Control software using an rotary encoder (like a mouse wheel) connected to an arduino?

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

Is it possible?

I recently had the Idea from various videos about productivity peripherals. What If I could get an rotary encoder from an old mouse or sound system and wire it to an arduino (I have limited knowledge of coding in arduinos) so that it acts like a mouse wheel and then interface it to autohotkey such that I can reprogram it to do other stuff.  

[r4tch3t]

Yes you can set the arduino to act as a human interface device, aka a keyboard. Then any input can be translated into key presses.

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

2 minutes ago, r4tch3t said:

Yes you can set the arduino to act as a human interface device, aka a keyboard. Then any input can be translated into key presses.

WAIT. I can add buttons? that open so much more possibilities. but a more specific question I have is can it turn the variable voltage? current? resistance? (excuse my limited knowledge on how analog controls stuff work) into inputs?

[unknownmiscreant]

2 hours ago, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

WAIT. I can add buttons? that open so much more possibilities. but a more specific question I have is can it turn the variable voltage? current? resistance? (excuse my limited knowledge on how analog controls stuff work) into inputs?

I suggest you research potentiometers and rotary encoders. Both are knobs, yet their electrical function is very different. Potentiometers output analogue voltage. Rotary encoders output a digital signal for every 'click' the knob is turned. There are plenty of examples and tutorials about programming both of them, give it a google. Rotary encoders will interface better with PC hardware, as keyboards and mice send clicks rather than analogue voltages.

 

Use an arduino with a atmega 32u4 to emulate keyboard and mice input. It can be done on the oldr ones, but is a bodge, so not as reliable (bitbashed.) The 32u4 has a natiuve usb interface, so works much better.

[JSFetzik]

Yeah you can do a lot with an Arduino, or one of the many clones. My favorite is the Teensy family.

 

You can emulate a USB keyboard, mouse, joystick, MIDI controller, etc. There are some good examples on the Teensy site and their forums.

• Encoder example
• Keyboard example
• Mouse example
• MIDI example

 

[NoTxtWhileDrive]

On 12/6/2017 at 8:31 PM, unknownmiscreant said:

I suggest you research potentiometers and rotary encoders.

Ok thanks for the tip, I'll research this when I find the time.

 

On 12/6/2017 at 8:31 PM, unknownmiscreant said:

Use an arduino with a atmega 32u4 to emulate keyboard and mice input. It can be done on the oldr ones, but is a bodge, so not as reliable (bitbashed.) The 32u4 has a natiuve usb interface, so works much better.

I lost you there, and googling led me to more questions than answers. Is it a specific chip that newer arduinos have that gives native HID support? is it a firmware of some kind? or it a different kind of flavor or arduino or something?

[unknownmiscreant]

On 12/13/2017 at 5:58 AM, NoTxtWhileDrive said:

I lost you there, and googling led me to more questions than answers. Is it a specific chip that newer arduinos have that gives native HID support? is it a firmware of some kind? or it a different kind of flavor or arduino or something?

An arduino is basically a microcontroller on a breakout board. The microcontroller used on the board determines the functionality of the arduino.

 

Most arduinos (such as the uno) are based off the atmega 328p microcontroller. This does not natively support USB communication (for purposes other than the bootloader. However in the case of the uno, there is a smaller 8bit microcontroller which is programmed to bitbash (emulate the signals) for a USB to serial converter to provide the terminal and programming support.

 

The 8-bit microcontroller can be reprogrammed to act as a USB HID device. However since the USB signals are bitbashed (so the timings are slightly off), the result is not very reliable.

 

Newer arduinos such as the leonardo use the 32u4 microcontroller which has native USB support. This means they can act as USB devices much more easily, as bitbashing the USB signals is not required.