Rotary control device for a vehicle

A The rotary control device for a vehicle, the rotary control device comprising:

• a user interface surface that is configured to rotate with respect to a housing of the device and around a rotational axis of the device;
• a sensor unit for monitoring at least one of the orientation and a rotational movement of the user interface surface with respect to the housing;
• a processing unit;
• and
• a communications interface for transmitting control signals according to an output from the processing unit, said output being generated by the processing unit on the basis of sensor data from the sensor unit,
• wherein the rotary control device further comprises a magnetorheological actuator,
• wherein the magnetorheological actuator comprises a rotational element that is mechanically connected to the user interface surface and serves to interact with a magnetorheological fluid of the magnetorheological actuator,
• wherein the magnetorheological actuator comprises an assembly for generating and/or manipulating properties of a magnetic field acting on the magnetorheological fluid such that the magnetorheological actuator serves to modulate torque transmission between the user interface surface and the housing,
• wherein the assembly is configured to generate and/or manipulate the properties of the magnetic field according to IO governing signals output from the processing unit when the user interface surface is in an orientation for selecting a drive operation mode and in accordance with a status signal received by the device indicating that a drive unit of the vehicle is in an active or inactive state, respectively.