"How am I doing on power?" The answer comes back out loud: battery at 93 percent, solar coming in, days of runtime left. Nobody got up. The question went to a small round dial in someone's hand, and the dial is the newest TrailCurrent module. Meet Tiercel.
Rather read than watch? The Tiercel page has the details: what it shows on screen, the board it runs on, how it compares to Capstan, and how to set one up.
It was going to be a fancier Capstan
When the Waveshare ESP32-S3 Knob showed up, the plan was simple: put Capstan on it and call it the premium dial. Then we found a microphone, a headphone jack and a battery inside the aluminium case. A dial that can hear you, talk back and leave the wall is not a fancier Capstan. It is a different thing, so it got firmware of its own.
Capstan stays exactly what it is: a small dial that lives in one spot and works by feel. Tiercel is the one that comes with you.
Take it outside
Carry it to the campfire and ask the rig a question without leaving your chair. Walk it to the front of the trailer and watch the level reading while you set the blocks, instead of walking back inside to check. When you are done, it goes back to its spot and charges.
The answers come from Peregrine, the AI assistant that lives in your rig, not in someone else's data center. Tap once, ask, and listen through the headphone jack or a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
Before you buy one
There is one thing this knob cannot do that every other dial we have tried can, and for some people it rules it out completely. The video names it in the first thirty seconds. It also covers why the answers take a moment to arrive, and why that has nothing to do with the knob.
Build your own
The Tiercel firmware is free and MIT licensed, like the rest of TrailCurrent. The Tiercel page has what it shows, how it compares to Capstan, and how to set one up. You can also try it in our trailer right in your browser, on the dinette table and out at the tongue. If you want a knob of your own, here is the Waveshare ESP32-S3 Knob. Get the version with the battery if you plan to take it outside. The link carries our affiliate tag. It costs you nothing extra and sends a small cut back to the project.
Would yours live on the wall or travel? Tell us in the video comments. More like this goes up on the open source channel.