ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.

Adafruit Graduation Gift Guide!

Maker Spotlight: Trevor Mead and Doloresaurus – LED Dinosaur Puppet Costume

BLE Beacon NeoPixels

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2026

J.D. Hodges runs through the history of the ThinkPad. At one point, the ThinkPad was ubiquitous in office settings. The rugged laptop doesn’t get as much love as it used to, but it’s still going strong! Hodges makes great use of graphs, tables, and infographics!

ThinkPad has shipped continuously since October 1992 under two corporate owners (IBM 1992 to 2005, Lenovo 2005 to present), making it among the longest-running commercial laptop families on the market and unusually visually continuous from the 1992 700C to the 2026 P14s Gen 6. The 2005 IBM-to-Lenovo handoff did not rupture the brand the way skeptics expected: IBM’s ThinkPad engineering and design carried over largely intact, and Lenovo crossed 60 million ThinkPad units sold by 2010. The formula still has reasons to exist in 2026, when a 14-inch P14s Gen 6 AMD with 96 GB of DDR5 SODIMMs runs local 70-billion-parameter LLM workloads on a business chassis with a Copilot+ NPU and dedicated TrackPoint buttons.

Check it out!

Use this guide to make a simple cyberpunk/Tronpunk fashion project!

The Larson scanner is named after Glen Larson, producer of Knight Rider and the original Battlestar Galactica television series, both of which prominently featured the effect as the “eyes” of KITT, his nemesis KARR, and the Cylon Centurions.

Larson scanners were traditionally red (or yellow in KARR’s case), but thanks to the magic of NeoPixels you can change the software to use any colors you like.

This is a soldering project, albeit a small one. You will need the common soldering paraphernalia of a soldering iron, solder, wire (20 to 26 gauge, either stranded or solid) and tools for cutting and stripping wire.

You’ll need some method of securing the electronics inside the glasses. Hot-melt glue (with a glue gun) works well for this. Watch your fingers! Packing tape could also be used.

Check out the full guide in the Adafruit Learn system!

Exercising Ingenuity built a cyberdeck in an Altoids tin using a Raspberry Pi Zero and shared the process in this video on YouTube.

Ugh, now we’re feeling nostalgic for Minty Boost and MENTA. Chris Young made Printy Boost to scratch that itch.

As far as cyberdecks go, we’ve also got our CYBERDECK Bonnet and CYBERDECK HAT for Raspberry Pi 400 & 500.

The United Nations has designated May 17th  World Telecommunication & Information Society Day:

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2026 calls on governments, industry, and communities to strengthen the digital lifelines that keep the world running. Join us in designing the networks and systems that can withstand shocks and recover quickly, ensuring that no one is cut off and left offline when it matters most.

Celebrated every year on 17 May, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) highlights the growing role of digital technologies in our lives and commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies.

The theme for 2026 is Digital Lifelines – Strengthening resilience in a connected world:

Resilience needs to be designed and included in every element of connectivity: submarine cables linking continents, terrestrial networks carrying data across cities, satellites supporting communication and navigation, and data centers powering digital services. When any part of this chain fails, essential systems, from finance and healthcare to transport and disaster response, are at risk.

Learn more!

Learn how to turn your MACROPAD into the Hotkey wizard it was born to be; with Phillip Burgess on the Adafruit Learning System!

Press one of MACROPAD’s 12 keys to send a shortcut, function key or whole sequence of keystrokes to a connected computer. The OLED display provides a map, while LEDs under each key offer color-coded groups or themes. Turn the dial to select among different application sets.

This is one of those projects that you can simply find everyday use for as-is, or peer inside the code to see how CircuitPython makes this all pretty simple. Additionally, hotkey configuration files for different desktop applications are easily created, modified and shared.

See the full guide!

Hackster.io user Emmett Walter published a detailed showcase of their beautiful northern lights build.

Finding an API to pull data for this project from was extremely straightforward, the NOAA has a database that stores the values of the visibility of the northern lights at each set of latitude and longitude coordinates. The data given from this API was formatted as follows: [longitude, latitude, Probability of Visibility (out of 100%)].

Check out their code, query and more over on Hackster.io.

From the GitHub release page:

This is CircuitPython 10.3.0-alpha.2, an alpha release for 10.3.0. Further features, changes, and bug fixes will be added before the final release of 10.3.0.

Highlights of this release

• Fix crashes on certain boards with integral displays.
• Adafruit MagTag 2025: improve display quality and support new display variant.
• Add CIRCUITPY_SDCARD_USB to settings.toml to control visibility of a mounted SD card on USB.
• Support float values in settings.toml.
• Report USB MSC drives as removable media to the host.
• Update ESP-IDF to v6.0.1.
• Fix audiomixer.Mixer regressions on SAMx5x.
• STM: support audio.AudioOut, using DAC.

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try code.circuitpython.org or the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of “ports” that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable (but see Known Issues below):

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32, ESP32-C2, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6, ESP32-C61, ESP32-H2, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3
• nordic: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040, RP2350
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• analog: Analog Devices MAX32690
• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: , ESP32-P4
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• renode: hardware simulator
• silabs: Silicon Labs MG24 family
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families
• zephyr: multiplatform RTOS, running on multiple chip families

Changes since 10.3.0-alpha.1

Fixes and enhancements

• Adafruit MagTag 2025: improve display quality. #11003, #11001. Thanks @mikeysklar.
• Update frozen libraries. #10998. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix crashes on boards with FourWire displays with no reset pin. #10997, #10995. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add CIRCUITPY_SDCARD_USB to settings.toml to control SD card USB presentation. #10996. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add support for float values in settings.toml. #10975. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Report USB MSC drives as removable media to the host. #10967. Thanks @mikeysklar.

Port and board-specific changes

Analog Devices

Broadcom

Espressif

• Fix WiFi/BLE crashes after ESP-IDF v6.0.1 upgrade. #11004. Thanks @tannewt.
• Preserve alarm.sleep_memory across software resets. #10989, #10899. Thanks @lzr
• Support ESP32-P4 V1. #10986. Thanks @tannewt.
• Update ESP-IDF to v6.0.1. #10922. Thanks @tannewt.

i.MX

Nordic

renode

RP2

SAMx

• Fix audiomixer.Mixer regressions on SAMx5x. #10906. Thanks @relic-se.

SiLabs

Spresense

STM

• Support audio.AudioOut, using DAC. #10976. Thanks @ChrisNourse.

Zephyr

Individual boards

• Adafruit MagTag 2025: improve display quality, support new display variant. #11003, #10992, #10987. Thanks @mikeysklar.
• Unexpected Maker S3 D series: add board.ANTENNA_SWITCH (board.IO41). #10984. Thanks @JonNelson.

Documentation changes

Build and infrastructure changes

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @cyphra (Spanish)

New boards

• Adafruit P4GPIO. #10986. Thanks @tannewt.
• Espressif ESP32-P4X-Function-EV. #11004. Thanks @tannewt.
• NHB Systems JL401-S3. #10997, #10977. Thanks @NHBSystems.

Known issues

• The CIRCUITPY drive is not working on at least some STM32 boards.
• Native-code .mpy files are not working. This capability is currently enabled only on the winterbloom_sol board.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 10.2.x
  • 10.x.x
  • 11.0.0
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed toward this release, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

The Moon has been helping humans determine the time for thousands of years. This clock from pjdines1994 in Instructables puts the moon back front and center. It uses the time and date to display the current phase of the moon. A nifty Steam-Punk aesthetic uses a Pi Pico W and a 3.7″ E-Paper display.

This clock displays

1. The current lunar phase
2. The current date
3. The high tide times for Whitstable (UK) harbor complete with heights.
4. The low tide times for Whitstable (UK) harbor complete with heights.

See the full guide!

Your feline friends are fond of the Moon but they’d rather be fed on-time! set some reminders with the MagTag Cat Fed Clock

Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!

#circuitpythonparsec
How to shift the character display buffer in CircuitPython.

code example
To learn about CircuitPython: https://circuitpython.org

Use a Trinket or Gemma to determine the IR codes from your remote and use the codes in your own program to trigger events

Trinket and Gemma are perfect for small projects needing to receive some external event, triggering your own defined output. This project uses the Adafruit IR Sensor to first receive IR commands from a remote, then to use those codes in controlling a project of your own.

To learn about IR signals and how they are decoded by a microcontroller, see the IR Sensor Tutorial from which this tutorial is based.

Many larger Arduino projects use the excellent IRRemote library by Ken Shirriff. This library allows for multiple protocols and is quite flexible. But it relies on hardware specific to larger Arduino processors. This project simplifies the process of obtaining codes and using them to scale to the limits of the Trinket and Gemma boards.

Check out the full guide!

NEW PRODUCT – Pimoroni Inky pHAT – 4 Color eInk Display – Red/Yellow/Black/White – PIM784

A low-energy, high-falutin, E Ink® display for your Raspberry Pi. Now available in a four-color version (red / yellow / black / white).

Inky pHAT’s beautiful, high contrast display is ideal for displaying simple graphics and crisply-rendered text and, because it’s like paper, it’s readable in bright sunlight. You could use an Inky pHAT as a cute little clock, displaying tweets, the weather, news headlines, sports scores, and more. It’s also ideal for graphing data from remote sensors, CPU load, or temperature, or stock prices.

The Getting Started with Inky pHAT tutorial is a great starting point for getting acquainted with the joys of e-paper!

Now in glorious four-color

Advances in e-paper technology mean we can now use a fancy new four-color display on Inky pHAT. You no longer need to choose between yellow and red; you can have both!

Features

• 2.13″ EPD display (250×122 pixels)
• Inky pHAT pinout
• Compatible with all 40-pin header Raspberry Pi models
• Python library
• Comes fully assembled

Multi-color EPD displays, like those on the Inky pHAT, use ingenious electrophoresis to pull coloured particles up and down the display. The colored particles reflect light, unlike most display types, making them visible under bright light. It takes approximately 20 seconds to refresh the display, with a typical 8mA current draw during refreshes. The black/white display can be refreshed much more quickly, in just a second or two.

Note that you cannot overlay/mix pixels: each point can be one of the four colors but you can’t like mix the red and yellow to make a orange. Instead, check out our guide on dithering!

Everything comes fully assembled, and there’s no soldering required! The display is securely stuck down to the Inky pHAT PCB and connected via a ribbon cable. Just pop Inky pHAT on your Pi and run our installer to get everything set up!

It’ll work with any 40-pin Pi, including Pi Zero and Pi Zero W.

The Python for Microcontrollers Newsletter is the place for the latest news involving Python on hardware (microcontrollers AND single board computers like Raspberry Pi).

This ad-free, spam-free weekly email is filled with CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python information that you may have missed, all in one place!

You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > >

Ryan on I Code 4 Coffee discusses how to hack the firmware of hard disks and SSDs.

Over the years I had read a few posts/articles about modifying HDD firmware but nothing I could pick up and run with.

Regardless, I knew this concept wasn’t new and I just needed to find a drive that was easy to start messing with. At this point in time I just needed one HDD I could use to finish developing the Xbox 360 exploit and then I’d worry about trying to expand the firmware modifications to other makes and models.

Check out the details in the post here.

Bike Wheel POV Display

NeoPixel Bike Light

Playa Festival Bike

Soundboard Speaker for Bikes & Scooters

Ride & Rock – DIY Bike Stereo System with 20W Speaker

No-Solder Faux Neon Bike Lights

Circuit Playground Bike Light

Circuit Playground Bluefruit Automatic Bike Brake Light

The National Archives celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month:

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, and it highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media. You can help make more records accessible by becoming a citizen archivist. Find out more about transcribing and tagging Chinese heritage records from the exclusion era.

Learn more!

A small, compact ambient light powered by a USB-C ESP32 D1 Mini and a WS2812B LED ring running WLED. Designed to integrate cleanly with Home Assistant and any WLED automation setup

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1950727-led-ambient-lamp-wled-esp32-d1-mini-usb-c

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Shared by Robotobi on Maker World:

A print-in-place soldering helper with clip-in spring and lid for the solder tip — holds PCBs, wires, and small parts during electronics work. Compatible with multiple tool brand logos

Download the files and learn more

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

A robust modular spool rack that builds horizontally or vertically, with optional drawer, shelf, and IKEA Skådis-compatible brace modules. Updated February 2026 with smoother drawer profiles and H2-series printer suppor

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1099461-sturdy-modular-filament-spool-rack-fully-printable

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Shared by R4_Serhii on Maker World:

A cylindrical 3D-printed lamp powered by an ESP32 and 16×16 WS2812 matrix running WLED. Dynamic effects, smartphone/web control, and a sleek diffuser shell

Download the files and learn more

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

A dedicated organizer for soldering tools and electronics workbenches with designated tool spots, a magnetic solder spool holder, and integrated component bays. Perfect for tidy maker stations

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/799618-soldering-tool-stand-v2

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Peripatetic_Bear shared this post on MakerWorld!

A compact enclosure designed for the Raspberry Pi 4B, optimised for use with a PoE HAT and a 30 mm cooling fan for improved thermal performance. Both components are optional, allowing the case to be used in passive or active configurations depending on your setup.
The case features precise port cut-outs, internal clearance for common accessories, and a clean, minimal exterior suitable for desktop or workshop environments. Integrated magnet mounting supports tool-free access and secure closure.

Download files: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2400633-raspberry-pi-4b-case#profileId-2631217

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

lamp uses a snap-fit design, requires no supports, and is foldable

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1194406-sci-fi-mecha-style-multifunctional-desk-lamp-phone

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

@Eli_4466049 shared this project on Printables!

ist a upgrade for crocs so u will be the coolest of your friends. Recomendet in yelow

Download files: https://www.printables.com/model/1712504-universal-crocs-plugs

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

vault is inspired by futuristic and sci-fi designs. In its closed position, it appears to be just a stand or an energy storage unit from the distant future. However, by twisting the lever at the bottom, the storage compartment slides open, revealing its hidden functionality

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/976229-sci-fi-triangle-vault-t001-no-hardware

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

The Python for Microcontrollers Newsletter is the place for the latest news involving Python on hardware (microcontrollers AND single board computers like Raspberry Pi).

This ad-free, spam-free weekly email is filled with CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python information that you may have missed, all in one place!

You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > >

This week Google unveiled a new opt-in Android feature called Intrusion Logging for storing forensic logs to better analyze sophisticated spyware attacks.

Intrusion Logging, available as part of Advanced Protection Mode, enables “persistent and privacy-preserving forensics logging to allow for investigation of devices in the event of a suspected compromise,” the company said.

The feature, it added, was developed in partnership with Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders. According to a help document shared by Google, it logs device and network activities on a daily basis, including information about device behavior and the various applications that run on it.

See the details in the post here.

Maker Kevin McAleer has tackled an issue facing many project builders: how to automate the documentation process:

Every time I build something at the bench, I have the same thought afterwards — I should have documented that. I should have taken photos. I should have written down what I did. But I never do, because when you’re in the middle of a build the last thing you want to do is stop, pick up your phone, frame a photo, write a note, and then try to remember where you were.

There’s another problem too, one that’ll be familiar if you film tutorial videos. You’ve got an overhead camera pointing down at what you’re building, and half the time the action drifts out of shot. You’re so focused on getting the solder joint right that you forget the camera can’t actually see what your hands are doing. I was thinking about putting a monitor in my eyeline to check the framing — but then I thought, what if the system actually understood what it was looking at?

That’s what this project is. I’m calling it the Self-Documenting Workshop. An Arduino Uno Q with an overhead camera watches me work, transcribes what I’m saying, identifies the components and build steps, and at the end of a session uses AI to decide what kind of work it just observed and generate the appropriate documentation. I just work, and it documents.

See the video below and details in the blog post here.

Kedasha Kerr, in the series GitHub for Beginners, talks about open source software and how to contribute to such communities.

Open source software (OSS) refers to software that features freely available source code. In contrast with “closed source software,” OSS is publicly available for anyone to use and build upon. This means that all of the work, including the codebase and communication between users, is available for everyone to see.

If you’re just getting started in the world of software development, browsing and contributing to open source projects is a great way to dip your toes into large, impactful projects used by countless users worldwide.

Most open source projects have a few things in common if they’re well maintained. These are the following items:

• A well-documented README with installation instructions.
• A contributor’s guide that explains how to contribute.
• An open source license, so everyone knows the project is free to use.
• At least 100 GitHub stars to show it’s used in the community.
• Active development so that you know a maintainer of the source code will be able to review your contributions.
• A good first issue label to indicate its open to new contributors.

When you’re looking for a project to contribute to, these are the things you should be looking for in a repository.

See the full details in the post here.

Laura Kiniry on Popular Science writes about high schooler Evan Budz’s award-winning invention which can identify coral bleaching, invasive species, and microplastics without disturbing marine ecosystems.

Fifteen-year-old Evan Budz was on a camping trip when he saw a snapping turtle that would become the impetus for an award-winning invention. As someone who loves hiking, canoeing, and just being outside, the Canadian high school student from Burlington, Ontario, had actively been looking for ways that he could go out and help the planet.

“When I saw the snapping turtle, it was so graceful, fluidic, and generally non-disruptive” to its surroundings, says Budz. “I thought it’d be really interesting to go and try and replicate its natural swimming kinematics [basically the study of how things move]” in a robot.

While not an official name, Budz has been calling his invention “BURT,” an acronym for “Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle.” BURT maintains the same body-to-flipper-size proportions as a real-life sea turtle but is smaller overall, which allows it to move easily in different environments. It weighs about 11 pounds.

Read all the details in the article here.

You can build wearable headbands with neopixel LEDs that respond to BLE beacons at Disney Theme Parks.

Guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/ble-beacon-neopixels

These NeoPixel accessories interact with Disney BLE devices like MagicBands, Starlight bubble wands, and park statues. This means you can use Disney products like the bubble wands to cast colors to our custom NeoPixel projects.

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Every week we’ll 3D print designs from the community and showcase slicer settings, use cases and of course, Time-lapses! This Week:

Cooler Can Holder
By animuL67
makerworld.com/en/models/2647823-cooler-can-holder-std-12oz-can
Bambu X1C
PolyMaker PLA
3hr 54mins
X:88 Y:87 Z:116mm
.2mm layer / .4mm Nozzle
10% Infill / 1mm Retraction
200C / 60C
162g
230mm/s

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

A snap-fit Pico/Pico W/Pico 2 case with an attached external sensor cage — great for temperature/humidity or environmental sensor projects that need air exposure. Wall-mountable, Bootsel accessible

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/854984-raspberry-pi-pico-case-with-sensor-cage

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

A pull-out chassis design for the Pi 5 inspired by the Fractal Design North Pi concept but with fewer parts and easier disassembly. Supports NVMe expansion boards and a GeeekPi Micro HDMI adapter. STEP files and GitHub source included

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/545886-raspberry-pi-5-3d-print-case

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Hexagonal-patterned Pi 5 case with an integrated compliant mechanism power button — press a tab on the back and it actuates the Pi’s button. No screws, no loose hardware

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1063966-raspberry-pi-5-ai-m-2-hat-snap-case

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

A sci-fi exhibit case integrating the Bambu Lab LED Lamp Kit with a magnetic lid and a hidden magnetic base compartment for secret storage. Uses acrylic sheet windows and a working power button

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1188705-sci-fi-enclosure

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/762884-raspberry-pi-pico-small-snapfit-case

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

From the mail bag!

Hey whatup.
Just wanted to say I really really love you folks.
I am a perma tired industrial engineer, factory automation. I deal with the
cream of the bottom of the barrel when it comes to customers and suppliers
on a daily basis. And then I come here and it’s downright utopian.
Everything is so well engineered and priced fairly and I feel like a kid in
a candy store browsing your hardware. Thanks for being around in this crazy
world.

A fully modular NeoPixel lamp using 32- and 16-pixel rings with swappable interchangeable shades, a breadboard bay, and a USB reprogramming door. Includes mounts for a slide switch, DC jack, and Arduino Nano. Designed with the Adafruit NeoPixel library in mind

download the files on: https://www.printables.com/model/456306-modular-neopixel-ring-lamp

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

LIVE CHAT IS HERE! http://adafru.it/discord

Adafruit on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adafruit

Shop for parts to build your own DIY projects http://adafru.it/3dprinting

3D Printing Projects Playlist:

3D Hangout Show Playlist:

Layer by Layer CAD Tutorials Playlist:

Timelapse Tuesday Playlist:

Connect with Noe and Pedro on Social Media:

Noe’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/ecken

Pedro’s Twitter / Instagram: http://instagram.com/videopixil

Livestream on YouTube
https://youtube.com/live/HTNkRLYz8is?feature=share

To show and share a project at 7:30pm Eastern today, view the chat or in discord https://adafru.it/discord and look for the JOIN link to join. For best results, be on a wired network connection and use a headset and microphone.

Graduations are an exciting milestone! Don’t miss the chance to applaud the ones you love on a job well done and help them look forward to the next phase, whatever that may be.

Check out the list below for some of our favorite grad-centric products and projects. There are lots of projects and kits on here – that’s intentional. Maybe use that last, pre-college, or pre-camp, at-home time together to finally get around to the ever-elusive bonding session you’ve been putting off. Build something together, make something together, and help each other get excited about the future!

Check out the full guide!

Talking Head (3D) is a browser JavaScript class featuring a 3D avatar that can speak and lip-sync in real-time. It also knows a set of emojis and can convert them into facial expressions.

The class supports full-body 3D avatars (GLB) and Mixamo animations (FBX).

By default, the class uses Google Cloud TTS for text-to-speech and has a built-in lip-sync support for English, German, French, Finnish, and Lithuanian. New lip-sync languages can be added by creating new lip-sync language modules.

It is also possible to integrate the TalkingHead class with any external TTS service that can provide word-level timestamps, such as the ElevenLabs WebSocket API. Note that a lip-sync language module is not required if your TTS engine can output viseme IDs or blend shape data directly. For example, by using the Microsoft Azure Speech SDK, you can extend TalkingHead’s lip-sync support to 100+ languages.

See this MIT licensed software on GitHub.

ESP-Claw is a new tiny AI device for Espressif microcontroller-based boards. Supported boards must have at least 8MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM to run ESP-Claw.

ESP-Claw devices require a connection to the real world. This includes:

1. WiFi (local) for communications
2. A Large Language Model (LLM) for reasoning (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek or local)

I tested ESP-Claw with a Claude API key. While some folks have it working, I found, at the lowest API access paid level, ESP-Claw could exceed tokens per second limits. And I don’t want to put $100 on Anthropic’s books to get that squared away.

The guide shows how to run ESP-Claw with a local LLM by enabling LM Studio Developer Mode, creating an API token, copying the “Reachable at” HTTP address:port, and configuring ESP-Claw to use the local model (anthropic_compatible/OpenAI-style) via that /v1/ endpoint.

It walks through flashing the ESP-Claw firmware, entering WiFi credentials, completing the First-Use Wizard (LLM backend, model name, API token, max_tokens), and optionally connecting a Telegram bot for remote chat access.

ESP32-based microcontroller boards with at least 8MB flash and 8MB PSRAM are required for ESP-Claw, recommend the Espressif ESP32-S3-BOX-3 or the Adafruit Metro ESP32-S3 (support coming soon).

Read more at Using ESP-Claw with a Local LLM

Adafruit Playground is a wonderful place to share what you find interesting. Have a cool project you are working on? Have a bit of code that you think others will find useful? Want to show off your electronics workbench? You have come to the right place.

Adafruit Playground is a safe place to share with the wonderful Adafruit community of makers and doers. Click here to learn more about Adafruit Playground and how to get started.

What do you get when you combine laser-cut foam, PVC, embedded LEDs, sound effects, and a love of dinosaurs? Doloresaurus — a larger-than-life wearable dinosaur costume created by maker Trevor Mead.

In this interview, Trevor gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Doloresaurus’ construction and functions. The costume uses laser-cut foam construction to keep the build lightweight and wearable while still achieving an impressively detailed full-scale dinosaur form.

The project sits at a really fun intersection of cosplay, fabrication, electronics, and performance art — exactly the kind of creative maker engineering we love to see.

Watch the full interview below:

https://youtu.be/3o5L8u3XU7Q

You can follow Trevor Mead and Doloresaurus on Instagram at:
https://www.instagram.com/doloresaurus_sf/

We especially love seeing how accessible materials like foam, PVC, LEDs, and digital fabrication tools can come together to create something this ambitious and theatrical. Huge thanks to Trevor for sharing the build process with us!

PlatformIO is an open-source, cross-platform ecosystem designed for embedded systems and IoT development. It acts as an advanced alternative to traditional environments like the Arduino IDE, abstracting away complex hardware toolchains and vendor development kits. While it features a standalone Command Line Interface (CLI) written in Python, it is most commonly used as a highly optimized extension for Visual Studio Code.

The core of PlatformIO is its unified, declarative configuration system. Every project relies on a single platformio.ini file at its root directory, which dictates the build environments, microcontrollers, and settings. This approach allows developers to compile the exact same application code for different hardware targets, switching seamlessly between frameworks like Arduino, ESP-IDF, or ARM mbed without manual intervention.

PlatformIO also automates the tedious aspects of firmware management through isolated, project-level dependency tracking. It automatically downloads required compilers, software development kits, and target libraries directly into the project directory, completely preventing version conflicts. Additionally, the system provides production-grade engineering tools directly out of the box, including advanced code completion, hardware debugging, code inspection, and automated unit testing.

Check it out on GitHub and see the documentation.

Rahim Esfandyar-pour, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Irvine shares how they developed a wearable, wireless, battery-free, bioelectronic sensor for long-term health monitoring.

Worn as a flexible skin patch and paired with a standard Android smartphone or a custom wrist-watch-like reader, the system simultaneously tracks cortisol, glucose, lactate and urea in sweat. Those biomarkers are associated with stress response, metabolic activity, physical exertion and kidney function.

The researchers say the platform could support future applications in chronic disease management, stress and mental health monitoring, sports performance, preventive medicine, early disease detection research, and remote community health monitoring.

The study was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

TechRadar lists the best free text-to-speech software, to make it simple and easy to choose a text reader with the features you need.

This is not simply useful for personal users, but has also become an important issue in business, where the need for effective communication tools has led to a surge in the popularity of text-to-speech (TTS) software.

Text-to-speech software skillfully converts written text into spoken words using advanced technology, though often without grasping the context of the content.

The best text-to-speech software not only accomplishes this task but also offers a selection of natural-sounding voices, catering to different preferences and project needs.

While many of today’s best free word processors, such as Google Docs, include basic TTS features that are accurate and continually improving, they may not meet all needs.

Stand-alone, app-based TTS tools, which should not be confused with the best speech-to-text apps, often have limitations compared to more comprehensive, free text-to-speech software.

They have categories for:

• Best overall
• Best for beginners
• Best website reader
• Best Microsoft extension
• Best custom voice

See the details in the article here.

Chicago95 is an XFCE / Xubuntu Windows 95 total conversion. grassmunk on GitHub writes:

I was unhappy with the various XFCE/GTK2/GTK3 Windows 95 based themes and decided to make one that was more consistent across the board for theming.

Included in this theme:

• Icons to complete the icon theme started with Classic95
• GTK2 and GTK3 themes
• Edited Redmond XFWM theme to more accurately reflect Windows 95
• Chicago95 Plus! A tool to preview and install Windows 95/98/ME/XP themes
• Plymouth theme created from scratch
• An MS-DOS inspired theme for oh-my-zsh
• Partial support for HiDPI monitors
• Partial icon theme for LibreOffice 6+

Check it out on GitHub.

If you’re an XP fan, someone has already got you covered, via a previous post here.

The longest caves in the world all sit in areas where soluble rock dissolves under flowing groundwater. The highest concentrations show up in southern Kentucky, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

The list keeps growing as exploration teams add new passages. Mammoth Cave alone has gone from 144 miles when the system was first connected in 1972 to 426 miles today. The ten longest caves below sit across three continents.

See details about each one with lovely images in the WorldAtlas article here.

There is a growing push against the barrage of “tech” shoved on us daily. This informal movement is less anti-technology and more anti-thoughtless technology. We are seeing it with wired headphones and Cyberdecks. Folks aren’t looking to do away with their gadgets; they just aren’t looking for their gadgets to do everything. Maybe you still want a watch with smart features but find smart watches cumbersome and overly distracting?

Ollee Watch offers a mod for your classic Casios. You can wear a time-tested F-91W with an upgraded feature set. Cam Shand tried out the Ollee Watch and few other mods like 3D printed cases, watch straps and screen filters. It isn’t a perfect solution but it does give you a lot of ownership over your own device. See more and watch below!

Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!