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Linux Devices and Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi, ESP32, and More
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CNX Software ☛ Elecrow ThinkNode M9 – A standalone ESP32-S3 MeshCore communication terminal with color LCD, QWERTY keyboard
Elecrow ThinkNode M9 is a standalone LoRa terminal that runs MeshCore firmware and features a QWERTY keyboard, color display, GPS, LoRa connectivity, and a 2,300mAh battery, making it suitable for outdoor and emergency communication.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ NASA modded space station's laptops so everyone could use the same charger — standardizing ISS chargers eliminated useless weight and reduced failure points
Laptops destined to be used on the ISS would have their modem ports removed and replaced by the cannon plug you can see in the engineer’s photos. Of course, modem ports would be useless on the ISS, so that’s why they would be replaced with this modification. In space, every gram, every connector, and every failure mode matters, which makes this power standardization a smart move.
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Kevin Boone ☛ Using a Raspberry Pi Pico to control a large-scale model locomotive
At present, this project is really only a proof-of-concept. The controller is completely autonomous: the train speeds up, runs, slows down, and stops at random time intervals. Still, acceleration and deceleration are reasonably realistic, as the controller uses PWM to adjust the locomotive power smoothly. The sounds are also somewhat realistic, being derived from samples of real steam engines. It wouldn’t be difficult to extend the technique to more complex control.
Because the locomotive only runs in one direction, the train has to run on a continuous track. There’s nothing to prevent me implementing more complex scenarios later, if this basic design works out.
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Linux Gizmos ☛ Radxa Broadens rCore Series with Snapdragon and Dragonwing AI SoMs
Radxa has revealed two Qualcomm-based system-on-modules aimed at edge AI, multimedia, robotics, and industrial applications. The new rCore-Q8280 uses the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 with 29+ TOPS of AI performance, while the smaller rCore-Q6490 is based on the Dragonwing QCS6490 and provides up to 12 Dense TOPS.
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Linux Gizmos ☛ ESP32 Bit Pirate 1.7 Gains LoRa, Meshtastic, and Browser-Based BPIO2 Control
ESP32 Bit Pirate has released version 1.7 of its ESP32-S3-based hardware debugging platform, adding LoRa support for SX1262 transceivers, a Meshtastic analysis shell, a new BPIO2 USB adapter, and support for additional boards. The open-source project continues to expand its browser-based tools for hardware debugging, programming, and experimentation.