Hacking the Kinesis Contoured keyboard

With the successful completion of the humble hacker keyboard, I’ve decided to modify one of my Kinesis Contoured Keyboard keyboards so that I can use my firmware to gain additional programmability. I’m going to replace the existing controller with one based on the Teensy++. I’m starting with my second Kinesis board, a “Professional QD”. I don’t remember exactly when I bought this board, but the date on the controller board is 03/18/99.

Step One – determine the matrix

First, we have to discover the keyboard matrix – which is basically how individual keys map to pins on the keyboard connector. For a good description of how a keyboard matrix works, visit Dave Dribin’s Keyboard Matrix Help page.

With a normal keyboard, I would just wire the pins from the keyboard connector to my Teensy++, then load my firmware built in “Matrix Discovery Mode” (see bottom of linked page). Once installed, the matrix can be found simply by pressing keys on the keyboard. But the kinesis is a special case, in that there are essentially 6 individual keyboards joined together. To find the complete matrix, each individual board matrix must first be determined, then the main board has to be mapped out to find out how these are to be combined.

That last bit is not strictly necessary, as I am free to map each individual board however I want, but I thought it best to stick with the original layout. At the very least, someone else may find this information useful.

Below are the individual keyboard matrices. For the most part, I’ve labeled components as they are labeled on the PCBs.

---

Left hand

Exceptions to the board labeling are:

• The main connector PL2 had no label
• Labels with more than two characters have been shortened (e.g. SHIFT → LS, TAB → TB, etc.)

PL2/J2

	6	7	8	10	11	12
1		\	IN	LT		RT
2	LS	Z	X	C	V	B
3	CP	A	S	D	F	G
5	TB	Q	W	E	R	T
13	=	1	2	3	4	5

---

Right hand

Note that the square brackets are labeled incorrectly on the PCB. That is, the left bracket is labeled as the right, and vice versa.

PR2/J7

	1	2	3	6	12	13
4	UP	DN			[	]
7	NS	,	M	RS	.	/
8	H	K	J	'	L	;
9	Y	I	U	\	O	P
10	6	8	7	-	9	0

---

Thumbs

Left thumb

PL1/J5

	1	2	3	8
4	SL3		SL6	SL4
5		SL1	SL5	SL2

Right thumb

PR1/J6

	3	4	5	6
7	SR1		SR2	SR5
8	SR4	SR3	SR6

---

Left function keys

PL3/J3

	2	3,6,10	4,7,11
1	ESC	F1	F2
8	F3	F4	F5
5	F6	F7	F8

---

Right function keys

PR2/J4

	5	8,11	7,10
8	PB	PG	KY
1	F9	F10	F11
5	F12	PS	SL

The two keys PG(Program) and KY(Keypad) in the table above are not actually connected as shown. They serve special purposes and are not part of the normal key matrix when using the Kinesis controller. Instead, they are connected as follows:

	1	2
3	PG	KY

To add them to the matrix above, make the following connections:

• J4-1 → J4-8
• J4-2 → J4-7
• J4-3 → J4-4

---

The combined matrix

This is the combined matrix based on how each individual keyboard is connected to the controller board.

Keys X1 and X2 in cells 5A and 4L do not exist. These are placeholders for the addition of extra keys below the shift keys.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O
1	=	1	2	3	4	5							F6	F7	F8
2	TB	Q	W	E	R	T							F3	F4	F5
3	CP	A	S	D	F	G							ESC	F1	F2
4	LS	Z	X	C	V	B	UP		DN	[	]	X1	F9	F10	F11
5	X2	`	IN	LT		RT	6	7	8	9	0	-	F12	PS	SL
6		SL1		SL2		SL5	Y	U	I	O	P		PB	PG	KY
7	SR4	SR3	SR6	SL4	SL3	SL6	H	J	K	L	;	‘
8	SR1		SR2		SR5		N	M	,	.	/	RS

Since I’m not using the original controller, I’ve rearranged the different blocks and shifted some rows and columns to arrive at the more sensible matrix below.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O
1	=	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	-	ESC	F1	F2
2	TB	Q	W	E	R	T	Y	U	I	O	P		F3	F4	F5
3	CP	A	S	D	F	G	H	J	K	L	;	‘	F6	F7	F8
4	LS	Z	X	C	V	B	N	M	,	.	/	RS	F9	F10	F11
5	X2	`	IN	LT		RT	UP		DN	[	]	X1	F12	PS	SL
6			SL1	SL2		SL5	SR4	SR3	SR6				PB	PG	KY
7				SL4	SL3	SL6	SR1		SR2	SR5

To obtain this matrix, the rows and columns must be connected as follows:

Row	Connection
1	J2-13; J7-10; J3-1
2	J2-5; J7-9; J3-8
3	J2-3; J7-8; J3-5
4	J2-2; J7-7; J4-6
5	J2-1; J7-4; J4-9
6	J5-5; J6-8; J4-3,4
7	J5-4; J6-7

Col	Connections
A	J2-6
B	J2-7
C	J2-8; J5-2
D	J2-10; J5-8
E	J2-11; J5-1
F	J2-12; J5-3
G	J7-1; J6-3
H	J7-3; J6-4
I	J7-2; J6-5
J	J7-12; J6-6
K	J7-13
L	J7-6
M	J3-2; J4-5
N	J3-3,6,10; J4-1,8,11
O	J3-4,7,11; J4-2,7,10

Next up: building a replacement controller board!