I recently got one of the new RP2040-based Bus Pirate 5 (BP5), a multi-purpose interface debugging and testing tool. Scanning the various such tools in my toolbox already: an Analog Discovery 2, a new Glasgow Interface Explorer, and a couple of pyboards, I realized they all had a Python or Micropython user interface. A few […]
Example of a graph representation of one identified network with connections coded by neurotransmitter types. (Credit: Amy Sterling, Murthy and Seung Labs, Princeton University) Compared to the human brain, a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) brain is positively miniscule, not only in sheer volume, but also with a mere 140,000 or so neurons and 50 million […]
More than a couple folks have written us saying that their entries into the Supercon Add-On Contest got caught up in the Chinese fall holidays. Add to that our tendency to wait until the last minute, and there still more projects out there that we’d like to see. So we’re extending the deadline one more […]
Embedded programming is a tricky task that looks straightforward to the uninitiated, but those with a few decades of experience know differently. Getting what you want to work predictably or even fit into the target can be challenging. When you get to a certain level of complexity, breaking code down into multiple tasks can become […]
[bitluni] seems rather fond of soldering lots of LEDs, and fortunately for us the result is always interesting eye candy. The latest iteration of this venture features 8 mm WS2812D-F8 addressable LEDs, offering a significant simplification in electronics and the potential for much brighter displays. The previous version used off-the-shelf 8×8 LED panels but had […]
The 3D printing process is cool, but it’s also really annoying at times. Specifically, when you want to get a part printed, and no matter how you orientate things, what adhesion aids you use or what slicer settings you tweak, it just won’t print right. [David Malawey] has been thinking a little about the problem […]
Ah, Lisp, the archaic language that just keeps on giving. You either love or hate it, but you’ll never stop it. [David Johnson-Davies] is clearly in the love it camp and, to that end, has produced a fair number of tools wedging this language into all kinds of nooks and crannies. The particular nook in […]
The Greengate DS:3 had been re-created in the form of the Goodgreat. Now [Bea Thurman] had to put it to use. If the Greengate DS:3 card was rare, the keyboard was nearly impossible to find. After a long search, [Bea] bought one all the way from Iceland. The card of course came courtesy of [Eric]. It […]
[Bea Thurman] had a retro music conundrum. She loved the classic Greengate DS:3 sampler, but couldn’t buy one, and couldn’t find enough information to build her own. [Bea’s] plea for help caught the attention of [Eric Schlaepfer], aka [TubeTime]. The collaboration that followed ultimately solved a decades-old mystery. In the 1980s, there were two types of […]