Maker News - April 2025 Round Up
It's slapped wrists all round at the publishing department - we're a couple of days late!
Welcome to the April 2025 Maker News Roundup
Spring’s here, soldering irons are humming, and the internet is full of inventors pushing parts far past their warranty. We’ve sifted through the noise so you can jump straight to the good stuff: eight watch‑worthy builds and ten articles that scratch the hacker‑maker itch. Pour a coffee, crack open your parts bin, and enjoy.
Things to watch
Turning Vintage Mics into Emergency Radios
element14 presents cracks open a 1970s microphone and sneaks in a pair of low‑power transceivers, proving you don’t need cell towers to get the message through when things go sideways.
High‑Voltage Circuitry Gone Wrong
Atomic14 tries to harvest ridiculous voltages to power salvaged LED filaments. Sparks fly, MOSFETs combust, and we’re reminded that Ohm’s law is a harsh critic.
Building Tetris: A Retro Game Revival
James Sharman breathes life into a home‑brew CPU by teaching it to play Tetris. It’s equal parts nostalgia trip and hardware flex.
Ultimate DIY Servo Tester Unveiled
Mellow_Labs rolls a Swiss‑army tester for servos, with dial‑in pulse widths and repeatable sweeps. Your next robot arm just found its new best friend.
Crafting a Unique LED Wristwatch
element14 presents swaps the usual seven‑segment look for a constellation of LEDs driven by an ATtiny412. The result: a timepiece that doubles as wearable art.
DIY Video Walkie‑Talkies with ESP32
Jonathan R mashes cameras, mics and ESP32s into a handheld that streams both video and audio—no cloud service, no data plan, just good old direct RF.
Confetti Cannon Controlled by Home Assistant
Mellow_Labs hooks a compressed‑air cannon to Home Assistant so the house can literally celebrate your automations. Warning: cleanup not included.
Building a Solar‑Powered CMOS Clock
David Watts assembles a clock that runs off sunlight and a supercap—no firmware, just CMOS logic and gritty determination.
Things to read
Reviving a Commodore PET: Chip Hunt
Ken Shirriff tracks down six dead chips, brandishes a vintage logic probe, and drags a 1977 PET back from the brink. Retro‑computing at its finest.
Inside Milwaukee M18 Battery Secrets
Strip down an M18 pack and you’ll find CAN bus comms, temperature sensing, and more silicon than you’d expect inside a drill battery.
Windows on a Smartwatch: Why Not?
Because sometimes you just have to see Windows XP on a 1.2‑inch screen. A gloriously pointless—and therefore perfect—hack.
DIY E‑Ink Train Tracker Magic
Never sprint for the platform again: a Raspberry Pi ingests live rail data and paints it onto an elegant e‑ink display by your front door.
Building a Budget‑Friendly VNA
How to span 10 MHz to 15 GHz without emptying your wallet: clever PLL choices, brutal RF math, and a dash of open‑source attitude.
Gemini Robotics: Google’s AI Revolution
Google DeepMind teaches robots to fold paper cranes and sink basketballs. The trick: multimodal reinforcement, billions of parameters, and buckets of compute.
Cracking the SAM4C32 Code
Voltage glitching meets smart‑meter silicon. Result: a bypassed security fuse and a reminder that “tamper‑proof” rarely is.
Hack and Defend: MIT's Hardware Course
Students get root on RISC‑V, then harden it. The syllabus reads like a spy novel and ends with silicon that fights back.
Closing thoughts
That’s a wrap for April. If you build something inspired by these projects—or discover a gem we missed—hit reply and let us know. We love seeing what the Maker News community is up to, and your tips keep this roundup sharp.
Until next month, stay curious and keep making.