Open Hardware/Modding: ESP32, FPGAs, and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 28, 2026

• CNX Software ☛ MuseLab nanoCH32H417 – A $17 WCH CH32H417 RISC-V MCU development board with USB 3.0, Fast Ethernet

  Designed by MuseLab, the nanoCH32H417 is a development board for the WCH CH32H417 dual-core RISC-V MCU, which we covered earlier this year for its USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), UHS, and Fast Ethernet support. At that time, only the official CH32H417 development board was available, but this board adds a third-party option. The board exposes various features of the MCU, including one USB 3.0 port, two USB Type-C ports, a 100Mbps Ethernet interface, and a MicroSD card slot.

• CNX Software ☛ LichtBit’s open-source ESP32 Art-Net/sACN NeoPixels controller can drive up to 2,720 RGB LEDs

  Dutch hardware designer LichtBit has launched a fully open-source ESP32-based Art-Net/sACN NeoPixels LED strip controller designed for large-scale lighting installations and custom stage design. Built around an ESP32, the hardware routes lighting data over wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi to manage up to 16 universes of addressable LEDs across 4 dedicated outputs. We have previously written about various NeoPixel LED controllers, such as the xcrhom WLED Type-C, the Adafruit Sparkle Motion Stick, the full-featured Adafruit Sparkle Motion, and others, which are designed for portable lighting setups and standalone animations.

• CNX Software ☛ Modos Flow – An FPGA-based 13.3-inch USB-C touchscreen e-paper monitor (Crowdfunding)

  Modos Flow is a paper-like, 13.3-inch USB Type-C touchscreen monochrome or color monitor that builds upon the Modos Paper devkit introduced last year with an AMD/Xilinx Spartan-6 LX16 FPGA and STMicro STM32H750 Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller. The main difference is that the Modos Flow is more like a consumer product with a full enclosure, a touchscreen, and optional stylus support, 4096-color e-paper display, and frontlight. Modos Flow specifications: FPGA – AMD Xilinx Spartan-6 LX16 FPGA running Caster gateware like the earlier devkit MCU – STMicro STM32H750 Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller for USB communication, firmware upgrades, and standalone applications.

• CNX Software ☛ Broadcom BCM68850 and BCM55050 SoCs target Wi-Fi 8 and 50G PON fiber gateways

  Broadcom has recently introduced two complementary chips for 50G Passive Optical Network (PON) gateways: the BCM68850 gateway SoC and the BCM55050 Optical Network Unit (ONU) SoC. The devices target fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure, such as home gateways, ONTs/ONUs, and multi-gigabit CPE, to deliver ultra-fast, low-latency connectivity for Hey Hi (AI) workloads, UHD streaming, and more. The BCM68850 is a 50G ITU-PON gateway SoC with a multicore Arm CPU, integrated NPU for edge AI, and Wi-Fi 8 support, for high-speed routing, Ethernet switching, VoIP, and AI-driven functions.

• Hackaday ☛ Three Arduinos Team Up To Make 80s-Style Computer

  Taking design an engineering cues from computers like the Timex Sinclair 1000, Commodore PET, and TRS-80 MC-10, this computer uses a trio of Arduinos to accomplish what the best computer manufacturers once did with tons of integrated circuits. An Arduino Due handles all of the processing and traditional computing tasks, including a somewhat customized BASIC implementation, while an Uno performs audio processing duties. Taking care of the video processing is the much more capable Arduino Mega, outputting 40×25 monochrome NTSC composite video at 8×8 character resolution. There’s even WiFi courtesy of an ESP32 — certainly an upgrade compared to the source material.

• Hackaday ☛ A Clock Inspired By Failed Cognitive Tests

  The frame for the clock and the face are 3D-printed, and the servo motor is controlled by an ESP32-C3 with an RTC module. To minimize power draw, a MOSFET disconnects the servo motor from power except for the once-per-hour position update. Once per month, the ESP32 connects to Wi-Fi to synchronize to NTP time, otherwise remaining in a low-power state – even its indicator LEDs are disconnected to save power. These efforts paid off: when the servo isn’t active, it draws only about 160 µA, and a set of three AA NiMH cells lasts about a year.

• Olimex ☛ ESP32-P4-PC now have plastic box

  We are pleased to announce that our popular ESP32-P4-PC board now has its own dedicated 3D printed enclosure!

• Adafruit ☛ WCH BLE Analyzer Pro USB Bluetooth LE sniffer gains Linux software with Wireshark (pcap) support

  The WCH BLE Analyzer Pro is an inexpensive (~$20) USB Bluetooth LE sniffer and analyzer, useful and a good value for reverse engineering and debugging.

• Automotive World Ltd ☛ Elektrobit, ETAS unveil integrated ADAS software stack

  Elektrobit and ETAS have launched a pre-integrated advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) software foundation combining EB corbos Linux for Safety Applications with ETAS Vehicle Software Platform Suite. The two software suppliers unveiled the joint stack at the Automotive Engineering Exposition in Yokohama on 27–29 May 2026.

• Adafruit ☛ Reinvigorating the PocketCHIP with current software

  Sylwester (DatanoiseTV on GitHub) is pulling forgotten hardware out of the parts bin and getting it running on current software. He is bringing the Next Thing Co. PocketCHIP back from the drawer of dead electronics with a current mainline Linux kernel, current U-Boot, and a properly small OpenWrt userspace you can actually ssh into.