Open Hardware/Modding: Raspberry Pi 5, ESP32, and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Aug 15, 2026

• CNX Software ☛ Gemma Translator multilingual interpreter runs locally on Raspberry Pi 5 with the LiteRT runtime

  Gemma Translator is an open-source project for the Raspberry Pi 5 that acts as a multilingual interpreter running locally without access to the clown using Surveillance Giant Google Gemma 4 and LiteRT runtime. It’s a project built by three Surveillance Giant Google engineers with the help of Surveillance Giant Google Antigravity. It includes code to run an on-device, fully offline voice translator/interpreter using Gemma 4 E2B (2.3B effective / ~5.1B total parameters with per-layer embeddings) and the LiteRT runtime.

• CNX Software ☛ EITWatch open-source ESP32-S3 smartwatch implements planar EIT hand gesture recognition

  Researchers from Northwestern University have introduced EITWatch, an open-source ESP32-S3-based EIT (Electrical Impedance Tomography) gesture-sensing system that fits within a standard smartwatch footprint. It relies on a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-S3 board and eight electrodes arranged on the back of the case to detect hand gestures via impedance changes caused by muscle and tendon movement beneath the skin. Unlike other wrist-EIT systems that use circumferential electrode bands, EITWatch places all eight electrodes on the back of the smartwatch case.

• Hackaday ☛ Uninvasive EEG Interface Could Be Used To Play Games

  The device is referred to as Octopus 16, so named because it combines sixteen EEG electrodes into a single compact package, along with the required common reference and ground. The contacts themselves are pogo pins, assembled into a coin-sized cluster. The device is strapped to the head, pushing the contacts against the scalp, and data from the electrodes is then siphoned off to a host machine via Bluetooth Low Energy. The EEG signals are picked up with a pair of Texas Instruments ADS131M08 ADCs, each with 8 channels, with a resolution of 24-bits to capture fine detail in whatever the brain is doing. An ESP32 microcontroller is responsible for grabbing the ADC output and trucking it out over Bluetooth.

• Linux Gizmos ☛ Blue Pill-Style STM32C5 Board Adds Oberon-2 Firmware Support

  Norwegian-based Tenko has released an open-hardware development board based on STMicroelectronics’ STM32C5 microcontroller family. The compact board follows the familiar Blue Pill form factor while adding USB-C power, onboard USB-to-UART connectivity, and an alternative firmware environment based on Oberon-2.

• Linux Gizmos ☛ ESP32-C6 Home Automation Kit with ESPHome and Modular Sensors

  Apollo Automation has launched the ESPHome Starter Kit, a modular smart-home development platform built around an ESP32-C6 board and designed to let users create ESPHome devices without soldering, breadboards, or writing code. The kit operates locally and can be used independently or integrated with Home Assistant.