CrowdClock: Self-Synchronizing LED Festival Badges Need No Master

Tony Goacher developed self-synchronizing LED badges for Oldham Illuminate Festival, built with young makers at Inclusive Bytes. Each CrowdClock badge integrates 16 addressable RGB LEDs controlled by an ESP32 microcontroller running the ESP-NOW wireless protocol. Rather than relying on a central master or explicit pairing, each device broadcasts its current clock tick to nearby peers. When a badge receives a higher tick value, it updates its own count — causing all nearby devices to converge on synchronized timing within seconds. The result is a crowd that becomes part of the light display itself, a practical demonstration of distributed consensus in wearable hardware for community events.

Sources: Hackaday

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FDM 3D Printers Emit UFPs and VOCs — Even PLA Produces Formaldehyde

A Hackaday investigation highlights mounting research into health risks from FDM 3D printing, focusing on ultra-fine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released when filament reaches extrusion temperatures. Studies show common materials including PLA, ABS, and TPU all produce measurable emissions — with even supposedly low-risk PLA emitting formaldehyde, a Group 1 carcinogen. The primary risk is long-term cumulative exposure from regular printing in enclosed spaces. Effective mitigation requires HEPA-plus-activated-carbon enclosures with exterior exhaust venting. Testing found Bambu Lab’s built-in activated carbon filter largely ineffective, while a simple window exhaust fan delivered significant real-world improvement.

Sources: Hackaday

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DIY Filament Dryer V2: Custom PCB, SHT30 Sensor, and Open-Source Design Files

[Sasa Karanovic] published a refined second-generation DIY filament dryer built around a custom PCB. The enclosure is a 5L food storage container fitted with an SHT30 combined temperature and humidity sensor and a 100K NTC thermistor, both feeding the custom controller board. The board switches a 12V polyimide resistive heater on and off to maintain target drying conditions. This V2 design improves on Karanovic’s earlier repurposed commercial dryer build. Full design files including schematic and PCB layout are available on GitHub. Wet filament is a common cause of poor print quality — stringing, bubbling, and layer delamination — making a reliable low-cost dryer a practical addition to any FDM setup.

Sources: Hackaday

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Put the Moon on Your Desk: ESP32-S3 Circular Display Tracks Real Lunar Position

[Karsten Mueller] built a compact moon-phase desk display using an ESP32-S3 microcontroller paired with a circular GC9A01-based LCD in a 3D-printed case. The device goes beyond a simple phase indicator — it uses local time, latitude, and longitude to render the moon as it would appear from the user’s specific geographic location at any moment, including when obscured by Earth or barely visible in daylight sky. The rendering engine initially used Mueller’s own lunar photographs but also supports pulling high-resolution imagery directly from NASA servers. The project demonstrates real-time astronomical computation on resource-constrained embedded hardware, with a polished physical result suitable as a functional desk accessory.

Sources: Hackaday

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DecayDock: ESP32-CAM and Edge AI Keep Track of Fridge Freshness

DecayDock is an ESP32-CAM-based fridge companion that tracks food freshness using on-device Edge AI. Mounted near the refrigerator, the device uses its integrated camera to identify common food items held up for scanning, adding each to an internal inventory. An Edge AI model estimates typical shelf life per item type, and an attached LCD displays freshness status using a green-yellow-red color coding system updated over time. The system does not perform real-time spoilage detection — it cannot identify actual mold or sourness — but provides a practical inventory reminder for households that lose track of what needs consuming first. The ESP32-CAM handles both image capture and inference without cloud connectivity.

Sources: Hackaday

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Flipper One Unveiled: RK3576 Linux Multi-Tool With RP2350 Co-Processor Targets Hackers

Flipper Devices unveiled the Flipper One, a pocket-sized open-source Linux computer and multi-tool powered by a Rockchip RK3576 octa-core Arm Cortex-A72/A53 SoC with 8 GB RAM, paired with a Raspberry Pi RP2350 for low-level hardware management. Connectivity includes dual Gigabit Ethernet, two USB-C, one USB-A, full-size HDMI, microSD, and M.2 expansion supporting SDR cards, SSDs, Wi-Fi, AI accelerators, or 5G radios. The RP2350 independently handles display, power, and boot while the RK3576 runs Linux. Flipper partnered with Collabora for full mainline kernel support with no binary blobs. Target price is under $350 USD; a Kickstarter campaign is planned for later in 2026.

Sources: CNX Software

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DIY iDrive Rival: ESP32-S3 Crowpanel Module Gets 3D-Printed Automotive Housing

[Garage Tinkering] built a custom automotive rotary controller for a personal vehicle, inspired by BMW’s iDrive system but using accessible off-the-shelf hardware. The core component is a Crowpanel 1.28-inch round display module integrating a push-button rotary encoder, a circular color screen, and an ESP32-S3 microcontroller in a single unit. A custom 3D-printed housing mounts the assembly into the car interior, with a diffuser ring for the module’s integrated LED ring and additional control buttons. Functions include switching interior and underglow lighting and displaying live vehicle parameters on the round screen. The project demonstrates the ESP32-S3 as a capable platform for automotive human-machine interface work at modest cost.

Sources: Hackaday

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ODROID-H5: $250 Intel i3-N300 SBC Brings 10GbE and Four M.2 Slots to Maker Builds

Hardkernel introduced the ODROID-H5, a compact x86 single-board computer built around Intel’s Core i3-N300 octa-core Alder Lake-N processor with up to 3.8 GHz boost, targeting makers requiring serious networking and storage I/O in a small form factor. The board features one 10GbE RJ45 port, two 2.5GbE ports, and four M.2 slots configurable for NVMe SSDs, Wi-Fi cards, AI accelerators, or additional network adapters, plus dual SODIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB RAM. Priced at $250 for the bare board, the ODROID-H5 targets edge computing, self-hosted application stacks, and NAS builds requiring better-than-gigabit throughput without committing to rack-mounted server hardware.

Sources: CNX Software

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Procolored X One Hits $700K on Kickstarter: 20W Laser Plus UV Printer in One Enclosure

Procolored launched the X One on Kickstarter — a desktop fabrication machine combining a 20W diode laser engraver, a 2W infrared laser cutter, and a full-color UV inkjet printer in a single enclosed unit with a 470 x 335 mm work area. A dual-track X-axis design allows switching between laser and UV printing without repositioning the workpiece, enabling single-session workflows such as laser-etching a surface and printing color fill into the recess. UV-DTF sticker production is also supported. The campaign launched May 20, 2026 and surpassed its $100,000 funding goal with over $700,000 raised in its opening days. Early backer pricing starts at $3,599 USD.

Sources: CNX Software

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