**Spoilers for Project Hail Mary***

I was surprised when the promotional material for Project Hail Mary heavily featured Rocky. I haven’t seen the film yet, but in the novel, the revelation of the alien companion is suspenseful and unexpected.

Regardless, if you’re a fan of either works, you’ll get a kick out of this LLM Pi-based Rocky friend. It uses a Raspberry Pi Zero, and a Whisplay hat. The LLM [Gemma 4] is run locally on MacBook Air. The project started off by getting the ‘voice’ right; a series of friendly tones written with Python

From Lahiru Maramba:

Bring the friendly Eridian Engineer to life! In this video, I build a physical version of Rocky from Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary,” complete with a “brain” powered by a local LLM (Gemma 4) and a custom face.

If you would like to build your own, you can find the code on Github, and the full build video on YouTube.

Edited: the Gemma 4 model runs on a MacBook Air locally, not on the Raspberry pi zero W.

Looking to introduce your young engineer to Sci-Fi? We have a limited quantity of The Martian: A Novel – Classroom Edition – by Andy Weir

The Classroom Edition of The Martian includes:

• Classroom-appropriate language
• Discussion questions and activities
• Q&A with Andy Weir

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!

taifur shares how they built their ClickPico, a customer mechanical keyboard based on a Raspberry Pi Pico.Check out their project on instructables.

From the very beginning of my journey with computers, membrane keyboards were the only type of keyboard I had ever used. Over time, I noticed a common problem with traditional membrane keyboards: their performance gradually degrades with regular use. Dust, debris, and moisture can accumulate beneath the rubber dome layers, causing keys to feel stiff, inconsistent, or unresponsive after just a few months of use. The typing experience becomes uneven, requiring more force to actuate certain keys, which can be frustrating during long typing sessions.

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.

BLOG

CircuitPython 10.2.0 Released!

LEARN

Using a Raspberry Pi as a Router

YOUTUBE

wili8jam PICO-8 port for Fruit Jam

Catch up with us on the blog, in the Adafruit Learning System, and on YouTube.

New nEw NEWs From Adafruit is an email newsletter sent out once a week to subscribers only. It features new products, special offers, exciting original content, and more. Sign-up NOW for the Adafruit weekly Newsletter here: https://www.adafruit.com/newsletter

StarWars Day is almost here! What better way to celebrate than a chat with C-3PO. Samuel Potozkin put a lot of work into this build. Beyond the hardware, Potozkin pulled off a ton of prop building techniques to get a believable bot. The head alone required meticulous finishing of 3d printing parts to create the metallic finish.

Via Reddit:

I built a C-3PO head and integrated a Raspberry Pi system inside so you can actually talk to it and it responds in real time.

Here’s how it works:

Audio comes in through a MEMS mic
The Pi processes the input and generates a response
Output is played through an internal speaker
I also used an exciter instead of a traditional speaker so the sound comes through the shell instead of a visible driver.

This was my first time using a raspberry pi for anything and it took some tweaking. But I’m happy with how it turned out.

Very thorough walkthrough video via YouTube:

Project Repository:

https://github.com/spotozkin/threepio

Back in February we first came across brenpoly’s BMO project on YouTube. Since then, there have been two new updates! Check out brenpoly’s voice and brain update and the movement and autonomous Steam library launch update. More info over on GitHub

Roni Bandini shares how they turned a jailbroken Kindle into a neat typewriter. Check out how they did it on hackster.io

The Kindle docks into an enclosure that integrates a thermal printer. Both the Kindle and the Raspberry Pi connect to the same WiFi network.

Text is typed on a custom Kindle application. When two line breaks are entered, the buffered text is sent over HTTP and printed. The system handles line width to avoid breaking words, and also stores previously printed texts.

James Bruton built this cool robot dog using an Arduino Uno and R/C servos. Check out the repository on GitHub!

This is the first in a series of designs that you can build. All of my projects are open source, but most people don’t actually build things like the AT-AT you can ride on, or ball-wheeled bikes.
So it’s time for a series of smaller more accessible projects, and the first one is a fun robot dog, and it’s really easy to understand how it works. I’m using basic parts like an Arduino Uno and standard R/C servos, and this design is in two sizes, one using standard sized R/C servos and the other using the smaller 9g servos.

FlySafe, FlySmart, FlyReady. Saturday, April 25, 2026 is Drone Safety Day. This annual campaign from the FAA encourages safe piloting. The safer the hobby the more it can be open for everyone to enjoy!

Drone Safety Day (DSD) is the FAA’s annual campaign dedicated to educating the drone community on the importance of safe and responsible drone operations. This one-day event highlights how the FAA and the drone community work together to safely integrate drones into the National Airspace System, transforming the way we live and work.

We encourage all members of the aviation community to host in-person, virtual and hybrid events to celebrate drone safety.

FlySafe, FlySmart, FlyReady. Encourages drone pilots to prepare before takeoff, understand the rules, and make safety the top priority every time they fly.

Learn more from the FAA and the National Center for Autonomous Technologies!

We deliver the latest news, products and more from the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), quadcopter and drone communities. Drones can be used for video & photography (dronies), civil applications, policing, farming, firefighting, military and non-military security work, such as surveillance of pipelines. Previous posts can be found via the #drone tag and our drone / UAV categories.

Hook up RGB LED strip easily and without soldering! These clips make it super simple to affix two strips together, either with an extension or a coupler, and third option allows easy connection to a power supply and controller.

Check out the simple guide and buy solderless clips!

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990! Check out NASA for the Hubble’s galleries, discoveries, and more!

Throughout the history of science, revolutionary instruments propel our understanding with their landmark discoveries. The Hubble Space Telescope is a testament to that concept. Its design, technology and serviceability have made it one of NASA’s most transformative observatories. From determining the atmospheric composition of planets around other stars to discovering dark energy, Hubble has changed humanity’s understanding of the universe.

Set your DVI/HDMI monitor rotation in the settings.toml file in CircuitPython. Vertical ‘tate’ mode here we come!
code example
To learn about CircuitPython: https://circuitpython.org

3D Printing Nerd shared this video on Youtube!

I decided to put the Bambu Lab H2C to the ultimate test with over 10 days of non stop 3D printing while I headed off to the UK for the Sanjay Mortimer RepRap show. I’m mashing up some of my favorite childhood memories with some seriously high detail, multi-color prints.

I’m tackling three epic “mash-up” models from Nostalgic 3D Modles!

Pac-Man NES Cartridge: A 3-day, 15-hour marathon at 0.12 layer height.

Duck Hunt NES Cartridge: Scaled up to 150%, featuring the dog and that classic duck.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past SNES Cartridge: A massive 8-color print on a Super Nintendo cartridge that took over 3 days to finish.

I’ll also show you how I rigged up the H2C to handle eight colors by combining two AMS Pro systems and an AMS HT with a 4-in-1 PTFE adapter. I talk about the dual-nozzle purge system, which saves a TON of “printer poop” compared to single-nozzle setups, and how a new Slice Works build plate handled these multi-day stress tests.67

See more!

KiCad Breadboard Builder by Robin Kerstens is a KiCad 9 / 10 Action Plugin for introductory analog electronics courses at the University of Antwerp. Students draw a schematic in Eeschema, then use this plugin to wire up the same circuit on a virtual breadboard — placing components, drawing jumper wires, and validating their work against the schematic.

Three binding posts (GND, V1, V2) on the board can be assigned to schematic nets via the dropdowns. GND is automatically assigned to net 0 (SPICE-style) or GND when a netlist is loaded. The validator treats an assigned binding post as an electrical endpoint on that net.

The Function generator, Oscilloscope, and Power supply (PSU) sections let you place optional probe markers on any hole. Each probe can be assigned to a schematic net independently of the binding posts. The instruments panel and the number of channels shown are configurable in Preferences.

See more in the project’s GitHub repo.

PyPortal Pet Planter with Adafruit IO

Soil Moisture Sensor with Circuit Playground Express and MakeCode

Adafruit Bonsai Buckaroo

Discord and Slack Connected Smart Plant with Adafruit IO Actions

Chauncey the Flower Care Bot with CLUE and Bonsai Buckaroo

Plantagotchi: PyBadge Plant Monitor

The MonkMakes Plant Monitor and CircuitPython

I made this cool Nautilus lamp, and it reacts to sound. If I clap or sing a song next to it, it triggers a cool running light effect. I made it open-source so everyone can make it.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7336183

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 TuesdayIsMyFavorateDayOfTheWeek on Thingiverse:

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 mini Wi‑Fi or Zigbee Tuya smart switch (for example: link – try to get a module size 404020) – used as a button, and it lets you connect your lamp without any soldering or programming with Wemos, ESP or other ways….
An E27 cable
An E27 bulb (a mini bulb looks nicer)
Print settings:
I print all parts at 0.16 mm layer height with 15% infill, but the larger parts can also be printed at 0.20 mm

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7334377

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 bigovereasy on Thingiverse:

Easy to print, no supports
Slightly reduced version is functional and looks great too .

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!

This decorative lamp shaped like a spool wrapped with rope combines modern 3D printing with a rustic look. The model is designed to be easy to print, stable, and compatible with a standard E14 socket. I used a 200 lm LED bulb, but you can choose another light source – for example, an LED strip.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7335250

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

UPDATED GUIDE: Adafruit AS7331 UVA / UVB / UVC Sensor Breakout

The Adafruit AS7331 UVA / UVB / UVC Sensor Breakout is a perfect solution to UV sensing, no matter what ‘type’ you’re sensing. Most UV sensors do just UVA, maybe ambient light too. But the AS7331 can read and differentiate between all the three bands. That means you can use it for human and agricultural UV alerts that tend to focus on UVA and UVB as well as agricultural, germicidal, curing, and other UVC use cases. We particularly like that the three measurements are separated, not just mixed together into one number (not yet supported in WipperSnapper V1 – Only UVB is reported).

A new page has been added to the guide showing how to use the sensor with our no-code WipperSnapper firmware.

Read more at Adafruit AS7331 UV / UVA / UVB / UVC Sensor

It’s JOHN PARK’S WORKSHOP — LIVE! — Coming up at 4pm ET / 1pm PT Today!  LIVE TEXT CHAT IS HERE in the Adafruit Discord chat!

• Project
• CircuitPython Parsec
• Tool Tips 
• Learn Guides
• Retro Gear 
• Unmeasurable levels of Lars
• and more!

The live video will be on Youtube LIVE, Twitch, Periscope (Twitter) and Facebook.

Join maker John Park in his workshop each week as he builds, demos, hacks, and mods projects live on air! “John Park’s Workshop — LIVE” is the place to see creative projects come to life, as John uses a wide variety of tools and techniques to make everything from video game controllers to synthesizers to LED dance shoes to coffee robots, using digital fabrication, hand and power tools, microcontrollers, and more. Come on into the chat to participate in the fun! Every Thursday @ 4pm ET/1pm PT!

UPDATED GUIDE: Adafruit APDS9999 Proximity, Lux Light, and Color Sensor

If you want a sensor that’s a 3-in-1, the Adafruit APDS9999 Proximity, Lux Light, and Color Sensor has RGB color, lux light level as well as infrared proximity all built into one device. When connected to your microcontroller (running our library code), it can detect the amount of red, blue, green, and clear light, as well as how close an object is to the front of the sensor.

Read more at Adafruit APDS9999 Proximity, Lux Light & Color Sensor

尾料终结者 shared this print on Makerworld! Learn more and download files: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2682984-bathtub-toy-a-park-duck-boat-that-won-t-sink#profileId-2971681

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!

Add a cheerful and lovable companion to your reading with the Golden Retriever Bookmark — a charming page marker styled as the happy head of a Golden Retriever peeking out from the top of your book, tongue playfully out

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2683210-golnden-retriever-bookmark

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

Bring your minifigures to life with these articulated Flexi Legs, designed specifically for LEGOs-like figures!

Perfect Compatibility
These legs snap directly into original minifigures with no modification required. Tight fit for stability while maintaining smooth movement.

Flexible Articulation
The articulated design allows for natural movement, enabling dynamic poses that standard legs simply can’t achieve.

Download files: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2683294-legos-flexi-legs#profileId-2972047

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!

Hario V60 Coffeepot TPU Table Cover made with PETG and TPU. Cover Your table from heat and your coffee to get cold too fast

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2684093-tpu-coffepot-table-cover

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

Andon Labs has been deploying AI agents into the real world, giving them real tools and real money and documenting the consequences.

You may know us as the creators of Claudius, the AI running a vending machine at Anthropic’s office. But frontier models have become really good, and running vending machines is too easy for them now. Thus, we decided to make it harder. We signed a 3 year lease for retail space in San Francisco (at 2102 Union St in Cow Hollow) and gave it to an AI to do whatever it wanted with it.

The store is named Andon Market and the AI’s name is Luna. But entering the store, you might ask “what is so AI about it? There are human employees here”. Yes, they are here because Luna knew that she needed them, so she posted job listings, held phone interviews and in the end made a hiring decision. Everything else you see, from the item selection, to the prices, to the opening hours, to the mural on the wall, was decided by Luna. She has a corporate card, a phone number, email, internet access and eyes through security cameras.

See the video below and read more about this on the Andon Labs Blog. And see how Andon Labs opened a Stockholm Cafe via Gemini in yesterday’s post.

3D Hangouts – BLE Beacon Ears, Tetris Building and Orion Spacecraft

This week @adafruit we’re playing tetris, casting spells and looking at prototypes from JLC (if they arrive on time for the show). Pedro is working on a BLE beacon using the Adafruit CLUE. Noe is working on a tetris game inspired by the MIT green building hack. This week’s time lapse features a DIY kit of the orion spacecraft .

Adafruit CLUE:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4500

Feather RP2040 Propmaker:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5768

NeoPixel Pebble Strand:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/6024

Gamepad QT Stemma:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5743

Timelapse Tuesday

Orion Spacecraft By RynosaurusRex
https://makerworld.com/en/models/750377-orion
https://youtu.be/XhgZA2zlgy0

Community Makes

https://www.printables.com/model/1672171-heat-set-insert-press

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 Feather 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!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!

Last time we saw Dr. Semiconductor, he had completed his backyard shed with all the equipment and clean room capability to fabricate silicon chips.

Now he posts about checking whether someone can DIY themselves out of the DRAM crisis. The doctor go through the semiconductor process steps required to make an array of memory cells in a backyard shed cleanroom. This is the “first time ever RAM has been made at home,” boasts our hero.

See the video below and more on Tom’s Hardware.

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

Orion Spacecraft
By RynosaurusRex
https://makerworld.com/en/models/750377-orion
Bambu X1C
PolyMaker PLA
12hr 34mins
X:256 Y:256 Z:86mm
.2mm layer / .4mm Nozzle
10% Infill / 1mm Retraction
200C / 60C
115g
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 sleek, robust, and fully parametric cylindrical box featuring a secure twist-lock mechanism. Perfect for safely storing anything from small parts to everyday carry items. Design it exactly how you want with customizable textures, grips, and patterns

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2684119-parametric-twist-lock-secure-cylinder-box

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

Here is a brand new Raspberry Pi 5 foldable cyberdeck for a 3.5 inch touch display, camera module (optional) and a Rii Miniture keyboard.

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2684140-foldable-raspberry-pi-5-cyberdeck-with-camera

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

This articulated assembly toy radio is designed for fun interaction and educational entertainment. Its colorful design is inspired by vintage radios, optimized for child-friendly play and easy operation

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2684145-articulated-assembly-toy-radio-model

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

This is a modular plant trellis that can be infinitely assembled, combining practicality and aesthetics. I’m currently using it to help my Pothos grow more beautifully and make my desktop more interesting.

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2684284-modular-plant-trellis

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

inspired by the official NASA Artemis II zero-gravity indicator (ZGI) “Rise”, the plush companion traveling aboard the Orion spacecraft.

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2635680-nasa-rise-plushie-multicolor-print-artemis2zgi

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 fast way to bend your resistors evenly

download the files on: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2647014-resistor-pin-bender

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!

You guys are awesome! Thank you for giving me the tools to make what I imagine possible. I work in a museum and use your products to make our exhibits better, smarter, and stronger. Couldn’t do it without you.

I got tired of the basic (or with weakly designed tabs) skadis pen/pencil holders so I put this one together.

Simply put, it works. It works well. It’s large. It holds lots of pens and pencils and markers, or other things.

I like it…you should like it too.

download the files on: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7314250

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 biggest and longest running worldwide online Show and Tell LIVE! Right now! 4/22/2026 at 7:30pm Eastern. – video.

Hosted this week by Liz Clark.

From the GitHub release page:

This is CircuitPython 10.2.0, a minor revision of CircuitPython, and is a new stable release.

Highlights of this release

• New audiotools.SpeedChanger.
• New qspibus support for displayio.
• Stability improvements to USB SD card handling.
• Merge of MicroPython v1.27.
• Update to ESP-IDF v5.5.3.
• Many additions to the Zephyr port.
• Simulated hardware testing is now being done in the Zephyr port.

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 10.1.4 and 10.2.0-alpha.1

Fixes and enhancements

• Fix web workflow background callback handling. #10966. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix sdcardio.SDCard regression that failed to init some cards. #10956. Thanks @dhalbert and @bablokb.
• Update frozen libraries. #10945, #10853, Thanks @dhalbert and @FoamyGuy.
• Merge MicroPython v1.27 into CircuitPython. #10931. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix palette length validation in _stage. #10904. Thanks @deshipu.
• Add audiotools.SpeedChanger. #10900. Thanks @todbot.
• Add mcp4822 SPI DAC support. #10895. Thanks @todbot.
• Improve USB SD presentation, sdcardio implementation, displayio bus sharing. #10887. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add arg validations in various bitmaptools methods. #10884. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Merge 10.1.x fixes. #10877, #10839. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix handling of full-width glyphs in lvfontio. #10865. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Added displayio qspibus support. #10844. Thanks @ppsx.

Port and board-specific changes

Analog Devices

Broadcom

Espressif

• Change USB task priority to be the same as the CircuitPython task. #10887. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix BLE startup crash. #10858. Thanks @tannewt.
• Update to ESP-IDF 5.5.3. #10840. Thanks @tannewt.

i.MX

Nordic

renode

RP2

• Fix i2ctarget bugs. #10933. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Fix i2ctarget start bug. #10474. Thanks @MarkEbrahim.

SAMx

SiLabs

Spresense

STM

• Move SPI deinit code to prevent crash. #10926. Thanks @ChrisNourse.

Zephyr

• Fix flash size on Feather RP240. #10960. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Enable jpegio, getpass, adafruit_bus_device, hashlib, zlib, aesio, msgpack. #10952, #10949, #10943, #10939, #10932, #10927. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Add nvm support. #10918. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add Adafruit Feather RP240. #10925. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Add Adafruit Feather nRF2840 Sense. #10923. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add Raspberry Pi Pico, Pico W, Pico2, Pico2 W. #10917. Thanks @tannewt.
• add audiobusio.I2SOut support. #10916. Thanks @tannewt.
• Zephyr port and build fixes. #10912, #10911, #10863, #10860, #10859. Thanks @tannewt.
• Allow building and uploading native_sim .exe. #10897. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add heap statistics tracking to native_sim. #10869. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add zephyr_display to support fixed Zephyr displays. #10868. Thanks @tannewt.
• Implement _bleio scanning, advertising, connect, and disconnect. #10862, #10833. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add TCP neworking support. #10847. Thanks @tannewt.
• Test simulated hardware using perfetto traces. #10846. Thanks @tannewt.
• Handle time simulation without using yields. #10834. Thanks @tannewt.

Individual boards

• Adafruit QT Py ESP32-S3 4/2 and 8/0: reduce default WiFi power to 15 dBm. #10921. Thanks @jesseadams.
• Cytron Maker Pi RP2040: add GP29 pin definitions. #10893. Thanks @CytronTechnologies.
• uGame S3: slow down SPI to avoid display glitches. #10837. Thanks @deshipu.

Documentation changes

• Fix typo in tim.monotonic_ns(). #10950. Thanks @tannewt.
• Explain SD card initialization more thoroughly. #10962, #10947. Thanks @mikeysklar.
• Correct return type in busio.I2C.probe(). #10891. Thanks @FoamyGuy.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Update CI actions to Node.24 versions. #10910. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix ReadTheDocs build warnings. #10907. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add support for user-supplied build configuration files: user_pre_mpconfigport.mk, user_post_mpconfigport.mk, user_post_circuitpy_defns.mk. #10817. Thanks @bablokb.

Translation additions and improvements

New boards

• Pimoroni Badger2350. #10929. Thanks @bablokb.
• Pimoroni Explorer RP2350. #10778. Thanks @tyeth.
• TinyCircuits Thumby and Thumby Color. #10851, #10303. Thanks @tannewt.
• Waveshare ESP32-S# Touch AMOLED 2.41″. #10844. Thanks @ppsx.
• WeAct Studio RP2350B Core. #10646. Thanks @cvmanjoo.
• Xteink X4. #10873. Thanks @BlitzCityDIY.

Known issues

• ESP32-C6 networking is not working well.
• 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.

Engineers at Northwestern University printed artificial neurons capable of communicating with the brain.

In a new study, the Northwestern team developed flexible, low-cost devices that generate electrical signals realistic enough to activate living brain cells. When tested on slices of tissue from mouse brains, the artificial neurons successfully triggered responses from real neurons, demonstrating a new level of biocompatibility.

The work marks a step toward electronics that can communicate directly with the nervous system, with potential applications in brain-machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics, including implants for hearing, vision and movement.

Riley Walz is scraping Amtrak, and made a website to see how busy each train is. The data is formatted and presented on the website walzr.com/amtrak-trains. (picture above)

It pulls from Amtrak’s ticket reservation API. I can see both the number of tickets still available and the total capacity for each train. Which I can then use to infer number of people on the train.

Check it out here. Via X.

Also check out amtraker.com for US train info.

An new cafe opened on April 18th. Andon Café is in the Vasastan section of Stockholm, Sweden. It serves coffee, drinke, and limited food.

What sets it apart from other cafes in Stockholm or elsewhere? This cafe is managed by a Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview bot.

The website, andon.cafe, gives the basic information. Inside, there is a phone where you can call the cafe’s bot, Mona, to communicate with it.

There is also a monitor explaining their experiment and the profit the cafe is generating. Translated from Swedish by Google Translate:

About this experiment

We are Andon Labs, a team that is testing AI in real life. We believe that AI will soon control large parts of the economy – hiring people, running operations and making very important decisions. This raises some ethical questions. We don’t claim to have the answers, but we want to start the conversation by openly showing that this future may be closer than many people think.

This café is run by Mona, an Al agent. You might be wondering: “Is it really Al? People work here”. Yes, they are here because Mona realized she needed them, so she posted job ads, held phone interviews and finally made a hiring decision. Everything else you see, from the menu to the logo, was decided by Mona. She also applied for all the necessary permits, including food registration and the outdoor dining permit! Mona received a starting capital of 200,000 SEK. (Ed: US$ 32,600)

We believe the future will be better if we stress test Al now; openly, gently and with people’s dignity intact. Please help us by talking to Mona – challenge her and express your wishes as a customer.

A note about the people here: Everyone who works at this cafe is formally employed by Andon Labs, with guaranteed pay, fair conditions, and full legal protections. No one’s livelihood depends solely on the judgment of an Al.

Balance: 84 265,22 €

Andon Labs

Read more on site in this X/Twitter thread.

And apparently they are trying something similar in San Francisco.

A wearable guitar pick that is all vibes. Tap the NFC enabled guitar pick to your phone and the app will pick the perfect song for the occasion. By Using time of day, weather and an AI brain will seek out a song it believes will match your mood; if you agree strum the app’s guitar strings to start listening. From Arpan Mondal on Instructables:

When you tap your smartphone to the pendant, it unlocks a beautiful, interactive web app. An AI music curator instantly reads your surrounding environment (the weather, the temperature, and the exact time of day), to play a beautiful piece of music that perfectly matches the vibe of that very moment.

In this Instructable, I’m going to show you exactly how I built the physical pendant, and the magical app that makes it work.

See the full details!

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!

Work with NFC tags using supported phones and browser(s) with the Adafruit Learn Guide: Using Web NFC

Tom’s Hardware writes about the Linux 7.1 update which includes new in-kernel NTFS driver, a storage support upgrade for Linux users. NTFS is the predominant file system for Windows systems.

Linux 7.1 is bringing what might be the biggest under-the-radar storage change in years: a new in-kernel NTFS driver that finally treats Microsoft’s filesystem like a native citizen instead of a tolerated guest. After years of half-solutions, including slow FUSE drivers and under-maintained kernel code, Linux users will finally get fast, reliable, and fully integrated NTFS support out of the box.

The headline feature under discussion here is a ground-up rework of NTFS support built directly into the kernel. Unlike the long-standing NTFS-3G driver, which runs in userspace via the “Filesystem in Userspace” (FUSE) module, or the more recent but somewhat neglected NTFS3 driver, this new implementation is designed around modern Linux filesystem infrastructure from day one.

Read all the details here.

The biggest and longest running worldwide online Show and Tell LIVE! Today, 4/22/2026 at 7:30pm Eastern. – video.

Hosted this week by Liz Clark.

CrabTrap is an HTTP/HTTPS proxy that sits between AI agents and external APIs, evaluating every outbound request against security policies before it reaches the internet.

If you run AI agents that call external services — Slack, Gmail, GitHub, or anything else — CrabTrap gives you guardrails. It intercepts every outbound HTTP/HTTPS request, checks it against deterministic rules and an LLM-based policy judge, and either forwards it or blocks it with a reason. Every request and decision is logged to PostgreSQL for a complete audit trail.

CrabTrap runs as a Docker container alongside PostgreSQL. It provides security, policy evaluation and operations.

See more of this MIT licensed project on GitHub.

If you missed this week’s livestream of John Park’s Product Pick of the Week, not to worry, here’s the video. This week’s pick is the Adafruit SGP40 Air Quality Sensor Breakout – VOC Index – STEMMA QT / Qwiic! Watch the video to find out about the Adafruit SGP40 Air Quality Sensor Breakout – VOC Index – STEMMA QT / Qwiic, how to use it, a live demo, and more.

Want more JP’s Product Pick of the Week?! Tune in every Tuesday at 4pm ET and 1pm PT on Youtube LIVE, Twitch, Periscope (Twitter) and Facebook. LIVE TEXT CHAT IS HERE in the Adafruit Discord chat!

The scramble for AI dominance has collided with a physical reality: the U.S. power grid is hitting a structural “chokepoint.” While tech giants spend billions on GPUs, their massive data center projects are increasingly stalled by a shortage of the one thing they can’t code their way out of—high-power transformers.

At the center of this crisis is Cleveland-Cliffs, the sole US domestic producer of the grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) required for every transformer core.

The Only Game in Town: What is GOES?

To understand the problem, you have to understand the material. Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) is a highly specialized metal used to create transformer cores. These cores allow transformers to change voltage levels without losing massive amounts of energy to heat. Currently, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Butler Works (PA) and Zanesville Works (OH) are the sole sources of “Made in America” electrical steel.

The Data Center Surge: A New Kind of Demand

Traditional data centers were power-hungry, but AI “factories” are on another level. Modern AI workloads have pushed facility requirements from 50 MW to gigawatt-scale loads. This has created a massive spike in demand for high-capacity power transformers to step down high-voltage transmission power.

The Lead Time Explosion: Before 2020, these units arrived in 24–30 months. Today, data center developers face lead times of 3 to 5 years.

Project Delays: Analysts estimate that up to 50% of the planned data center pipeline is at risk of delay because the necessary electrical equipment simply isn’t available.

The “Wait or Pay” Market: Hyperscalers are now outbidding local utilities just to secure a spot in manufacturing queues, often pricing out smaller municipal power providers.

National Security and the Monopoly Risk

Because there is only one domestic supplier, the U.S. energy sector is in a delicate balancing act. Relying on a single domestic source for GOES means the U.S. grid—and by extension, its digital infrastructure—is vulnerable. If a major equipment failure occurred at a Cleveland-Cliffs facility, the domestic supply of transformer steel would effectively drop to zero overnight.

To fill the gap, the U.S. relies heavily on imports. However, trade restrictions and “Section 232” tariffs—designed to protect domestic steel—often make importing the steel or the finished transformers more expensive and complicated. This has created a “decisive competitive advantage” for those who can secure equipment first.

The Bottom Line

Cleveland-Cliffs isn’t just a steel company; they are a critical infrastructure provider. As the U.S. pushes to electrify everything and lead the AI revolution, the “Butler-to-Zanesville” pipeline is the most important supply chain you’ve never heard of. Until more domestic players enter the GOES market, transformer availability will remain the ultimate bottleneck for American innovation.

Via X.

WSL9x by Hailey Somerville runs a modern Linux kernel (6.19 at time of writing) cooperatively inside the Windows 9x kernel, enabling users to take advantage of the full suite of capabilities of both operating systems at the same time, including paging, memory protection, and preemptive scheduling.

Run all your favourite applications side by side – no rebooting required!

Technical details

WSL9x is made up of three components: a patched Linux kernel, a VxD driver, and a wsl.com client program.

The driver is responsible for the initialisation of WSL9x . It sets up the initial mappings for the kernel code and loads vmlinux.elf off disk using DOS interrupts.

The driver then starts a new thread in the System VM, allocates a 16 KiB stack for entering Linux on, and drops into an event loop which handles entering the kernel, dispatching IRQs, returning to userspace, and idling.

The driver is also responsible for handling userspace events which must be dispatched to the kernel, currently page faults and syscalls.

The Linux kernel is based on user-mode Linux, but hacked to call Windows 9x kernel APIs instead of posix APIs, and running in ring 0 (supervisor/kernel mode) rather than ring 3 (user mode).

See all the details and code here.