DIY Computer Rotary Knob Controller

Knob controllers can control volume settings, scroll through web pages and help edit movies among other uses. You can buy a commercial one from Griffin Technology for $US45 or build one yourself with an old scroll-wheel mouse and a few electronics components and tools.

DIY enthusiast zine Make offers instructions and a video tutorial on how to construct the rotary knob controller using a PS/2 or USB mouse with scroll wheel. The scroll wheel will need to work via a rotary encoder and not an IR transmitter/detector; see the source post or the video tutorial for mote details and how to spot the difference.

Once you have a suitable donor mouse with a rotary encoder, you will gut the mouse removing the scroll wheel, rotary encoder, cord and circuit board. After that you’ll desolder the encoder from the circuit board, add a small metal rod to control the encoder, mount the parts in a project box and attach a circular object that rotates to control the device — the creator uses a remote control car wheel.

With the controller assembled you can now shut down your computer, plug in the PS/2 plug from the mouse and boot your system. Your computer will recognise the controller as a mouse automatically so after adjusting the sensitivity of the wheel go ahead and try it with web browsers, music players and any other applications you’d normally use a scroll wheel.

To get more functionality Windows users can use the free program Volumouse to assign volume controls, adjust screen transparency and brightness, and other functions.

PowerFake Knob Controller [Make Zine]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


One response to “DIY Computer Rotary Knob Controller”

Leave a Reply