The Haptic Wheel on this Macropad Is So Good
Macropads are very useful and CNCDan designed this one that has a really cool haptic wheel.
The standard computer keyboard and mouse combo is incredibly versatile, but it isn’t perfect. Most programs we use have shortcuts, but they all have their own key combinations and that is a lot to remember. Macropads are the perfect solution and CNCDan designed this one that has a really cool haptic wheel.
At first glance, this is just a standard macro pad. It has several buttons, which the user can press to activate desired functions. Those can include shortcuts in software, launching programs, operating system actions, text string entry, and more. The buttons, backed by mechanical key switches, surround an OLED screen the displays labels for the buttons’ current functions.
Then there is the haptic wheel. That was inspired by Scott Bezek’s wildly popular “Haptic Input Knob” project and works in a similar way, just without the screen on top. The user can turn the knob to select things or cycle through modes, but the knob can also turn itself with a brushless DC motor. That provides the haptic feedback, which is really neat. It can create resistance or simulated clicks, rotate to specific positions, wiggle, or do whatever else the user wants. And it has a pretty LED light ring for additional visual feedback.
CNCDan’s macropad works using a Waveshare RP2040-Plus development board and controls the brushless DC motor through a SparkFun TMC6300 driver on a breakout board. Those mount on a custom PCB and everything fits into an attractive 3D-printed enclosure. From there, everything else is just code. That is open-source and entirely user-configurable, with up to 256 profiles for the six buttons, yielding a maximum of 1,536 unique actions — far more than you could ever memorize.