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Open Hardware/Modding: Fairphone, ESP32, and More
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CNX Software ☛ ENILINX TICKEY – An ESP32-S3-based color e-Paper badge with open firmware (Crowdfunding)
ENIAC (operating as ENILINX) has launched the TICKEY, a 3.7-inch color e-Paper smart badge and desk display built around an ESP32-S3 MCU. The device features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC connectivity, allowing users to update the screen from a smartphone without requiring continuous power to hold a static image. The display uses Modos’ color e-paper technology to deliver 48+ native colors, with refresh times as fast as 3 seconds and sunlight readability.
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CNX Software ☛ OpenMANET – A higher-bandwidth Meshtastic alternative leveraging 802.11ah WiFi HaLow
OpenMANET is an open-source project for building long-range wireless mesh Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) using Raspberry Pi SBCs and Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) chips from Morse Micro. This came up when we wrote about Morse Micro USB WiFi HaLow adapters, and an X user commented that “OpenMANET is going to explode with these available, no more adapter boards or M.2 cards”. OpenMANET targets search and rescue, disaster response, airsoft events, and other off-grid or infrastructure-failed situations.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ AI-induced memory shortage is changing how devices are built, Fairphone says memory now 60% of materials cost — smaller laptop and phone makers are redesigning products and have to test for fake chips
For smaller device manufacturers, rising memory prices are only part of the problem as limited availability forces companies to rethink everything from motherboard designs to procurement strategies.
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RTL-SDR ☛ Automating Indoor RF Heatmapping with a PlutoSDR, Raspberry Pi 5 and LiDAR SLAM
In this system, the researchers used a Raspberry Pi with a LiDAR sensor and Google Cartographer SLAM running on a connected PC to automatically locate and map out the indoor space. At the same time, a PlutoSDR measures the WiFi SNR. The result is a relative SNR WiFi heatmap.
They then derive a 3D model from the collected LiDAR SLAM data and put it into an RF ray-tracing simulation. Finally, they compared their real-world results with the ray-tracing simulation and found the results matched.
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Hackaday ☛ A 3D Rasterizer For Embedded Devices
As a point of reference, on a ESP32-S3 Jet can render around 650 on-screen triangles (post-culling) at 60 frames per second on a 480×320 display, or 1300 triangles at 30 FPS. The developers note that 3D performance lands somewhere between the Sega 32X and Sega Saturn — not bad for a microcontroller you can buy for under $20. The Wipeout-like demo shows off the capabilities of Jet rather fantastically, we think.
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Hackaday ☛ A Cheap And Easy Control Screen For Home Assistant
At heart, it’s a Home Assistant control screen that you can lay out yourself. It’s intended to run on ESP32 hardware. Most specifically, it’s built to run on the Cheap Yellow Display which combines an ILI9341 display with an XPT2046 resistive touchscreen, or a Guition ESP32-S3-4848S040, which has a ST7701S RGB display combined with a capacitive GT911 touchscreen. You merely need to load the firmware on to one of these units, and you’ll have a configurable and customizable touchscreen interface for your own Home Assistant setup.