ESP32-C6 + AMOLED + Hall Sensor = Vernier
A digital tuning knob (VFO) for a homebrew radio transceiver. A magnetic rotary encoder senses knob rotation, and a round AMOLED touch display shows the frequency and front-panel controls.
Interactive notebook: https://observablehq.com/@drom/vernier
Built around the Waveshare ESP32-C6-Touch-AMOLED-1.43 module:
- MCU — ESP32-C6 (Wi-Fi, RISC-V)
- Display — 1.43" round AMOLED, 466×466, SH8601 / CO5300 driver (QSPI)
- Angle sensor — MT6701 magnetic rotary encoder (I2C) on the tuning shaft
- IMU — QMI8658C accelerometer/gyro
- RTC — PCF85063
- Audio — ES7210 ADC
Component datasheets live in ref/.
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
| sw/ | ESP-IDF firmware (v6.1) — display, encoder, Wi-Fi, UI |
| 3dmodel/ | Enclosure parts as Replicad .js scripts + generated .stl |
| panel/ | Front-panel layout studies (SVG) |
| assets/ | Photos and diagrams |
| ref/ | Vendor datasheets and demo code |
Two mechanical designs coexist:
vernier-*— original layout (basic / handle / shaft-half)vernier-center-*— variant with a centered display (center.md)
Each .js is a parametric Replicad script; the matching .stl is its export.
panel/ explores a modular transceiver front-panel layout — screen only, screen + VFO, screen + VFO + RIT.
See sw/README.md for the full build/flash flow. Quick version:
cd sw
. ~/esp-idf/export.sh
idf.py set-target esp32c6
idf.py -p /dev/ttyACM0 flash monitorSet flash size to 16MB in menuconfig (Serial flasher config → Flash size).
See LICENSE.