\n
Sometimes you come across a DIY project and immediately start figuring out ways you could use it in your life. That\u2019s what happened to us here at The Verge<\/em> when someone dropped the SmartKnob View<\/a>, a proof-of-concept project by engineer Scott Bezek, into our Slack chat. While it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s the type of project most people could go out and build themselves at the moment (more on that later), it\u2019s easy to imagine a future where it\u2019s available as a kit, or where somebody turns it into an actual product.<\/p>\n
The smart knob kind of looks like a mini Nest Thermostat<\/a>, but Bezek\u2019s programmed it to have loads of modes. Of course, it can just act as a spinning dial, but you could also program its motor to provide haptic feedback and resistance, giving you the feeling of reaching an endpoint where the dial can\u2019t turn anymore. Because this illusion is created through software instead of hardware, there\u2019s a lot you can do. It can act as a turnable on-off switch, snap back to the center after you turn and release it, and even simulate ratcheted steps.<\/p>\n
\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"vsJTt4\">When my colleagues and I heard about the knob, one <em>Verge <\/em>staffer immediately suggested it\u2019d be great for controlling shower temperature; another said they\u2019d use it as a fancy scroll wheel or volume control. Personally, I thought it\u2019d be a great way to dial in how much food <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22995069\/pet-tech-dogs-cats-gps\">my cat feeder<\/a> dispenses.<\/p>\n<p id=\"51gbzy\">According to Bezek\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/scottbez1\/smartknob\">GitHub page for the smart knob<\/a>, the device (which has a far-from-finished design) can be built for \u201ccertainly less than $200 in parts.\u201d The page also includes the code for the project, as well as an absolute wealth of information on how the knob is put together and which parts it uses. Bezek <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/scottbez1\/status\/1502335685918814212?s=20&#038;t=ppoB880RV1DHyHtsY-sUwA\">also said on Twitter<\/a> that he\u2019d make a video detailing the assembly and design process for his SmartKnob.<\/p>\n<p id=\"SIVpN8\">Unfortunately, we\u2019ll probably have to put our dreams of knob-controlled home automation on hold for now. In the project\u2019s FAQ, Bezek writes that he\u2019s \u201conly implemented enough firmware for the demo shown in the video,\u201d and that the knob can\u2019t actually be used to control much of anything right now. It\u2019d also be a struggle to get parts \u2014 Bezek writes that \u201cas a result of the popularity of this project, it seems like the recommended motors are unfortunately no longer available for purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"e-image\">\n  <span class=\"e-image__inner\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"e-image__image \" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/23390897\/explodedv145.gif\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-dynamic-image \" alt=\"\" data-chorus-optimize-field=\"main_image\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAUEBAAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs\" data-cid=\"site\/dynamic_size_image-1650032582_3118_282040\" data-cdata='{\"asset_id\":23390897,\"ratio\":\"*\"}'><\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"e-image__meta\"><figcaption><em>Yes, the knob has USB-C.<\/em><\/figcaption><cite>Image: Scott Bezek<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"cLCRZx\">Even with just barebones firmware, though, and I still kind of want to build one and use it as the ultimate fidget toy. Perhaps by the time he\u2019s nailed down a design and the parts are available, I\u2019ll be able to build up my skills to the point where I could tackle the advanced soldering techniques needed to actually make the smart knob.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fwuUW9\">Bezek admits that the knob is \u201cnot yet a mature plug-and-play project,\u201d but he does say that he\u2019s going to keep working on it, and even has a roadmap of sorts on his GitHub page. I\u2019m hoping he succeeds at turning this into a real thing that\u2019s practical to make yourself \u2014 I want a future where I can build an army of knobs to control everything in my house. TV volume needs to be adjusted? Knob. Want to turn off my camera and end a Zoom call with a flick, instead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/22974570\/elgato-stream-deck-mini-zoom-video-call-controls-work-from-home\">a button press<\/a>? Knob. Need to stop procrastinating on writing an article? I can\u2019t think of how I\u2019m going to solve that with a knob yet, but I assure you I\u2019ll figure it out. <\/p>\n<p id=\"jJIXeS\">What would you use a smart knob for?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><code><br \/><\/br><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/14\/23025948\/diy-smart-knob-smartknob-view-haptic-feedback-dreams\">https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/14\/23025948\/diy-smart-knob-smartknob-view-haptic-feedback-dreams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Sometimes you come across a DIY project and immediately start figuring out ways you could use it in your life. That\u2019s what happened to us here at The Verge when someone dropped the SmartKnob View, a proof-of-concept project by engineer Scott Bezek, into our Slack chat. While it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s the type [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-3710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech","category-technology","tag-tech"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source: Sometimes you come across a DIY project and immediately start figuring out ways you could use it in your life. That\u2019s what happened to us here at The Verge when someone dropped the SmartKnob View, a proof-of-concept project by engineer Scott Bezek, into our Slack chat. While it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s the type [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-15T14:40:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-15T14:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/\",\"name\":\"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-15T14:40:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-15T14:40:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/\",\"name\":\"Science and Nerds\",\"description\":\"My WordPress Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds","og_description":"Source: Sometimes you come across a DIY project and immediately start figuring out ways you could use it in your life. That\u2019s what happened to us here at The Verge when someone dropped the SmartKnob View, a proof-of-concept project by engineer Scott Bezek, into our Slack chat. While it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s the type [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/","og_site_name":"Science and Nerds","article_published_time":"2022-04-15T14:40:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-15T14:40:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/","name":"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob? - Science and Nerds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","datePublished":"2022-04-15T14:40:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-15T14:40:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/15\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What would you do with this cool DIY haptic knob?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/","name":"Science and Nerds","description":"My WordPress Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/what-would-you-do-with-this-cool-diy-haptic-knob_625983f86da03.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3712,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions\/3712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}