DIY Haptic Feedback Knob with an OLED Display by scottbez1

Check out scottbez1's post about his awesome haptic feedback knob project:
- TH-cam: • DIY haptic input knob:...
- Reddit: / bldc_motor_round_lcd_h...
- Github: github.com/scottbez1/smartknob/
Pat
===
- Blog: blog.patshead.com
- TH-cam: / oknowton1
- Patreon: / patshead
Brian
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- Blog: blog.briancmoses.com
- TH-cam: / briancmoses
- Patreon: / briancmoses

[@tubeampsrule1]

I have a knob set as my scroll wheel to the left of my keyboard. I fly through pages and spreadsheets. Being able to do that, switch to zoom, switch to volume, mute, and etc. All in one quick and easy set up is the bee's knees!

[@patregan]

I concur! I have macro pads with rotary encoder knobs. Clicky knobs are so handy for so many things!

[@stuart2151]

Did you make this yourself?

[@ArtemPervenyonok]

I would use it for office related workflows: integrate with your calendar and show your next meeting (e.g. it’s title and how much time is left till start). And when your meeting is about to start - show an option to join linked web conference (like Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc.). And when you’re joined it - use this knob for controlling it: scroll to mute/unmute, turn camera on off, leave meeting etc.
And this is where the whole fun starts. For example, it can mute you by default and when you scroll it to the right - it resists you (while temporary unmutes you) and when you release it - it rotates back (and mutes you back as well). That would be really useful for dropping quick responses into your meeting, like a walkie-talkie. But if you scroll it over some resistance - it unmutes you for a longer talk. And when you scroll it to the left - it goes through several steps and first mutes you, then turns your camera off and then leaves your current meeting (and you can setup different resistance for each action, like turn a little to mute/camera off and turn with more resistance to leave a meeting). That would really elevate your meeting experience!

[@taylorlightfoot]

I think the idea would be to integrate this into ESPHome or HomeAssistant and be able to use this as the sole control for rooms in a house. control lighting, color temperatures of lighting, thermostat, volume/media control, etc.

[@sahilkhullar9010]

That is actually why I have been looking into this but I don’t have the complete technological knowledge for it, could you by any chance point me in the right direction

[@jameswalker199]

I almost want to have something like this in wristwatch format, then use some method of localisation to know what room I'm in and offer the most appropriate functions first. Walk into the hallway and I get brightness for the light and thermostat for the house, walk into the living room and I get brightness and colour for the lights, walk into the bedroom and I get brightness for the lights and speed for the fan, etc. Keep pressing the dial and you eventually get a room selector menu so you can still control other rooms and systems without needing to walk there. Leave the thing alone for a minute and it goes to sleep and just displays the time.

[@elijahlong7791]

6:03 I am watching this as I'm playing Ksp, I had that idea right before you said it

[@patregan]

It is awesome, isn't it?! You must have the same problem I have. Every input device I see looks like a KSP controller to me! :)

[@createinvent]

Brian's been demoted to "assistant co-host?" What did he do?
That knob is fancy indeed.

[@cncgaming1966]

I think if I have something like this then, I will set up for multiple uses. One is volume control for my pc for sure, other is control my smart lights (functions like on/off, brightness), also as I love to use Adobe, I will configure it for that as well(like zoom and brush size)

[@patregan]

Rotary encoder knobs are awesome CnC Gaming! I have a JC Pro Macro pad with a big, honkin' knob here on my desk. Most of the time it is a volume knob, but when I fire up my video editor, each click of the wheel moves the playhead a single frame. It is easily the handiest video editing accessory that I have.
It'd be 10 times cooler if it were this haptic knob! :)

[@IM2awsme]

@@patregan whoa, you could also try to rig the key frames to the display.

[@sto2779]

I like how it can quickly do a fast jerk motion which gives a perception that you have clicked a button. Really need to play with this concept.

[@patregan]

It is a super nifty concept for sure!

[@sharpfang]

It could be a simple control for a lot of devices - with the button function toggling between menu (circular as everything) and selected functions. The display doesn't have to be on the knob - can be a monitor settings input, a radio knob (volume, freq, next/prev channel, on/off), light switch (dimmer, motion sensor on/off, sensitivity, on-time, insensitivity time, brightness (daylight) threshold and so on. Laundry machine - program, times, options. Microwave - power, time, presets, grill - turning as time elapses. Shower controls - temperature, function, flow (although leave a separate valve to shut it off fast if needed). 3D printer or similar machinery, as a menu selector/controller. Stuff like roomba or any similar device where you don't want a dozen buttons for various options - all in one knob.

[@patregan]

It is awesome that the only limit is probably out imaginations! :)

[@sharpfang]

@@patregan and convenience / access speed. Like, you can replace a Playstation 5 controller with it, using a menu which button or axis you want to modify, but would you want to play, say, Elden Ring with it? If you want to have control of one frequently changed value (or a set of couple which you usually access in sequence, like setting up a new 3d print job), and a bunch of others you want to access occasionally (config), this works great. If you have anything you might want to activate at any time (e.g. emergency stop, like your shower sprung a leak and is flooding the house) or stuff you'd want accessible simultaneously (x/y controls) this will be a nuisance.

[@IM2awsme]

The universal knob, put it on the a couch and from there you can control everything, lights in the house for movie night, temperature for watching sports, timer for kids to take turns playing games, navigate through normal TV settings and changing channels. Simply hold for 3 seconds to turn the divice on and off from divice selection menue, from there it's as simple as quick press to select and long press to go back. It's a niche product, but there is somone out there who would spend premium for such a divice.

[@abhijithsaimandava8574]

Using this project, I'm currently creating a driving mode switcher, and regen power adjuster for a classic car EV Conversion.

[@ButterWhat]

That sounds ridiculously awesome! And exciting!

[@NoorquackerInd]

This sounds great for cars. I'm personally against how Tesla tries to use a single touchscreen for everything because I don't want to have to look in order to find what I have to adjust, I want to be able to feel my way around and use tactile feedback.
Honestly, if you can find small low-cogging BLDCs and source a bunch of drivers, you could make a whole control panel of screen-less versions of these. Just rotary knobs with software-defined haptic feedback, since while driving it won't be important to look at the screen

[@ImTheReal]

How much simulators do you can create with that knob?

[@Idlecodex]

This should be great to control a motorized gimbal. One page for coarse control, another for fine, and a third for zoom. Maybe two of them would be necessary, one for polar and the other for azymuthal angles.

[@patregan]

Heck yeah! And being able to FEEL what is going on would be fantastic.
I use a simple knob to manually move my CNC machine around, but I have no idea if it is going to move 10mm or 0.1mm unless I look at which light is lit on the controller. It's be awesome if the knob required some significant force to move the router quickly, because that's when you might accidentally smash into something.
Now you're making me want a haptic knob on my CNC! :)

[@patregan]

@@chocolatezt Inception! :)

[@JeremyCook]

I feel like Knight Rider isn't the kind of car where you "slack the tires" to traverse sand or what have you. OTOH, I haven't really watched it, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's in an actual episode.

[@briancmoses]

I'm adding "Why hasn't Jeremy Cook watched Knight Rider?!" as an episode topic for our next livestream!

[@jameswalker199]

KITT, the car from Knight Rider, has on a small number of occasions driven off road on dry and dusty dirt tracks, but I don't recall there being and special adjustments mentioned specifically. I think it was hand waved that KITT just automatically adjusts to road conditions as he drives, unless Michael Knight overrules KITT's decisions.

[@kestscool]

smart home control would be nice to implement like house (heating, cooling, lighting, water tem., and more) :)

[@patregan]

Heck yeah Konstantin! It'd be like a Nest thermostat on the wall, except way more awesome and useful!

[@HartenDylan]

I would use this and the DIY Fusion 360 space mouse by Salim Benbouziyane to create a video editing panel for davinci resolve similar to blackmagic's editing panel with my own flavour and macros.

[@King-walo]

If he can manage to control plugins and vst with it he’s gonna make a lots of money 💰

[@nazariimoroz6216]

I don't think it's a stepper motor, seems like a normal three-phase brushless to me

[@patregan]

I am certain that you are correct. Once I said the wrong thing once, it was over. I was doomed to keep saying it over and over for 6 minutes! :)

[@RBlabs]

yes its BLDC

[@tematrixmayhem]

It has a BLDC, not stepper

[@patregan]

Oh jinkies you're right! I probably said the wrong thing 18 times!

[@JesseSchoch]

@@patregan you can do this with a stepper also...

[@johnacsyen]

With Hall effect sensor

[@jason0joon]

It's not a stepper motor. It uses a BLDC. Huge difference. This project wouldn't work well with a stepper.