Samwise Makers' News
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
CERN Opens 17,000-Part KiCad Library to the World
CERN has open-sourced its entire internal KiCad component library under the CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 Permissive license, granting electronics designers free access to over 17,000 component symbols and footprints for KiCad 9.x. The library, maintained by CERN’s PCB layout team and guided by its Electronics Design Automation Committee, covers components used across high-energy physics experiments. The repository is hosted on CERN’s GitLab instance under the Open Hardware Repository. KiCad 10.x compatibility is planned for a future release. For hardware makers, the collection provides verified, physics-lab-grade component data that would otherwise take years to build independently, and complements designs already published through CERN’s open hardware programme.
Sources: Hackaday
Full Linux Cyberdeck Crammed Into an Altoids Mint Tin
A maker known as Exercising Ingenuity has built a functional clamshell Linux computer inside an Altoids mint tin, combining a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a Waveshare UPS HAT, a 3.7V LiPo battery, a small SPI display, and a hand-built keyboard. Board connectors were removed and wires soldered directly to components to fit within the tin’s dimensions. A custom 3D-printed frame holds everything in place, while hinge sections cut from a second tin were soldered on to allow the lid to close fully. The build includes a full-size USB port and broken-out GPIO header. Project files and documentation are available on Hackaday.io.
Sources: Hackaday
Hackaday Europe 2026 Opens in Three Days in Lecco, Italy
Hackaday Europe 2026 opens in three days at the Politecnico di Milano campus in Lecco, Italy, running May 16 and 17, with a pre-party Friday evening at Soqquadro Restaurant on Lago di Lecco. The updated workshop lineup includes Tiny Tapeout — a hands-on ASIC design session enabling participants to have custom chips manufactured — alongside Fault Injection 101, When Code Needs a Body, and an EchoGlow Arduino UNO Q workshop on Sunday. The 2025 Hackaday Supercon badge, featuring a LoRa module and retro keyboard, will be on hand for a custom mesh network experiment. Admission covers food, drinks, and the Saturday night party.
Sources: Hackaday
Critical RCE Vulnerabilities Exposed in Unitree Robot Dog Firmware
Researchers have disclosed two critical remote code execution vulnerabilities in Unitree Go2 robot dog firmware, CVE-2026-27509 and CVE-2026-27510. The first flaw exploits missing authentication in the robot’s Eclipse CycloneDDS implementation across firmware V1.1.7 through V1.1.9 and V1.1.11 EDU, allowing network-adjacent attackers to inject arbitrary Python code executed as root. The second targets the Android companion app’s lack of cryptographic signing for custom programs sent to the robot. A backdoor via CloudSail, a remote management tool by China’s Zhexi Technology, was also confirmed across Go2, B2, G1, and H1 Unitree platforms. No firmware patch has been issued.
Sources: Hackaday
Repairing the GoPro Hero 10: Common Fault, Scarce Parts
Repair creator Hugh Jeffreys has documented a detailed teardown and fix attempt on a GoPro Hero 10 Black purchased for US$100 with a common fault: no camera input plus a cracked display. The Hero 10 is built around an Ambarella H22 SoC with 2GB LPDDR4 RAM and a 23MP Sony image sensor. Jeffreys identified a damaged flex cable linking the image sensor to the mainboard as the most likely root cause. The repair highlights continuing right-to-repair friction in the action camera market, where manufacturers restrict spare parts and service documentation for independent technicians. The full teardown video is available on the Hugh Jeffreys YouTube channel.
Sources: Hackaday
ColorStack Converts Game Assets to Full-Color FDM Print Files for $10
ColorStack is a new US$10 desktop application for macOS and Windows that automates conversion of textured 3D models and game assets into full-color FDM-ready print files for CMYW and CMYWK multi-material printers. The app reads texture map data from common 3D formats and generates per-layer color assignments compatible with multi-filament systems such as the Bambu Lab X1C. Makers working with photogrammetry scans, game-ripped models, or standard PBR-textured meshes can bypass the typically manual process of splitting models by color. ColorStack is available for a flat US$10 one-time license with no subscription required.
Sources: All3DP
PCB Shortage Looms as Resin Disruption and Copper Prices Spike
The electronics community is bracing for a printed circuit board shortage following disruption to global supply of polyphenylene ether resin, a critical PCB base material produced at Saudi Arabia’s Jubail petrochemical complex, struck in an April incident. Copper foil prices have surged up to 30 percent this year, and PCB pricing jumped as much as 40 percent in April alone. The shortage compounds ongoing memory and storage component price pressure. AI infrastructure demand is simultaneously tightening supply of high-layer-count boards. Makers and small-batch hardware producers sourcing custom boards through offshore fabs are already reporting extended lead times and allocation-based ordering from distributors.
Sources: Adafruit Blog
Top Crowdfunding
Kickstarter / Indiegogo / Crowd Supply
1. LimeSDR Micro — Software-defined radio, Crowd Supply (shipping Sep 2026)
2. None this week
3. None this week
GitHub Trending
Makers & Hardware
1. davidmonterocrespo24/velxio — Arduino/ESP32/Pi browser emulator
2. adafruit/circuitpython — CircuitPython 10.3.0-beta.1 active
3. None this week
Upcoming Events
Hackaday Europe 2026 — May 16–17, Lecco, Italy
Open Hardware Summit 2026 — May 23–24, Berlin, Germany
Maker Faire Bay Area 2026 — Sep 25–27, Mare Island, CA
Curated by JD · samwise.agency