At Hackaday, we love the times when we get a chance to follow a project we’ve already featured. In general, this is because the project has progressed in some significant ways, which is always great to see. Sometimes, though, new details of the original project are found, and that’s where we find ourselves [Scott Bez] And his Haptic Smart Knob project.
The careful reader can remember [Scott]The project was announced in March. It caused quite a stir, with favorable comments and a general “Why didn’t I think of it?” Conduct. And for reasonable reasons; The build quality is excellent, and the concept is simple but strong. The brushless DC attaches a knot to the shaft of the motor and places a small circular LCD screen in the middle, [Scott] Came up with an input device that can be reprogrammed on the fly. The BLDC can provide virtual detention at any interval while creating a haptic response to button push and the LCD screen can provide user feedback.
But how is such a thing built? This is the subject of the current video, which has a lot of clean design details and insights. Big challenge for [Scott] The center of the knot supported the LCD screen while still allowing the knot – and the motor to rotate. Part of the solution was, sadly, a hollow-shaft motor that ran out of stock soon after he released the project; Hopefully a suitable replacement will be available soon. Another neat feature is the way [Scott] The PCB itself makes small strain gauges, which pick up new presses that act as an input button. We also found the button press haptics to be very intelligent in the way it is supplied with a quick shake of the motor shaft.
This is one of those projects that seems like a waiting solution to a problem and something you just want to create for the cooling factor. Hats off to [Scott] To follow a sweet build with equally juicy details.