Samwise Makers' News
Thursday, July 30, 2026
Maker Builds First Web Browser to Run on an ESP32 Microcontroller
Maker Alun Morris has built what Hackaday reports as the first web browser seen running on an ESP32 microcontroller, demonstrated on a Cheap Black Display development board that costs just a few dollars sourced from AliExpress. The project was shown at the Hackaday Europe conference and runs FreeRTOS with three separate tasks: HTML retrieval, page tokenizing, and the user interface. The text-mode browser fetches pages directly from the web, successfully retrieving Hackaday itself during testing. For sites too complex to fetch directly, a server-side proxy handles the request and can also generate image thumbnails for display on the device.
Sources: Hackaday
Hacker Builds Portable Weather Radar from a $5 RV Satellite Dome
A maker known as Koakno has built a portable weather radar using a salvaged Winegard Carryout Anser GM-5000 satellite dome purchased from an RV for just $5. The motorized parabolic dish, originally designed to track television satellites, was repurposed as a scanning antenna for X-band radar signals. The build pairs the dome with an inexpensive software-defined radio, which injects an 850 MHz signal that the dish’s low-noise block up-converts to 10.4 GHz and broadcasts outward. Echoes returning from rain, hail, and airborne debris are down-converted back to 850 MHz by the LNB and captured by the SDR for processing.
Sources: Hackaday
Thingino Open-Source Firmware Unlocks Cheap IP Cameras for Maker Projects
Thingino, an open-source firmware project for Ingenic SoC-based IP cameras, is gaining renewed attention in the maker community for enabling privacy-respecting local control of inexpensive security cameras without cloud subscriptions. The firmware, licensed under the MIT License, targets cameras based on Ingenic chips from the T10 and T20 series up through the modern T31, building a model-specific image rather than a one-size-fits-all binary. Thingino supports ONVIF for device discovery and RTSP for video streaming, and has been noted as compatible with Prusa printer monitoring workflows. The project is hosted on GitHub at themactep/thingino-firmware.
Sources: Hackaday
Researcher Uses Keyboard LEDs to Bridge an Air Gap Between Isolated Computers
Security researcher Nikolay Valentinovich Repnitskiy has demonstrated a novel air-gap crossing technique using keyboard indicator LEDs to create what he calls a unidirectional network between two physically isolated computers. The build uses two Dell SK-8115 keyboards stripped to their controller PCBs. Photoresistors are soldered to the keyboard matrix pins of one board, and the second board’s Num Lock and Caps Lock LEDs are positioned directly above those photoresistors. A sending computer flashes the keyboard LEDs in a coded sequence that the photoresistors detect and interpret as keystrokes on the isolated machine, bridging the air gap without any electronic network connection.
Sources: Hackaday
Sovol M1D IDEX 3D Printer with Six Swappable Toolheads Raises $2.7M on Kickstarter
Sovol has launched the M1D, an open-source IDEX 3D printer on Kickstarter that has raised more than $2.7 million from over 1,700 backers with 29 days remaining. The printer features a fixed dual-extruder architecture with up to six swappable toolheads, supporting a total of seven independently heated print heads. A patented automatic tool changer swaps print heads in as little as five seconds. The M1D comes in two versions: the open-frame Essential and the Advanced, which adds a full enclosure and a chamber heating module capable of reaching 60°C. Early Bird pricing starts at approximately $1,299 for the Essential and $1,599 for the Advanced, excluding shipping.
Sources: CNX Software
Maker Transforms 1970s Atari Superman Pinball Playfield into LED Wall Art
Maker Hans Scharler has converted a playfield from a 1970s Atari Superman pinball machine into an illuminated piece of wall art. Scharler collected missing plastic inserts for the playfield, cleaned everything up, and mounted it along with a set of modified flippers. The original pop bumpers were replaced with custom 3D-printed versions designed to act as LED-lit light guides rather than functional game components. WS2811 addressable LEDs are distributed across the playfield and controlled by a WLED controller, with the system synchronized to Scharler’s CheerLights MQTT server for networked light control. The project preserves the vintage artwork of the 1970s game while adding contemporary addressable lighting.
Sources: Hackaday
ESPKVM Project Delivers Open-Source KVM Over IP Using the ESP32-P4
The ESPKVM project delivers an open-source KVM-over-IP device built around Espressif’s ESP32-P4 microcontroller paired with a Toshiba TC358743 HDMI-to-CSI bridge for video capture. The device connects to a target computer’s HDMI output and USB ports, presenting itself to the host as a standard keyboard and mouse while streaming captured video in MJPEG or H.264 format over a network connection for remote control. Beyond keyboard and video, ESPKVM can serve storage from a micro SD card or onboard flash, handle power and reset control, and support wake-on-LAN. Users with an ESP32-P4 and TC358743 board can flash the firmware directly from the ESPKVM website.
Sources: Hackaday
Top Crowdfunding
Kickstarter / Indiegogo
1. Sovol M1D IDEX 3D Printer — $2.7M+ raised, Kickstarter
2. RootBoard Open-Hardware Handheld — live, Kickstarter
3. GR-2 Hardware Granular Synth — €50K goal, Kickstarter
GitHub Trending
Makers & Hardware
1. arendst/Tasmota — 24.6k★ ESP firmware
2. lvgl/lvgl — 18.5k★ embedded UI library
3. MarlinFirmware/Marlin — 17.5k★ 3D printer firmware
Upcoming Events
Maker Faire Bay Area — Sept 25–27, Mare Island, CA
Hackaday Supercon 2026 — Nov 6–8, Pasadena, CA
Maker Faire Orlando — Nov 7–8, Orlando, FL
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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