Bear in mind fidget spinners? Earlier than they turned an enormous hit as a fad toy, they served a goal that was proper there within the identify: fidgeting. Many individuals — particularly neurodivergent folks — discover that twiddling with small, tactile widgets will help to alleviate sure signs, like nervousness. Fidget toys fill that market area of interest and fidget spinners have been only one instance that occurred to realize recognition within the mainstream. However Chad Kapper at Hack Make Mod wished a fidget toy that might additionally serve a helpful goal, so he constructed this useful handheld digital unit converter.
Unit conversion is one thing we all know nicely in the USA. Nearly everything of the world makes use of the wise metric system, whereas we insist on hanging onto the quirky imperial system. Anybody who performs any type of development or engineering work will seemingly have to convert measurements between the 2 — or just from one metric unit to a different. Kapper’s DIY Unit Converter is a devoted system that makes that course of simple, whereas additionally doubling as a fidget toy.
The operation is extremely easy. Aside from a rocker change for energy, the one management interface is a rotary encoder. When the system activates, the consumer can flip the rotary encoder knob to pick a class (like size or mass) and click on to pick it. They will they do the identical to pick a particular unit pair (like kilometers to meters). Lastly, yet one more flip of the knob lets them choose the measurement. The interface and outcomes present up on a no-nonsense 128×64 OLED display screen.
The mind of the system is a NodeMCU D1 Mini-style ESP8266 improvement board. That could be barely overkill, since this doesn’t require an web connection or a lot processing energy. However these boards are very inexpensive. The battery is from a disposable vape, whereas the rotary encoder and OLED are generic parts.
The 3D-printable enclosure is a pleasant design with loads of bodily particulars to supply tactile sensations. And we’re certain that the rocker change and knob are satisfying to fidget with in-between conversions.
