the joystick. By being less restricted by the 6mm of the strait ball joint and the position of the rod connected to the ball joint.
However, several parts' shapes would need to be revised:
Top Towers :
I feel like these keys were designed to be reached by moving the finger out of its rest position to reach them with the fingertip. Somewhat similar to the Cyborg Compact, but ''above'' rather than ''far behind''.
However, you did not take into account that one might want to activate it differently : with the articulation of the fingers' first phalanx. Just by lifting the finger a bit, like this :
In order to do this the top towers lack a few degrees of movement to descend close enough to the finger (perhaps 10-20°?). And ideally, the Keys should be rotated of 180° so that the place where they are currently fixed is where they need to be clicked.
Do this, should not be too much complicated :
And customer can switch by himself the position he want by just :
Palm Rest :
Being able to modify the tilt forward or backward to give new adjustment possibilities.
And it could be done very simply : by cutting in half diagonally (side view) the piece that serves to raise it. Rather than having a single ''wedge'' underneath, we would have two triangular parts (side view) :
By putting both on top of each other we end up with the current wedge.
By putting only one we have the forward tilt,
By putting only the other we have the backward tilt.
The downside is that it makes two parts instead of one for the wedge.
And for the screws, it wouldn't work since the screw thread orientation will change depending on the angle. There would be the solution to triple the number of holes, with 3 holes per orientation, and you have to change the nuts position. Or provide small shims to place under the nuts to give them the correct orientation, but well, it might make shims that are really too small to handle.
But maybe it can work more simply by adding enough material to the bottom of the "box" where the palmrest fits, you probably juste need to have a longer screw in order to do this. And inside the "box" there is enought place to do this, but you'll need to make some change inside (probably the position of 2 of the screw).
It should give you something like that (the view of what i draw is fixed to the inside of the box where the palmrest fits) :
Fragility in design of nuts placement :
While disassembling my keypad to reflect on solutions to the above problem, I noticed a fragility in the design of the nut placement : the plastic thickness on which they rest is only 0.7 mm. Since I always grip my keypad by the palmrest (which is the only place where you can take it), most of the weight rests on this thin plastic thickness.
I suppose it's like this to avoid having an other reference of screw lenght but you really should consider having one more to secure this point. And you can go for a 2 or 3mm, or even 5mm longer screw, there's plenty of space avaible under the palmrest.
I already see plastic deformation in these areas on two of the nuts :
However, I lack perspective on this issue. Perhaps despite the thin thickness, it holds up well over time ? Have you ever had after-sales service returns regarding this issue ?
Here is my second thread, next ones will follow !
Have a nice day !
Aeenarion.
Second part of my feedback and suggestion : About Keypad ergonomics.
My ideal for an ergonomic keypad would be to position the hand as much as possible in a resting position while being able to reach all the keys with minimal movement.
That's why I have the 5-way switch below my second thumb phalanx (if we consider the first being the one with the nail) and I can activate it in every direction while (it's not easy but it works) using the joystick :
This is also why I activate keys #37 #38 #13 #18 with my second phalanx :
With this ideal in mind, I see several issues with the Cyborg :
Thumb Position :
After reading various threads on "mods and customization" (especially this one), I reconsidered my hand positioning because I realized my thumb was still a bit too open relative to my hand. Indeed, when the hand is at rest, the thumb is almost parallel to the other fingers (at least for mine), so the joystick should be able to be ''inside'' the hand to respect this resting position of the thumb.
Since I was already at the maximum with the thumb position, I brought the index finger (and thus the other fingers) as close as possible to cheat a bit.
However, ideally, I still need another 1.5cm for my thumb to be in its resting position. Even though we are still far from my resting position, it's not too bad either.
Instead of having a dedicated ''finger rail'' for the thumb, it might be worth considering placing the joystick fixation point elsewhere. For example, under the palmrest or on the side of the block under the palmrest, right next to the profile switch button.
One of the problems causing the joystick to "push" the thumb outside of the hand is that the joystick attachment is from the back, adding 6mm of "unnecessary" thickness. We could consider placing this attachment "around" the joystick. This would allow us to gain 6mm and more placement options for the joystick. By being less restricted by the 6mm of the strait ball joint and the position of the rod connected to the ball joint.
However, several parts' shapes would need to be revised:
- The joystick's outer shells, one to remove the old ball joint ''6mm too much'' and the other to form the new ''strait ball joint'' around the joystick.
- The PCB to move the 5-way switch a bit away from the joystick to make more room for the new strait ball joint linkage (on a single plane) around the joystick.
- The connecting rod with the ball joint, to enlarge the tightening ring and, at the other end, change the ball joint's side.
- The thumb ball joint holder, slightly revise the shape to adapt it to the new joystick position, but i think that the actual shape could suit.
Top Towers :
I feel like these keys were designed to be reached by moving the finger out of its rest position to reach them with the fingertip. Somewhat similar to the Cyborg Compact, but ''above'' rather than ''far behind''.
However, you did not take into account that one might want to activate it differently : with the articulation of the fingers' first phalanx. Just by lifting the finger a bit, like this :
In order to do this the top towers lack a few degrees of movement to descend close enough to the finger (perhaps 10-20°?). And ideally, the Keys should be rotated of 180° so that the place where they are currently fixed is where they need to be clicked.
Do this, should not be too much complicated :
- Add more degres of movement to the top tower (by removing some matter where the movement is limited),
- Do 2 new holes to invert keys position (so 4 holes in total, which 2 are always unused),
- lengthen the grooves where the wires go throught.
And customer can switch by himself the position he want by just :
- Unscrew the 2 screw,
- Manualy invert switch position (without needed to unsolder the wires, if they are long enough),
- Manualy invert keys position by changing the position of the keys screw,
- Screw the 2 screw.
Palm Rest :
Being able to modify the tilt forward or backward to give new adjustment possibilities.
And it could be done very simply : by cutting in half diagonally (side view) the piece that serves to raise it. Rather than having a single ''wedge'' underneath, we would have two triangular parts (side view) :
By putting both on top of each other we end up with the current wedge.
By putting only one we have the forward tilt,
By putting only the other we have the backward tilt.
The downside is that it makes two parts instead of one for the wedge.
And for the screws, it wouldn't work since the screw thread orientation will change depending on the angle. There would be the solution to triple the number of holes, with 3 holes per orientation, and you have to change the nuts position. Or provide small shims to place under the nuts to give them the correct orientation, but well, it might make shims that are really too small to handle.
But maybe it can work more simply by adding enough material to the bottom of the "box" where the palmrest fits, you probably juste need to have a longer screw in order to do this. And inside the "box" there is enought place to do this, but you'll need to make some change inside (probably the position of 2 of the screw).
It should give you something like that (the view of what i draw is fixed to the inside of the box where the palmrest fits) :
Fragility in design of nuts placement :
While disassembling my keypad to reflect on solutions to the above problem, I noticed a fragility in the design of the nut placement : the plastic thickness on which they rest is only 0.7 mm. Since I always grip my keypad by the palmrest (which is the only place where you can take it), most of the weight rests on this thin plastic thickness.
I suppose it's like this to avoid having an other reference of screw lenght but you really should consider having one more to secure this point. And you can go for a 2 or 3mm, or even 5mm longer screw, there's plenty of space avaible under the palmrest.
I already see plastic deformation in these areas on two of the nuts :
However, I lack perspective on this issue. Perhaps despite the thin thickness, it holds up well over time ? Have you ever had after-sales service returns regarding this issue ?
Here is my second thread, next ones will follow !
Have a nice day !
Aeenarion.
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