Hi @dagroe !
Nice to see that I’m not the only one with this need.
However, for a single-channel solution, I found a commercial device that fits the bill:
Schneider Exxact WDE002961
It only seems to be available in the nordics and baltics for some reason, but you should be able to source it from any online retailer who has it in stock.
I use it already, together with HA, and it works like a charm!
It has a drawback though, and that is that it only has one control channel, or to put it differently; it can only control one zigbee light. I have a constrained space, and need to control up to four different lights. So I came up with this design, which is already proven in 3D-print + laser cut acrylic.
The idea is that the transparent ring under the knob will pass on light from a semi-circle of leds that indicate the intensity of the currently selected light source.
Switching between sources is done via the four buttons that make up the 55mm bezel around the knob.
It may seem like a mechanically complicated structure, but I have already made a proof-of-concept using a standard rotary encoder, two 3D-printed parts (the knob is one part, of course, and the bezel is actually also only a single part) and a laser-cut ring from 5mm acrylic. I also ordered a water-jet cut steel sheet for the mounting frame, and that was probably the most expensive part, but still within reason using JLC’s fabrication services.
The only missing part were the electronics, but thanks to your GitHub project, now I have a decent starting point.
You may wonder why would anyone go through all of this hassle, when there is a HA involved already? Well, I live in a rental flat, and if the day comes that I move out, I’d prefer if the various light-controllers kept working in stand-alone mode, should I decide to not leave my HA behind 