Open Hardware/Modding: Linux Devices, 3D Printing, Retro

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 23, 2026

• CNX Software ☛ OnLogic Factor 101 – A fanless industrial edge Hey Hi (AI) computer with Qualcomm QCS6490 SoC, 10GbE networking

  The OnLogic Factor 101 (FR101) is an ultra-small form factor, fanless industrial computer built around the Qualcomm QCS6490 platform for edge Hey Hi (AI) and data gateway applications. Designed for space-constrained applications, it targets light machine vision, inspection, monitoring, and low-speed autonomous systems. The octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 670 (Cortex-A78/A55-class) processor is paired with 8GB LPDDR4x memory and 128GB UFS flash storage. The fanless system features 10GbE and Gigabit Ethernet ports, five USB ports, and HDMI and USB-C (DisplayPort) video output.

• Tom's Hardware ☛ Colorado law could force surveillance for 3D printers to prevent use for making gun parts — fourth state to propose new bans is expanding firearms laws to regulate digital files

  Colorado is joining the growing list of states attempting to crack down on the manufacture of 3D printed “ghost guns,” joining New York, Washington, and California on a quest to expand firearms laws to regulate digital files and potentially ban 3D printers that are not under its surveillance.

• Futurism ☛ The Economics of 3D Printed Homes Are Surprisingly Horrible

  That's a lot of dough.

• Hackaday ☛ Exclamation Point Indicates Worthy Notifications

  The key to this build is the large bi-color printed housing in the shape of an exclamation mark. It makes for an attractive wall-hanging, but it also perfectly serves the purpose [Conrad] had in mind. Inside the enclosure is an ESP32, hooked up to a string of 16×8 LED matrixes which are commanded over I2C. These sit behind a white panel in the enclosure to nicely diffuse the light and make their output more readable. The ESP32 displays notifications on the LEDs that are fed from Home Assistant, such as when the mailbox sensor is triggered or if a vehicle is detected in the driveway. There’s also a bell on the unit to provide audible notifications, which us dinged with a solenoid fired via a 2N2222 transistor switching a 12-volt supply from a boost converter.

• Hackaday ☛ Meshtastic Does More Than Simple Communication

  This isn’t a project to bring broadband Internet out to the shed, though; Meshtastic is much too slow for that. All he really wanted to do here was to implement a basic alarm system that would let him know if someone had broken in. The actual alarm triggering mechanism is an LED emitter-detector pair installed in two bars, one of which sends a 12V signal out if the infrared beam from the other is broken. They’re connected to a Heltec ESP32 LoRa module which is set up to publish messages out on the Meshtastic communications channel. A second module is connected to the WiFi at the house which is communicates with his Home Assistant server.

• Hackaday ☛ Inside A Compact Intel 3000 W Water-Cooled Power Supply

  Recently [ElecrArc240] got his paws on an Intel-branded 3 kW power supply that apparently had been designed as a reference PSU for servers. At 3 kW in such a compact package air cooling would be rather challenging, so it has a big water block sandwiched between the two beefy PCBs. In the full teardown and analysis video of the PSU we can see the many design decisions made to optimize efficiency and minimize losses to hit its 80 Plus Platinum rating.

• Facundo Olano ☛ My retrogaming handheld | olano.dev

  1. I recently came across this magazine article and learned a few interesting things:

  There are now cheap Chinese portable consoles that can be run as emulation stations like the one I had in my raspberry pi.