BOM + prices

I found all the pricing, added the BOM and ye thats about it for this one.. I think that I'm ready to submit.

I'm not sure if its okay to be aproved cuz of the small amount of hardware used. If not i could add rbg or battery system, Better access

Fixed the PCB design rules + extra stuff

I reworked and finished all files.. The PCB is ready now too.

The next step is to make BOM and calculate the price required for this project.
Everything i needed is already ready and I'm getting even closer to finishing this project..

Coding

Now that i have all sorted out i started working out on the code, I used AI to help a little but did most of it myself. I now acts as Bluetooth HID that can control volume. The dashboard and WiFi is not ready yet, same goes for USB HID and configs.. Thoo most of the code works now just fine.

The next steps are to make a 3d render for image and stuff, finish details, fix PCB design checks and make the README and BOM

3D modeling and finishing touches to the PCB

Sooo I finished few stuff including the case (top and bottom) as for the shell.. This was made in Fusion 360, I also grabbed a base knob off printables.com and then modified that so it will fit nicely on the encoder. Positioned everything and made it ready.

Next step is to make the knob have extension or stand so it can be also rotated and positioned. In worst i will just slap a simple angle that will be fixed..

Routed the PCB

As the next step i finished some blueprint tweaks and now moved to routing the PCB

It's still really simple and not done but its the most important base..
Everything should be wired correctly.

Designing the base PCB

I sad today in the morning and started a timer, opened KiCad and created new project..

I decided to use the "Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3" for the microcontroller. So i planted that to my design. It has all the needs, which the main being the pretty powerful chip and also the really nifty wifi and Bluetooth antenna.

I had some problems with the rotary encoder connection bcuz I never connected it on a PCB before. I asked on slack and tried to google it more.. I later on found out the correct wiring and continued with planting more electronics on there.

For now i ended up with this simple design. The wiring isn't ready yet but it has the basic stuff there.

Then i added LED, switch and few other stuff

Brainstorming ideas...

So my plan is to make an universal smart knob I can use for a load of different stuff.

I brainstormed the ideas and looked at similar projects for inspiration.
The main features should include the option to control PC volume, Control my 2 smart lamps in my room using HomeAssistant and few others.

To control modes i decided to go with a wifi dashboard as i dont want to tweak with displays. This way it's also cheaper for production.

The dashboard might include an custom app in future to include smart switching like app usage but for now its only dashboard and a side button on the case next to the charging port. The device might get battery support + Bluetooth in future too but I'm quite busy cuz of school so i wanna polish the case, hardware and stuff like that first. The rest is not as needed rn!

The main inspiration comes from those amazon volume knobs for both design and use cases.