About
What is it?
The Ahmsville dial is a programmable wireless/wired controller inspired by Microsoft’s surface dial, the dial primarily serves as a controller for your PC, but it can also be used to wirelessly control other devices.
Why did you make it?
I made the dial as a controller to aid me in my creative process, it’s a device that’s: reliable, very intuitive to use, built to last and based on a platform (Arduino) that’s easily accessible and customizable for other makers.
What makes it special?
All the dial’s hardware features are based on robust and contactless systems, making the dial an extremely durable device.
Wireless and Wired operation modes, with no feature compromise between the two modes.
It uses the powerful and fast 32 bit - ATSAMD21G microcontroller.
It has a Dedicated Companion App for managing and configuring the dial's controls, so no programming skill is required.
It has Dedicated Arduino libraries with examples for custom programming.
The dial works like a HID device, so it can be used with any operating system, (Windows, Linux, Android and IOS)
It has multiple variants with different types of controls, so you can choose the one that best suits your need. Available Variants: Base Variant, MacroKey Variant, SpaceNav Variant and Absolute Variant.
Dial Hardware Features
Magnetic Rotary Encoder (for contactless and smooth knob rotation, with a base resolution of 80 steps which can also go as high as 5000 steps per revolution).
Secondary Magnetic Rotary Encoder (with a base resolution of 100 steps which can also go as high as 6000 steps per revolution).
Capacitive touch surface (Detects four touch types - single and double tap, short and long press).
5-Axis Space Navigator with the mpu6050 motion tracking IC and a system of magnets and hall effect sensors, you can learn more about it here.
Wireless operation using the NRF24 chip and Wired operation through a USB type C port.
Programmable LEDs and vibration feedback.
Dial Software Features
I have developed a companion app for the dial that allows users to completely manage, control and configure all the dials functions without ever writing a single line of code, the software’s friendly UI allows you to create and manage multiple configurations for all of the dial’s controls.
With the built in Popup Window feature, you can quickly switch between configurations and easily change some of the dial settings (e.g changing the SpaceNav and Encoder sensitivity), this feature nullifies the need for a display like an oled on the the dial itself.
The Software also provides context awareness to the dial, so the dial can dynamically switch between its programmed configurations to match whatever application you’re actively using it with on your PC.
The software also runs unobtrusively in the background and performs all its connection and app switching operations automatically.
Buy the Dial as a Kit or Fully Assembled
Kit Option 1 is the essentials only, choose this option if you have all the other parts on hand.
The Board Only Option includes:
1x Main board (Assembled and Tested).
1x USB Type C power board (Assembled and Tested).
1x Wireless adapter board (Assembled and Tested).
1x Secondary Encoder board (Assembled and Tested).
1x Capacitive touch pad.
1x vibration motor.
1x 5 Axis spacenav Mechanism.
Kit Option 2 is The Full Assembly Kit, you will get everything you need to make the dial except for the Lipo battery, you can download and 3d print the parts from here.
The Full Kit Option includes:
1x Main board(Assembled and Tested).
1x USB Type C power board(Assembled and Tested).
1x Wireless adapter board(Assembled and Tested).
1x Secondary Encoder board (Assembled and Tested).
1x Capacitive touch pad.
1x vibration motor.
90x 2x1mm Neodymium magnets.
1x 6809 bearing.
1x 6811 bearing.
All the required screw set.
7x 6x2mm rubber base pads
1x 5 Axis spacenav Mechanism.
9 individually colored silicone wires.
Download Assembly Instructions
The fully assembled option includes:
A fully assembled and fully functional 3D printed dial(SpaceNav Variant), (Color - Silver with White accents).
A fully assembled and fully functional Wireless adapter.