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Open Hardware/Modding: ESP32, DietPi, and More
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CNX Software ☛ Upcoming ESP32-S31 dual-core RISC-V MCU offers Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 connectivity
It looks like Espressif Systems has a new powerful wireless microcontroller in the works, with the ESP32-S31 sharing some features of the ESP32-P4 and ESP32-S3 microcontrollers. The ESP32-S31 is a dual-core RISC-V MCU with one high-performance core with FPU and SIMD instructions, and one low-power RISC-V core, featuring 62 GPIOs, a Gigabit Ethernet MAC, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee/Matter) wireless connectivity, and more. ESP32-S31 preliminary specifications: MCU subsystem RISC-V HP (High-performance) RV32IMAFCP CPU with FPU, SIMD, etc.
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Linux Gizmos ☛ DietPi March 2026 Update Adds Immich, uv, and RustDesk Client
The March 22, 2026 release of DietPi v10.2 introduces new software options including Immich, uv, and the RustDesk Client, along with a range of enhancements and bug fixes across supported single-board computers. DietPi: DietPi is a lightweight, Debian-based operating system optimized for single-board computers and embedded devices.
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CNX Software ☛ Hugging Face’s Reachy Mini is an open-source Hey Hi (AI) robot for your computer or Raspberry Pi CM4
Better known for its artificial intelligence software solutions, Hugging Face unveiled the Reachy Mini open-source desktop robot last year. It is designed to deploy Hey Hi (AI) applications that interface with the physical world. The robot features a camera, four microphones, and a speaker, and can move its 6 DoF (degrees of freedom) head, rotate its body, or wave its antennas thanks to nine servo motors. Two versions are available: the Reachy Mini Lite designed for computers running Mac, Linux, and Windows, and the Reachy Mini Wireless autonomous robot, powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4, adding WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, an accelerometer, and battery support. Both models share most of the same specifications: Reachy Mini’s SDK can be found on Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub . It’s based on Python, but also supports JavaScript and Web apps, and can integrate with LLMs to easily build apps and publish them to Hugging Face.
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Hackaday ☛ Testing Expensive Graphene-Reinforced Nylon Filament
The full name for this filament is PA1205, though it’s not certain what the ’05’ part stands for. PA12 is a less moisture-sensitive version of PA6, however. Among the manufacturer’s claims are that it’s the strongest nylon filament, as well as very lightweight and heat-resistant. Interestingly the datasheet recommends printing with an 0.6 mm nozzle, which is the only major deviation from typical nylon FDM filaments. Of course, printing with an 0.4 mm nozzle had to be tried.
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Hackaday ☛ Using A Fiber Laser To Etch 0.1 Mm PCB Traces
After some experimentation, it was found that increasing the trace clearance between the 0.1 mm traces to a hair above 0.1 mm was necessary for the subsequent chemical etching step to work the best, as otherwise some copper was still likely to remain. The chemical etching bath mixture consists of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide, in a ratio of 2 mL water to 2 mL 30% HCl and 2 drops of 35% H2O2. This is agitated for 90 s to get a pretty good result.