USB Keyboard Shield for VT100: PCB and other components

In this post, I will describe how to obtain the PCB and necessary components for the shield.

PCB

I have a few extra PCBs of the shield (board only, no components included, see the picture above). If you would like to try one, please let me know using the form on this page.

Or, you can place an order with PCB fabs, using the Gerber file.

Other Components

I updated the BOM on GitHub repo for easy procurement.

The list of the components for the shield is found on page 1 of the BOM. If you purchase them from Mouser, the cost is around $14.

The list of the parts required outside the shield (Arduino Uno, USB Host Shield, keyboard plug/cable and connector) is on page 2 of the BOM. If purchased via Amazon, the total cost of these four items will be about $40. 

The price info above is just FYI. Taxes and shipping fees are not included. 

How to Build

Once you get all the components, please follow the instruction on Readme. If you have any questions about the shield, please let me know.

USB Keyboard Shield for VT100

About this project

The USB Keyboard Shield for VT100 project was developed to connect a standard USB keyboard to Digital's VT100 terminal. The current shield is rev 2.1 and working as intended.

Features

• All keys on VT100 keyboard are mapped to USB keyboard keys.
• The LED's and bell on VT100 keyboard are implemented on the shield.

In the demo video shown above, I demonstrated the following:

1. Turn on the VT100. Power-on self test is executed. When the self test is done, only the Online LED is lit. 
2. Press F1 (mapped to Setup) twice, turning on and off the Setup screen.
3. Logged in to OS X (connected via a USB-Serial interface), invoke vi.
4. Type something and then quit vi.
5. Type cat 1.led_all_on.txt. This file contains the escape sequences that turn on L1-L4 LEDs.
6. Press Ctrl-G twice, ringing the bell.
7. Type cat 0.led_all_off.txt. This file contains the escape sequences that turn off L1-L4.

How to get it working

I put the Readme, Gerber file, BOM, schematic and Arduino sketch for the shield on GitHub.

You will need to obtain the shield PCB, assemble/solder the parts and connect the shield to other components. Please note that this shield requires two more boards: an Arduino Uno and a USB Host Shield. For details, please see Readme on GitHub.