Building a haptic input knob from scratch!

How does the SmartKnob work? And how did I build it? Let’s peek inside and take a look! Thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring part of this video! jlcpcb.com/DYE $2 for 5pcs 1-4 layer PCBs, PCBA from $0
If you haven’t watched the SmartKnob demo reel, check it out here: • DIY haptic input knob:...
And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has sponsored me on GitHub: github.com/sponsors/scottbez1
FOLLOW ALONG:
GitHub project: github.com/scottbez1/smartknob/
Twitter: / scottbez1
MENTIONS & OTHER COOL THINGS:
• Round LCD (GC9A01): amzn.to/3QaLR1i (probably cheaper on AliExpress, but with slower shipping - www.aliexpress.com/item/10050...)
• Magnetic viewing film: amzn.to/3MARQcw
• Magnetic sensor (MT6701): lcsc.com/product-detail/Angle...
• CA glue: amzn.to/3mxsEJC
• Gel soldering flux (NC191): amzn.to/3MGDSr5 - ❇️ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - you’ll see this throughout the video (8:50, 9:14, 9:48) because it’s transformed the way I solder surface-mount components
• iFixit screwdriver set: amzn.to/3zsabG4 - makes a few tiny cameos in this video, but also highly recommended!
• InteractiveHtmlBom: github.com/openscopeproject/I... - awesome free plugin for KiCad
(some links are affiliate links, which help support my channel at no cost to you!)
All other parts can be found in the bill-of-materials (BOM) files linked on the project's GitHub page.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
0:44 First look inside
1:36 YOU CAN’T BUY THIS MOTOR :(
2:12 Virtual detents & haptics theory
3:39 Sensing rotation (magnetics)
5:26 Sponsor message
5:58 Electronics & Assembly
7:52 Weird flex, but ok
9:13 Display, light sensor
10:38 Mounting options and conclusion

[@scottbez1]

Good news! The motor used in this design had been elusive, but the community was able to identify the motor manufacturer and SparkFun had a bunch of these motors manufactured - the motors can now be purchased from SparkFun if you'd like to build your own! www.sparkfun.com/products/20441 SparkFun is an awesome company to support - they've been pushing the hobbyist and open-source electronics space forward for years! This isn't sponsored and I don't make any money from sales or anything like that; I just love what they're doing as a company. I've used a ton of their electronics boards in the past and I actually learned how to reflow solder at home by following Nate's old blog posts: www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/58 and www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59 (You might recognize some of those techniques in this video!) I'm very excited that they were willing to help make these motors more broadly available!

[@blakeireland1533]

out of stock already :(

[@multiarray2320]

please tell me that you make more videos

[@marcusone1]

out of stock again... any news on when new stock will be available?

[@bs-tech.solutions]

@@marcusone1 in stock again, 87 remaining at this time.

[@isaachenrikson3197]

@@bs-tech.solutions 2 now

[@yeong126]

This is not a DIY project, this is a whole product. The quality is unbelievable.

[@James-Pi]

I hope he sells kits soon.

[@zdhd]

@@James-Pi me too. im looking to make one of these myself and its so difficult to find all of the parts i need

[@johnmichaels4330]

Hell yeah it is.

[@ryanjpedersen]

Yeah, take my money

[@ksoonsoon]

No, take my money

[@koni_ey]

The Industrial Design on this thing is sooo refined! I think i have never seen that on a "hobby grade" project! Keep up the amazing work!

[@jamessmith5459]

Frankly it's a lot better than some industrial electronics. If you pull a drive cabinet apart you would be concerned about the quality the work.

[@mehmetaligorur4183]

Is this really a hobby-grade project? I am totally impressed by the project, no doubt. And I believe this is a level where every maker would wanna reach to. But how??? Quite honestly, I would even pay to learn, but what is resource?

[@p_o_o_g8139]

Beauty of 3d printing

[@prime-mate]

This.. excellent design!

[@timknapen]

The attention to detail with the flex sensing, force feedback, light sensing and even the removable adhesive slots... next level! so impressive!

[@jasonclark1149]

"This PCB can measure its own mechanical deformation. Weird flex, but ok." ...and I'm dead. That was an unexpected laugh-out-loud in the middle of an excellent breakdown of a wonderful project. And then the recommended video - I can't believe I didn't realize you also did the see-thru split flap build. Love that as well. As someone who used to travel regularly via Amtrak thru several stations with old Solari displays, I've long been a huge split-flap nerd, and I'm always on the lookout for diy builds. Very subbed for the next cool thing. Thanks!

[@zenrook1]

I was going to ask you to provide a link to the split flap build, but I found it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3K0e313hrialck; Thanks I didn't know about this.

[@Necrocidal]

It's got me wondering if more strain sensor positions (3+?) would allow a joystick-like interaction too

[@3nertia]

@@Necrocidal They do, and they exist, but they tend to wear out very quickly from what I've read during my research

[@Guynhistruck]

100% just started writing the same comment. Holy hell, that line wrecked me.

[@scottbez1]

Update on motors: with the help of the community we identified the original manufacturer, and I've been in contact with a well-known hobbyist electronics company in the US that will be selling them and should be a reliable source to buy these unique motors going forward! I'll have more details to share in the future!

[@demonicpizzaman]

Fantastic! I can't wait to get a few of these built. There are SO many amazing applications for this!

[@ArteiusTube]

Thank you very much! :D looking forward to seeing if this thing will be possible to be purchased again!

[@jeremyanderson6395]

Great so they will be 10x as much.

[@RileyPorter]

@@jeremyanderson6395 Dont care take my money :)

[@RileyPorter]

Should we be watching here for more news or github issues for official updates on motor availability?

[@Crokto]

wow thanks for this breakdown, been wanting to make a stripped down version but didnt really know where to start, this really helps me understand the purpose of each bit

[@DisorderedArray]

Different parts of this project can be used for all sorts of other things. The smart knob is fantastic, but knowing how each function is achieved is going to help me with my completely unrelated projects, it's really a treasure trove of great ideas!

[@amcomma]

I could imagine this being used as "master control" for room. Dimming lights, temperature control, ventilation fan speeds. Maybe even door opening if you use it with motorized one!

[@wallyhulea219]

Perfect shape for a HAL9000 skin on the interface. He could open the pod bay doors, if he wants to.

[@supplement420]

Imagine BMW would use this in their Cars...oh wait, they do :D

[@jameswalker199]

@Zap le monde Still better than a touch screen!

[@3nertia]

It's a macro knob - it could do literally *anything* any other knob could do with the stroke of a few keys or the press of a Smart Knob :D

[@3nertia]

@@jameswalker199 A touchscreen on this would be pretty cool to be honest but I'm not sure this - as functional as it already is - really needs it lol

[@atishwaghwase]

This is my favourite electronics project of all time. Excellent work and massive thanks for keeping it open source!

[@dosgos]

Great industrial design. And elegant too. I can't imagine how much time this took to develop & optimise.

[@jsincoherency]

This is absolutely superb, great job. So many clever and surprising solutions to problems.

[@srt252]

Every single component to this build was level 100 design perfection. I am blown away at how well thought out this entire project is. Well done

[@wherearethepies9043]

Hell yeah, I've been waiting to see more on this, super cool stuff

[@RichardSmith-qb4qq]

Yoooo been waiting even checking the gethub

[@puffinjuice]

Everything about this video was amazing, the product itself, the video composition, the narration, everything. Well done!!!

[@Hasan...]

Top level of ergonomic, aesthetic, and intuitive finished product design from scratch... This is mind-blowing talent 👏 Perfection at it's best !

[@WoodyW2k]

And this is why I subscribed. What an elegant and well implemented design. 👏🏻

[@markmuir7338]

I just came across your channel. This is such a great implementation, and a wonderful presentation style. The fact you went the extra mile by making extra firmware and even that compass prop just to aid the description, puts you in a class above everyone else! Excellent

[@lauril1377]

This is probably the greatest DIY engineering project I've seen. Amazing work from the idea to execution!

[@sethphillips4779]

Instant subscribe. The amount of effort you put into this video is tangible, from the torque arrows on the display to the compass chip demo. Very cool.

[@nadimfetaih3841]

This is wild, I was LITERALLY just watching your other video about this - an hour later, I saw your new one! This is amazing, thanks for the breakdown!

[@SimplySpace]

Everything about this project soothes my soul, so much attention to detail. The tight integration of PCB design, and mechanical components makes me very happy to see. It's a real demonstration of what I always maintain, that an engineer with strong EDA skills, CAD skills and design sensibility, is a weapon to be reckoned with. This has given me an itch to restart a few smaller projects of mine that have fallen by the wayside, thank you for sharing!

[@jerbear7952]

The cut outs for removing the adhesive strips was the kind of thoughtful touch that made me lean forward and hear what this man has to say.

[@BurakCalik]

This is the most satisfying DIY project to watch ever, I revisit and watch it many times in year.

[@clnrrr]

this is honestly one of my favourite projects on the internet. its just so neat, really cannot understand how this is not industry standard

[@keen2461]

Wow....I'm blown away.....This must be the best electronics project I've seen in several years. Awesome job!

[@Nicolas_dG]

This video is amazing from top to bottom, you want through every detail perfectly, which makes your work even more impressive. First the project is really well done with some smart solution, but also this video is very well made. Good job man ! Cant wait for this motor issue to be fixed (maybe thé GMB2804H-100T could be used, although i think you said it was a bit expensive)

[@14theManuel]

Amazing job! I love this design and all of the features that you've packed into it. This could fit into so many different projects.

[@WebmediArt]

Super dope engineering! Clever design for sure with that flex and haptic feedback

[@Fwacer]

Wow! Amazing work. You really put a lot of design work and time into this. Great video work and audio work too. I saw the original demo video but this takes it up 10 levels!

[@SamoScopom]

I have been waiting for an update on this project for a while. It's amazing! I wish I had time to learn all these things and do my own project.

[@nicholashollander2256]

This is honestly one of the coolest projects I have seen in a long time, I really want to build one!

[@infinitepurelive]

These video's on smart knobs are awesome, I wish this could be a kit that I could order

[@WayneJohnsonZastil]

You can order kit just from different places

[@plemli]

Just wait a while, and all sorts of (cost-cut / reduced functionality) adaptations will pop up on the chinese sites. From there on this could be industrialized into an off the shelf part, maybe by 2027 as component availability goes...

[@ShiroCh_ID]

@@plemli whelp time to use this hing for all my swtiches in home xD not to mention the convinient it will gives that you can turn on lights on spesific room in another room that it wasnt do,and with some software mod you can also add a "lock" so you acnt controll that room from other knobs

[@MatSmithLondon]

@@ShiroCh_ID exactly my thoughts.

[@TravisRayLive]

I've never subbed so fast to a channel. This is absolutely beautiful. The amount of thought, the UI/UX considerations, absolutely wonderful.

[@conunfrum]

I want one, maybe two, of these in every single room of the house. Keep up the good work.

[@prime-mate]

The thought put into this design is top-notch... such an excellent device.. so many applications!

[@marc00703]

This is probably one of if not the best DIY project I've seen in a while! It's beautiful! 😍

[@karasekjh]

I can't wait for this to be commonly available in consumer electronics.

[@beku2283]

Excellent engineering and attention to detail! Bravo!

[@jhengineering3578]

This is truly amazing!👏 Can't imagine how much time and hard work you've put into this project!

[@dev-workshop]

You can use 4 bend sensors per 4 sides. This way you will be able to know direction of bending and use it like joystick

[@rpyrat]

Isn't one per side (4 total) enough for that?

[@dev-workshop]

@@rpyrat Yea, i mean one per side (4 total)

[@adrianjost-dev]

But do you need it? I imagine the usability wouldn't be as great as an iPod click wheel type interface would be. Still, initially I had the same thought.

[@dev-workshop]

@@adrianjost-dev I just love the joysticks :) And this is an idea to try, if the sensors are already in project

[@Johnnisjohnnis]

Touch sensitiv display as well. 😀 A fingerprint reader would be cool. 🥰 Maybe proximity sensor or ir camera with gesture ability. 🤔 Iris scanner. Hidden security camera. Bottle opener. 😂

[@rfitzgerald2004]

I love this so much, I saw the previous video a few months ago as well. So much thought and attention to detail has gone into this, it could easily become a commercial project it's so professionally made. Hopefully you've got a patent before someone else takes the idea!

[@GmailNexus]

Your Design is just awesome. So thoroughly, elegant & thoughtful ❤

[@MikeHarris1984]

This is a freaking cool project!!! I've never thought about adding a septic feedback knob to projects... awesome project! Thank you for sharing!!

[@TastyPurpleGum]

I'm blown away by the incredible quality you achieved, which approches (and surpass some of) manufactured products. But your Kicad infos & plugins, github repo, and explainations is really what it makes it shine the most. Thank you for being part of what makes the hobbyist electronic world such a great community

[@remusb]

I think you're one of the best designer out there. Everything is on another level. The Experience, the explanations, all.

[@trkoo]

Your attention to detail tickles me. I love it. ❤️ Keep it up.

[@volodymyrliashenko1024]

This looks like a high quality build! You may not believe it, but I was thinking about such a device. Amazing work!

[@davecreelman]

This is such an amazing product. So much mechanical and electrical engineering. The packaging ideas are brilliant too. Well done 😊

[@Jopoiato]

This is amazing! Congratulations on all the effort puted into it! I am starting now with home automation and hope create some projects on my own! Keep on the good work!

[@wody21]

What an unbelievably witty design, just staggering! Huge congrats, you should be very proud of your SmartKnob!

[@MrPiTbuLL601]

No doubts you are a very good engineer. Congrats for your project. It really looks amazing. Professional in every aspect. I know how much work has to be invested in order to be able to hace a product like this. Moreover when you're doing everything by yourself. Well done!

[@SurrealMachines]

One of the most professional designs an instruction (intro) videos I've ever seen. Amazing project. Going to build!

[@NicksStuff]

That's a great project and a really nice video, thanks for sharing all that with us

[@andymok7945]

Such an amazing project along with all the fine detail work.

[@kuzipa9126]

This is amazing :). Thoroughly enjoyed the design of your project, by far the best engineering I've seen :)

[@hrtlsbstrd]

Great video dude - love the attention to detail

[@artomatica]

The engineering quality of this channel is on another level. Pcb, motor, work itself is precise and clean, as in the lab. Pleasure to my eyes!

[@gsansoucie]

Excellent project and video. Possibly the first time I’ve ever commented on a sponsor, your sponsor couldn’t have come at a better time for me. We are hitting the road to Fulltime RV in a few weeks and I’ve been dreading packing up my 3D printer as I so enjoy designing things and printing them, now I can just design them and have someone else print them :-)

[@charlesrg]

great work, would definitely buy it if sold as a module. it would add a great touch interface on many projects.

[@cristiana1373]

Great job ! You have my admiration!

[@SeanLumly]

This is beautiful. What a well-designed project.

[@gordon1201]

This is so elegantly designed. Really beautiful

[@rbouakaz]

Wow just wow ! Thank you 🙏

[@rikilshah]

So well designed and assembled like an industrial product! Great work!

[@WhyIsTheCouchWet]

The strain gauge on the flexing PCB and then the simulated haptic feedback with the motor. 'Chef's kiss' that is /such/ an elegant solution. Really all of it is great. I'm simultaneously inspired and a little intimidated.

[@SaintAngerFTW]

This is a masterclass. Please post more

[@terrymiller111]

Excellent all the way around = excellent project idea, excellent engineering, excellent video, excellent audio/narration copy.

[@snakescb]

amazing... one of the nicest diy projects in quite a while, thank you so much for sharing

[@reynata8088]

This... is amazing! Neat DIY work, clearly narrated. This is my first time seeing your channel... but mate it won't be the last!

[@danielmyrenne6570]

Interaction Design as well as engineering on this one is simply great! I really love this project and am happy you uploaded this video. Maybe Carl Bugeja (here on YT) can provide a very slim Motor Design?

[@jannovak6987]

Love this! What a time to be alive! :P

[@timonharmel4866]

really nice work , my whole respect

[@PiefacePete46]

You are a natural... this is the clearest presentation I have seen, and I watch everything I can find! You have come up with a stunning project that is beyond the abilities of most of your viewers, yet because of the quality of your tutorial, I believe most would complete it successfully. The level of interest is obvious from the comments; also obvious is the number of people hanging out for a kit. 😜 Thank you so much... Liked and Subscribed.

[@marcelosoian]

Wonderful project. Bravo!!!

[@4puf]

This is amazing! You've done an incredible work! Good Job!

[@xyla4874]

Absolutely loved the idea. Would love to see one of these smart knobs being used in future devices!

[@REEKONTools]

Great Work Scott!

[@cristiandrei1980]

Amazing! This has so many possible applications.

[@electronicscaos]

I used this same concept in a gizmo I made to control 3D models in the screen as I turn 3 knobs. I used the motors to make it harder to turn (more precise) while don't actually having a device with short life caused by mechanical defects. Thanks for sharing, you got a subscriber.

[@LikeFactoryMade]

This is absolutely brilliant! Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@atsa1]

This is truly a good project. Nice work.

[@portlyoldman]

I now have massive design and implementation envy! What an awesome project 🫨

[@programorprogrammed]

Beautiful work

[@viniciusfriasaleite8016]

Great design!!! Thank you for sharing that with us!!

[@xpump876]

wow - this DIY creation left me speechless - amazing.

[@TheMythh]

I love that you were able to get a sponsor off of your first video, congrats! Also an amazing build, i'd love to make it myself!

[@kristoftinelly]

So well made. So brilliant.

[@tony-ma]

Great project and awesome video!

[@Gin-toki]

Really neat project! It's something I've wanted to make for quite a while now, so will definetly take inspiration from your project :) Also, that large compas IC was fabulous! xD

[@smarzony]

It's unbelievable how many tech you put in this device, I really admire you

[@danilocedeno9765]

Ok so hear me out. I saw this project a bit back and I think the work you put into this is insane. It is so clean and beautiful that not even a consumer grade product comes even close. I'd love to build one but the problem is that other than the supply issue for the motor, I also don't have the tools e.g. hotplate for reflow soldering in order to do so. So I appreciate massively that you shared this video and your work because I would love to use this as a reference to try and make a less nice but similarly functional dumbed down version. I also would like to be able to print the parts myself on my fdm printer. The package will be much larger but I personally don't mind. Again thank you for keeping this open source and I'm looking forward to your future projects!

[@MrBrandenS]

This dial looks fantastic. It really brings me back to the days of running SMT machines and watching how quickly they can place these chips.

[@havocking9224]

People like you are improving life!

[@peedjy71]

It's a really cool project. 🤩 I didn't imagine we can put so many technologies into a "simple" knob! Good job👍

[@ysiegel5544]

Love this project and your design is amazing. The video is very well done as well. I would love to know more about the process of designing the pcb, the thinking process and components selection!

[@sycoclownx]

I just found this and am now looking at getting the parts so I can build one and tinker. I think this will be perfect for my kitchen to control a few things, the lights, oven range, and fan. Maybe if I get really into it I'll even build that motor to raise and lower the chandelier lighting so I stop bonking my head.

[@AJRobinson]

Dude this is so dope! I'll be watching for more videos

[@shihanlu1102]

Wow, this is like a piece of art!!

[@GlennLewis]

Genius! Thank you for sharing!

[@billtudor1953]

Very cool project! I'm adding the Interactive BOM tool to my workflow.