Samwise Makers' News
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Gaming PC Built Without a Single Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD Component
YouTuber GPUSpecs has built a fully functional x86 gaming PC without using a single component from Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD. The build centers on a Zhaoxin KaiXian KX-7000 CPU, an x86-64-compatible processor whose lineage traces through Cyrix, National Semiconductor, and VIA Technologies to a joint venture between VIA and the Government of Shanghai. The system runs Windows and plays games including Forza Horizon 5 with acceptable performance. Graphics processing is handled by a non-AMD, non-NVIDIA discrete GPU, completing a hardware stack that sidesteps the three dominant Western chipmakers. The project serves as a technical curiosity and a demonstration of China's growing x86-compatible processor industry.
Sources: Hackaday
Wipeout Clone Runs Natively on an ESP32-S3 Microcontroller
Developer [Giaba] has ported a fully functional clone of Psygnosis's classic 1995 racing game Wipeout to run natively on an ESP32-S3 microcontroller — no Linux OS, no Raspberry Pi, no PC. The port runs directly on bare metal and drives an ILI9341 SPI display, delivering recognizable track geometry, anti-gravity ship physics, and playable frame rates on the 240 MHz Xtensa LX7 dual-core processor. The project builds on earlier work adapting the original Wipeout engine source code, paired with embedded audio output via I2S. ROM data is stored in flash, keeping the entire build self-contained on hardware costing under $10.
Sources: Hackaday
Noctua Releases Free 3D CAD Models of Its Entire Fan Lineup
Austrian cooling manufacturer Noctua has released free 3D CAD models of its entire fan lineup as STEP files, downloadable from the company's official website. The models support mechanical design, engineering renderings, and enclosure integration — not 3D printing. Noctua has deliberately altered internal blade geometry in all files, modifying airfoil profiles that determine actual airflow performance to protect intellectual property. External dimensions, mounting points, and connector placements remain accurate, letting case modders, watercooling builders, and hardware engineers verify fitment without physical parts. Noctua fans appear in medical equipment, laboratory hardware, and home automation systems, making authoritative reference geometry useful to the broader maker community.
Sources: Hackaday
Full-Featured DSP Library Brings Multi-Channel Audio Processing to the Pi Pico
Developer WeebLabs has released a full-featured digital signal processing library for the Raspberry Pi Pico, enabling multi-channel audio processing without a dedicated DSP chip. The library supports plug-and-play USB audio on Windows, Linux, macOS, and iOS, handling 16- or 24-bit input at up to 96 kHz sample rates. Output options include up to four channels of 24-bit S/PDIF or I2S from a standard Pico, or eight channels via RP2350. Each channel includes a pre-amp, ten-band equalizer, and volume levelling. The Pico uses both CPU cores and fixed-point arithmetic with an overclock, while the RP2350-based Pico 2 runs single-precision floating point without overclocking. Up to ten preset configurations are supported.
Sources: Hackaday
Tindie Returns Online Under New Owner EETree LLC After Two-Week Outage
Tindie, the online maker hardware marketplace, is back online after two weeks of maintenance mode following its sale from Siemens subsidiary Supplyframe to EETree LLC. The acquisition closed April 14, 2026, with EETree LLC — a Washington State company linked to a Suzhou-based FPGA education provider — taking ownership of Tindie alone; Hackaday was not part of the transaction and remains with Supplyframe. The new team relaunched the site on April 29, stating they believe Tindie remains an important platform for hardware creators, independent sellers, and engineers. No changes to the marketplace's operation or fee structure have been announced, and existing listings and seller accounts remain intact.
Sources: Adafruit Blog
MiciMike Drop-In PCB Turns a Google Home Mini Into a Local Voice Assistant
Hardware developer Imre Laszlo has launched a Crowd Supply crowdfunding campaign for the MiciMike Home Mini Drop-In PCB, an open-source replacement mainboard for the first-generation Google Home Mini. The board replaces cloud-dependent hardware with an ESP32-S3 microcontroller paired with an XMOS XU316 audio processor, delivering on-device wake word detection, echo cancellation, and noise suppression via two MEMS microphones. Installation requires no soldering and no case modifications — the PCB matches the original's exact dimensions and connector positions. The board ships pre-flashed with ESPHome for Home Assistant Assist integration and supports Snapcast media playback. Priced at $85 with free US shipping and released under the CERN-OHL-S v2 open hardware license.
Sources: CNX Software
Open-Source Android App Scans Local Networks to Find Every Raspberry Pi
Developer [Philipp] has published an open-source Android network scanner designed to locate and identify Raspberry Pi boards on a local network. Standard DHCP allocation makes it difficult to find which IP address a Pi occupies when managing multiple boards remotely. The app resolves this via MAC address OUI lookup and mDNS detection to isolate Pi hardware among connected devices. Unlike ad-laden commercial alternatives, it includes GPIO pinout references for common Pi models and built-in electronics calculators. Source code is available on GitHub. The tool directly addresses a near-universal frustration among developers running headless Pi clusters or multi-device maker setups where SSH access depends on knowing the right address.
Sources: Hackaday
Top Crowdfunding
Kickstarter / Crowd Supply
1. MiciMike Home Mini Drop-In PCB — $85/unit, Crowd Supply (live Apr 29)
2. LeafKVM — KVM device (Rockchip RV1126B), Crowd Supply (live Apr 21)
3. LimeSDR Micro — M.2 SDR module, Crowd Supply (ships Sep 2026)
GitHub Trending
Makers & Hardware
1. davidmonterocrespo24/velxio — browser-based Arduino/ESP32/RPi simulator
2. earlephilhower/arduino-pico — RP2040/RP2350 Arduino core
3. iMike78/nest-mini-drop-in-pcb — MiciMike PCB design files
Upcoming Events
Open Hardware Summit 2026 — May 23–24, TU Berlin, Germany
Maker Faire Long Island — June 6, Stony Brook University, NY
Maker Faire Bay Area 2026 — Sep 25–27, Mare Island, CA
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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