ANAVI Macro Pad 10 Gets a 3D-Printed Case Upgrade

ANAVI Macro Pad 10 is a compact, open-source, custom-programmable mini keypad that’s as versatile as it is stylish. With nine hot-swappable Gateron red mechanical switches, translucent keycaps, and a rotary encoder with a clickable switch, this little powerhouse is built to boost productivity and personalization.

Its black, gold-plated PCB is loaded with thoughtful design details: yellow backlighting under each key, a front-facing RGB LED, and four WS2812B LEDs for gorgeous under-lighting effects. Thanks to its hot-swappable sockets, switching out mechanical switches is a breeze: no soldering required!

From Plexiglass to 3D Printing

riginally, the Macro Pad 10 shipped with a simple transparent laser-cut plexiglass enclosure. While functional, recently we have a major customer interested in having the keyboard in a more solid case.

As a result we now have a 3D-printed case for ANAVI Macro Pad 10, designed by Pavlin Saksanov, a very skilled engineer with mechanical expertise. The new case is fully compatible with the original plexiglass enclosure and is available as STL and STEP files in the project’s GitHub repository. Like the rest of the design files, it has been shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.

The 3D printing was brought to life by Experify 3D, a specialized 3D printing company also based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Special thanks go out to Samuil Gospodinov, who supported both prototyping and production of the final version. The finished case is printed in black PLA filament imported from Poland. It uses M3x3x5mm threaded inserts, ensuring the case can be assembled and disassembled multiple times without wear or damage. The inserts make the case compatible with M3 16mm DIN 965 screws for secure and reliable assembly. Just like ANAVI Macro Pad 10, the new 3D printed case is also made in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, EU.

Open Source Inside and Out

Like other devices by ANAVI Technology Ltd, the printed circuit board of ANAVI Macro Pad 10 was designed using KiCad, the cross-platform, open-source electronics design automation suite. The keyboard supports both KMK firmware (CircuitPython-based) and QMK firmware, giving users flexibility and control over their setup.

ANAVI Macro Pad 10 wass launched alongside the ANAVI Knob 1 and ANAVI Knobs 3 through a Crowd Supply campaign on November 7, 2022. Today, it remains available through Crowd Supply, as well as distributors like Mouser, The Pi Hut, Tindie, and Lectonz.

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Improving the Firmware of ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1

There are two different options for mechanical keyboard open source firmware for ANAVI Macro Pad 10, Knobs 3, and Knob 1: KMK and QMK. Both of which have been getting upgrades recently!

KMK is a feature-rich and beginner-friendly open source firmware for mechanical keyboards, written in CircuitPython, which comes preloaded on the Macro Pad 10 and Knobs 1 and 3. The source code is available on GitHub under the GPLv3 license. So… if you have code suggestions to make it better, just open a GitHub pull request. This is exactly what Stefan Misch recently did, by improving the encoder resolution.

ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1

Huge thanks to Stefan for his valuable contribution to the upstream of KMK! If you own Macro Pad 10, Knobs 3, and Knob 1, please consider upgrading the KMK firmware on your mini mechanical keyboard to get his fix.

In other news: the GitHub pull request that adds support for ANAVI Knobs 3 was finally merged in QMKQMK stands for Quantum Mechanical Keyboard. It is probably the most popular firmware for mechanical keyboards and supports literally hundreds of devices, including ANAVI Macro Pad 8 and our other mechanical keyboards. The source code is available under GPLv2 license and written in C. Initial support for the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller in QMK was added in September 2022. We started the porting efforts in October, and shortly after that, patches for ANAVI Macro Pad 10 and Knob 1 were merged. However, it took almost 6 months to merge the GitHub pull request for ANAVI Knobs 3. The long wait is over: now all of our mini mechanical keyboards are supported by QMK!

ANAVI Knobs 3

The community is very important and makes all the difference in any open source project. Thank you for supporting and improving our open source hardware mechanical keyboards!

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Macro Pad 10, Knobs 3 and Knob 1 are OSHWA-Certified!

Great news! The Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) has officially certified ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1. OSHWA is a non-profit entity registered in the US that organizes the annual Open Hardware Summit and maintains the Certified Projects Directory.

ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3, ANAVI Knob 1
ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3, ANAVI Knob 1

As part of the certification program, OSHWA ensures that the definition of “open source hardware” used by a specific project (in our case in these 3 mini mechanical keyboards) matches the community’s definition of open source hardware. They provide a unique identification number (UID) for each version of the certified open hardware device based on the country code and a number. So now we have:

The prefix BG is the country code for Bulgaria, because all these mini mechanical keyboards are made in my hometown of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. As truly and entirely open source projects, we also go one step further. Only free and open source software has been used to design the printed circuit board, the stickers, the firmware, and the documentation. In previous updates we explained how we use KiCad for designing the printed circuit boards and the open source firmware QMK and KMK written in CircuitPython.

ANAVI Macro Pad 10
ANAVI Macro Pad 10

One more thing: this year’s open source hardware summit will be held in New York on April 28 and 29th. You can attend remotely and in person. So make sure to mark the dates on your calendar!

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ANAVI Macro Pad 10 & Knobs Shipping Soon

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2023! January starts with good news. All Macro Pad and Knobs kits were shipped to Crowd Supply’s warehouse for distribution.

In the coming weeks, all orders placed during the crowdfunding period will enter into Crowd Supply’s fulfillment system and will be processed soon. Shipping to all backers should begin shortly. After that ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1 will be in stock at Mouser and Crowd Supply.

Thank you for supporting open source hardware products like ANAVI Macro Pad 10, Knobs 3 and Knob 1! W’ll keep posting updates with technical information and we hope you will have a lot of fun with your new gear!

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ANAVI Macro Pad 10 & Knobs are Funded!

The launch of our crowdfunding campaign was a blast! ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3, and ANAVI Knob 1 were all fully funded and all stretch goals were met in the first week. Thanks to all backers and Crowd Supply for bringing life to these three entirely open source projects!

As part of the covered stretch goals, each kit will include stickers from ANAVI Technology and KiCad, the free and open source CAD software used for designing the printed circuit boards of the keyboards. Furthermore, ANAVI Macro Pad 10 kits will include 32 super-cool emoji stickers. You can stick them on the top or sides of the translucent keycaps. Last but not least, we’ll be publishing various video tutorials to ensure getting started is easy.

One more thing… Recently, our mini mechanical keyboards were featured in an article by CNX Software. This is a very popular website with news and tutorials about embedded systems, makers, and open source hardware. It was started in 2010 by Jean-Luc Aufranc. By the way it is worth keep an eye on CNX Software because there are always news about interesting gadgets!

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ANAVI Macro Pad 10 and Knobs are Here!

One, two, three new products! After several months of development we are happy to present you 3 new open source hardware mini mechanical keyboards and knobs. The crowdfunding campaign started on Monday!

ANAVI Knob 1, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Macro Pad 10

ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1 all come with gold-plated black printed circuit boards, Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontrollers, USB-C connector and clickable rotary encoders. The popular open source KMK firmware allows you to easily program and configure custom keyboard layouts and macros using CircuitPython.

ANAVI Knobs 3

Once again we rely on Crowd Supply for the crowdfunding. The campaign has a very modest goal of just $1 and it has been already funded. Our plan is to make the keyboards in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, EU thanks to the trusted supply chain we have established throughout the years. We hope you will jump in and help us bring these entirely open source mechanical keyboards to life!

ANAVI Knob 1, ANAVI Macro Pad 10 and ANAVI Knobs 3

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ANAVI Macro Pad 10 and Knobs Coming Soon

With Crowd Supply we are preparing a new crowdfunding campaign for 3 open source hardware mechanical keyboards: ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1.

ANAVI Macro Pad 10, ANAVI Knobs 3 and ANAVI Knob 1

There are many common things between these 3 mini mechanical keyboards:

  • Seeed XIAO RP2040 – a power module with USB-C and Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU from Seeed Studio
  • Rotary encoders
  • KMK – an open source firmware for mechanical keyboards written in CircuitPython
  • Open source hardware designed with the free and open source software KiCad

Subscribe at our pre-launch page at Crowd Supply to be the first to know when we launch the crowdfunding campaign!

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