ThinkPad laptops (initially manufactured by IBM, however now by Lenovo) maintain a particular place of honor within the tech world. They’re well-known for being rugged and dependable no-nonsense spreadsheet-crushing enterprise machines. They’re additionally well-known for what Man Dupont calls “nubbins,” however which I do know by a few different names which might be too vulgar to print right here. The nubbin is a small rubber mouse controller located in the course of the keyboard the place no-nonsense spreadsheet-crushing enterprise folks can attain it simply. Dupont had the sensible concept to flip a nubbin right into a dimmer change management for his dinner room lights.
“Nubbin” just isn’t, after all, the technical time period. Wikipedia calls it a “pointing stick,” which is ridiculous — it’s clearly not a stick. IBM dubbed it the “TrackPoint” after they started slapping it on ThinkPad laptops in 1992. When you search “TrackPoint” on Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress, you’ll discover a number of standalone modules and Dupont used a type of for this challenge.
The TrackPoint module Dupont bought got here pre-soldered on a USB controller board. That lets customers plug the module immediately into a pc and use it like a mouse. However Dupont didn’t need to join his nubbin to a pc, he wished to make use of it to regulate a dimmer change. His first thought was to take away the USB controller board and join the TrackPoint module to a microcontroller growth board, however he bumped into points with communication.
The answer he finally settled on is a bit messy, however it works. A Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 growth board acts as a USB host for the TrackPoint controller board. It reads the “mouse” motion and makes use of that to brighten or dim the lights by means of a mains dimmer module.
However there was nonetheless an issue: IoT (Web of Issues) management. Any gentle management made in 2024 wants web connectivity and the XIAO RP2040 doesn’t have a Wi-Fi adapter. So Dupont added an Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S3 growth board, purely to make the most of the ESP32’s built-in Wi-Fi adapter. That allow Dupont management the dimmer change with the nubbin mounted on a plate on the wall and by means of his native Wi-Fi community. He even made a easy smartphone app that lets customers modify the dimmer by flicking a digital onscreen nubbin.
I labored for Lenovo proper after they took over the ThinkPad line and I’ve owned a number of ThinkPad laptops over years (and nonetheless use one). Naturally, I’m a giant fan of ThinkPads, nubbins, and this challenge and I’m certain it’ll enchantment to lots of you, too.
