Fermion 8421 Rotary Encoder Module – Horizontal Mount

In the modern age of touchscreen smartphones, these tactile buttons and spinning knobs can feel outdated. Yet we find it always charming and so satisfying to include encoder knobs in our Maker projects. Touchscreens may be cool, but they’ll never kill retro. These 8421 Encoder Modules offer 16 gear stops with clear labels from 0 to F, allowing you to use the absolute position of each option for reliable level or volume control.

The black rotary knob and white labelled base sit horizontally on the Fermion 8421 Encoder Module, which you can install easily with an Arduino Uno onto a smart home device or multimedia speaker. The mechanical nature of this knob gives a unique attribute to each of the available 16 gear positions. This means you can code your microcontroller to recognize the exact position of the encoder. If the power to your device goes out, your encoder remains in the same position as before. These concrete positions of the knob are reliable mechanical gears and perfect for industrial systems for device status controlling. This handy Fermion 8421 Rotary Encoder Module is a smart and useful addition to your automotive electronics multimedia speakers or other fun retro instruments.

Additional Resources:

• If you’re unsure where to start, we recommend taking a look at the original DFRobot 8421 Rotary Encoder Wiki Page, where you can find a good range of resources, including schematics and sample codes.

As self-proclaimed “Robo-holics”, DFRobot is a company comprised of over 100 staff members, of which 30% are engineers who love to build robots. It was started in 2008 with the goal of embracing and promoting open-source hardware, with a core focus on Arduino, Raspberry Pi and their very own LattePanda development boards. Since then, DFRobot have manufactured over 1300 unique modules, sensors and components that all work together and complement each other, allowing users like us to enjoy a full spectrum of cutting edge robotics and electronics without having to pay premium prices.

With the primary goal of developing and manufacturing great quality products, while making them accessible to as many people as possible, DFRobot are rapidly becoming one of the most common-place brands in the world of open-source robotics and electronics. With more than 1300 products developed in-house, and an impressive range of different categories and specialisations, there are few brands in the world who can compete in terms of quality, accessibility and genuine innovation.