November Roundup
I say it every month, but this one really is a bumper edition - I think the summer lull is over and a whole bunch of interesting things crossed my desk. There's a big collection of links and videos.
this edition was edited by: @atomic14
Things To Read
There are a lot of links below - this is only a fraction of the things that jumped out at me this month. I’m starting to wonder if sending out a weekly update might be better - what do you think?
Creating a pick and place control board with the RP2040
You’ve probably seen the Lumen pick-and-place machine - we’ve featured some of the videos from the ever-enthusiastic Stephen Hawes in previous editions. After blowing up the original control board that came with hers, Stargirl decided to make her own and based it around the popular RP2040.
Star Trek Original Series Pitch Doc
This is a pretty fascinating read - the original pitch doc for Star Trek - it’s definitely a product of its time - but you can see a lot of the episodes that actually made it to TV in their embryonic form.
A bug fix in the 8086 microprocessor, revealed in the die's silicon
Forget about bodge wires - how about bodge silicon? The first release of the 8086 had some bugs, so intel had to add some fixes to the next release.
Arduino Announces Official MicroPython Support
It’s official, Arduino now supports MicroPython. I know a lot of hardcore embedded engineers frown on using anything other than pure C for coding, but I think making the embedded world more accessible is really important.
MycelioTronics: Fungal mycelium skin for sustainable electronics
How can we make our gadgets and electronics greener? We can certainly make them more repairable and we can repurpose things for new uses. But maybe we should be looking at how to make them biodegradable as well.
Fantasy Jodorowsky Tron visualisations by Johnny Darrell
If you’re not aware yet of the amazing images that are being generated by the recent wave of AI tools then these images will blow your mind. Absolutely stunning. It’s great to see new ways emerging for people to be creative and express themselves.
How I over-engineered a Fast Fourier Transform for Arduino.
Sometimes you just fall down a rabbit hole - what started off as a desire to get an FFT working on an Arduino Uno ended up being a year-and-a-half-long quest for speed.
What is a Haxophone?
It’s like a saxophone, but it’s fully customisable and travel-sized. I’ve never been very good at musical instruments - we did own a piano at one point, but half the keys didn’t work and the rest were pretty much out of tune. Full instructions on how to build your own Haxophone can be found here.
How we ran a Unix-like OS (Xv6) on our home-built CPU with our home-built C compiler
I look back on my final year project with great fondness - we did some clever things with FPGAs and image processing. But I don’t think we approached anything near what these students achieved.
Adding Real World Smells into ANY Virtual Reality System
Zuckerberg wants us all to be able to meet in the MetaVerse - we’ll be able to see each other, maybe we’ll be able to touch each other, and now, even more importantly, we’ll be able to smell each other! Joking aside, VR is all about immersion, anything that can add to that will only enhance the experience.
Things To Watch
Designing A WiFi Access Point
@SuperHouse has been running these live streams for a while - they are now on episode 7 - definitely worth catching up and tuning into the next one.
Embr Wave 2 Teardown
We love a good teardown - Becky Stern has a look at what’s inside the Embr Wave 2.
PCB Motor - Why Are Wedge Coils Better Than Round Coils?
Ever wondered why a wedge-shaped coil might be better than a round coil? No? Well, atomic14 is going to tell you anyway.
New UM Space Vlog - Ep6 - New Production Line Gear!
It’s been pretty exciting watching the Unexpected Maker kit out his new space - looks like the production line is coming together nicely.
Palette Play - VGA from Scratch - Part 12
If you were around in the late 80s to early 2000s you’ll know all about palettes - back then we were lucky to have 16 colours in our palettes. James Sharman continues his VGA from Scratch series.
How to Make a Secured Parcel Pickup Box
It’s that time of year when we start to receive a lot of parcels - a tempting target for anyone passing by your porch or front door. Make sure your presents don’t mysteriously disappear with this secure parcel pickup box.
Keeping Your 3D Filament Dry
I’ve been having endless problems printing recently -One of my issues is likely to be damp filament due to the winter weather. Maybe the solution is in this video!
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Closing Thoughts
That’s another edition out the door. As always thanks for taking the time to stop by. If you came here directly then why not subscribe so you get the next post straight to your inbox?
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