An In-Depth Look At The Haptic Smart Knob

At Hackaday, we enjoy those people moments when we get a likelihood to follow up on a venture that we have presently showcased. Generally, it’s for the reason that the undertaking has superior in some sizeable way, which is always fantastic to see. At times, though, new facts on the authentic challenge are out there, and which is the place we come across ourselves with [Scott Bez] and his haptic smart knob challenge.

Warn audience might recall [Scott]’s announcement of this venture back in March. It manufactured quite a splash, with favorable reviews and a typical “Why didn’t I believe of that?” vibe. And with superior cause the create good quality is superb, and the plan is simple nonetheless strong. By attaching a knob to the shaft of a brushless DC motor and mounting a small round Liquid crystal display display screen in the center, [Scott] came up with an enter device that could be reprogrammed on the fly. The BLDC can present virtual detents at any interval though producing haptic suggestions for button pushes, and the Lcd monitor can provide consumer suggestions.

But how is this sort of a issue built? That’s the matter of the present-day video clip, which has a ton of neat style aspects and develop insights. The significant challenge for [Scott] was supporting the Lcd display in the middle of the knob when nonetheless enabling the knob — and the motor — to rotate. Section of the alternative was, sadly, a hollow-shaft motor that was out of inventory before long right after he unveiled this undertaking hopefully a suitable alternative will be obtainable before long. Another neat element is the way [Scott] crafted tiny pressure gauges into the PCB by itself, which select up the knob presses that act as an enter button. We also found the way button press haptics are presented by a fast jerk of the motor shaft pretty intelligent.

This is one of those projects that appears to be like a solution waiting for a difficulty, and something that you’d build just for the coolness factor. Hats off to [Scott] for next up a sweet make with equally juicy details.