USB Media Control Dial

I wanted a compact and solid-feeling media control dial for my desktop computer. I first constructed this excellent Adafruit project and then realised I actually wanted a metal knob and more weight to the control. 

I found this knob on AliExpress and decided to model an all new housing to suit and then re-use the electronics and LEDs to reduce the footprint and change how the lights shine.

Using Plasticity 3D I designed a two-part construction to house the Circuit-Py board and rotary encoder + LEDs. I lowered the number of LEDs used in the original project and pointed them down into the white PLA base section to act as a diffuser (see photos).

All you will need is the hardware from the Adafruit guide, 4xM3 screws and the knob of your choice + some printing. I chose to use the material-layer-change technique to combine the white PLA diffuser layer with black PLA+ for the rest of the housing. You can see how to do that in this clip:
 

Follow the guide in the instructions linked above to assemble the electronics and program the Circuit-Py board via your computers' USB-C connection.

I'm much happier with this form-factor for the control dial and find it a pleasure to use to control my computer's volume and play/pause + track-skipping functions. I hope you find it useful and satisfying to put together.

Enjoy!