PocketType - Espruino Bluetooth Keyboard & Display

I could not resist this PocketType keyboard kit from Mechboards when I saw it advertised at a very reduced price. I wanted to see if I could program it in Espruino as the sockets on the keyboard for a Pro Micro ATmega32U4 board are also compatible with a nice!nano board based on an NRF52840 processor.

When I got the kit, I realised that there were enough spare pins to drive a display - in fact two low power ST7302 based displays as can be seen in the photo below.

The top display in the picture is running a Bangle style launcher and the bottom display is a Terminal console. The bottom right key can be used to direct the keyboard output to an app running in the top display or to the console in the bottom display. In addition, the device can be made to appear as a bluetooth keyboard to another computer by running the keyble app.

The keyboard is powered by a rechargeable LIPO battery. The keyboard matrix scanner is activated by pressing any key and I was pleased that it starts fast enough to capture the first key press. The end result is that the overall standby current consumption is less than 100 microamps. The spare lipo battery I used is 1200mah, so with light use, I will next have to charge it again some time in 2025.

PocketType is a 40% keyboard with numbers and symbols accessed by using layer keys. The kit comes with blank keycaps which I have labelled with transfers and then sealed with clear nail varnish. The transfer set was for a standard set of characters - thus the creative use of orientation to label arrow keys etc.

With the addition of a simple text editor, the device is definitely a candidate for a deckchair/sun lounger programming tool - although it has to be said that typing on the microswitch based PocketType keyboard is thumb based and fairly slow.