Build a keyboard from an old typewriter

Computers & Mobile Technology

jonahbc

October 7th, 2008 2

This vintage typewriter to keyboard conversion was built as a way of relieving RSI injury of this maker’s wife’s fingers and wrists since old typewriters offer “gradual resistance” when pressing keys rather than the light touch of today’s keyboards. Check out the link below for details on how this project was built.

the typewriter-keyboard conversion

2 thoughts on “Build a keyboard from an old typewriter”

stunmonkey says:

October 8th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

I like the idea, though I am wondering if there would be an easier and more robust way than with a million contacts and wires to do it though.
Ideas that pop to mind right away are any one of a number of arrangements of optical or magnetic sensors, or electrostatic or inductance measurements unique to touching individual keys. For optical either sensing the light simply breaking beams from a few different angled sensors to triangulate exact position and therefore identity of the moving platen, or perhaps even optical reading of the platen encoded with simple color or bar coding on the platen arm.

There has to be a solid-state, non-contact way to do this. Help me out here. Any grand ideas from the peanut gallery?