This little dial was supposed to be a fancier home for Capstan. Then it arrived, and it could clearly do more than that. Now it has a TrailCurrent module of its own on the way. And because the best thing about it is how it feels in your hand, we needed a way to show you that through a screen. That turned into a safecracking game we have had real trouble putting down.
It started as a fancier Capstan
Capstan is our small turn-and-press dial. You put one wherever you want a light switch, a reading or an alert within reach, and it stays out of the way the rest of the time. When Waveshare sent us the ESP32-S3-Knob-Touch-LCD-1.8, a round 1.8 inch touchscreen sitting inside a knob you turn, we saw a chance to find out what a more premium Capstan could look like.
Then we picked it up. The weight of it, the way the ring glides, and a few surprises hiding inside made it clear this was more than a dial for switching on the porch light.
So it gets a module of its own
Capstan is not going anywhere. It stays exactly what it is: a small dial you scatter around the rig. This knob is closer to a blend of Capstan and Fireside, the wall touchscreen. We are calling it Tiercel, and it sits alongside Capstan the same way Milepost and Fireside sit alongside each other. The firmware is being built in the open, and it will get a proper introduction once it is ready to live in the trailer.
How do you show someone a feeling?
Everything we learn picking hardware for TrailCurrent gets shared, because it is just as useful on a workbench with no RV in sight. This time we hit a wall. Most of what makes this knob special is how it feels, and you cannot feel a video.
So we built a safe. Three numbers, a dial you turn by touch, a clock running down, and an alarm if you get it wrong. It was meant to be a demo. It turned into the game we keep picking back up for one more try. Why it is so hard to beat, and why rushing is the worst thing you can do, is all in the video.
Try it yourself
The game is free and MIT licensed, same as the rest of TrailCurrent. Crack the Safe comes with a step-by-step guide to loading it onto the knob. If you want one of your own, here is the Waveshare ESP32-S3 Knob. The link carries our affiliate tag. It costs you nothing extra and sends a small cut back to the project.
If you crack it, tell us in the video comments which prize you pulled out of the vault. More like this goes up on the open source channel.