Samwise Makers' News
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Volumetric 3D Printing Gets a Hobbyist-Friendly Path With OpenCAL V2 and Tomo
Computed axial lithography — also called volumetric additive manufacturing — may finally be ready for hobbyist hands. The OpenCAL V2 open-source software now supports Tomo, a standalone app that removes the PhD-level barrier to setting up VAM resin prints. Instead of building layer by layer, CAL projects patterns from multiple angles into a rotating resin vat, solidifying the entire object in minutes. Maker builds use a consumer projector and off-the-shelf electronics; Formlabs has even partnered to provide resins. No support structures, no layer lines, and print times measured in minutes rather than hours — this could genuinely reshape desktop fabrication.
SB Mini II Is a Homebrew Apple II Clone Built Entirely From Off-the-Shelf DIP ICs
Simon Boak has pulled off something remarkable: a fully functional Apple II clone called SB Mini II, built entirely from commercially available DIP ICs — no unobtanium chips required. The design swaps original NMOS parts for modern CMOS equivalents, uses a Raspberry Pi Pico for USB keyboard input, and outputs to VGA rather than composite video. SRAM replaces the original DRAM, simplifying the design considerably. A matching 3D-printed retro LCD monitor enclosure is already up on Printables. The complete project is fully open-sourced on GitHub, making it an ideal deep-dive for anyone wanting to understand early 8-bit home computing from the ground up.
OBI Smart Energy Tracker Reverse-Engineered to Self-Host on Local MQTT Instead of AWS
The OBI Smart Energy Tracker is a €15 two-device kit — a LoRa gateway and a smart meter reader — but it was shipping all its data to AWS. Hardware hacker Aaron Christophel reverse-engineered the system, which uses an ESP32-C3 gateway and a BAT32G135 Cortex-M0+ chip to read meters over 868 MHz LoRa. He found two paths to self-hosting: reprovisioning the device to talk to a local MQTT broker, or flashing completely custom firmware. The result is a cheap, capable energy monitoring system that reports to Home Assistant instead of the cloud, with full source available to adapt for other LoRa meter setups.
The Atari Jaguar Now Boots Linux on Its 16-Bit 68000 CPU
The Atari Jaguar — a 1993 console with 2 MB of RAM, a 16-bit 68000 CPU, and graphics chips named Tom and Jerry — now boots Linux. Developer cakehonolulu got a -nommu kernel running on the machine by repurposing the Jerry DSP's serial port and timer for early boot, then bringing up a minimal BusyBox userspace. A driver for the Tom graphics chip followed. The technical constraints are formidable: the Jaguar was designed as a game console, not a general-purpose computer, and the memory map required careful coaxing. It joins a long tradition of impractical-but-illuminating Linux ports to machines that really have no business running it.
Cambridge's Future Nostalgia Project Publishes Floppy Rescue Guide Using Greaseweazle
Magnetic floppy disks are dying — literally. The binder holding iron oxide to the mylar substrate degrades over time, shedding oxide with every read, which means every access could be the last. The University of Cambridge's Future Nostalgia project has published a hands-on guide to rescuing floppy archives before they crumble. The process covers sourcing USB floppy drives that still work, using Greaseweazle to capture raw magnetic flux data — not just file copies — and cleaning disks that have already started shedding. Unlike simple file copies, flux imaging captures copy-protection tracks and sector-level data, giving collections the best chance at long-term digital survival.
ESP32Talkie Turns an M5StickS3 Into a License-Free Wi-Fi Walkie-Talkie
Pokibon's ESP32Talkie turns an M5StickS3 into a license-free walkie-talkie that reaches about a kilometre — no router, no repeater, no amateur radio licence required. The trick is ESP-NOW in Long Range mode, which stretches the standard Wi-Fi protocol well beyond its typical range. The radio operates across 13 channels spaced 5 MHz apart between 2412 and 2472 MHz, with push-to-talk triggered by the built-in button or a shake gesture. Two devices pair automatically on power-up. The full source is on GitHub, the hardware cost is minimal, and the project makes a compelling argument that short-range digital voice comms have never been easier to build.
Sources: Hackster.io Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Tic ArUco Toe: A Robot Arm Learns Tic-Tac-Toe With OpenCV ArUco Markers and Minimax AI
Teaching a robot arm to play tic-tac-toe sounds trivial until you consider the full stack required to make it work. Elephant Robotics' project combines a palletizing robot arm with OpenCV's ArUco marker detection — the board and pieces carry fiducial markers that the camera reads — and a minimax algorithm that plays optimally, meaning the robot never loses. The arm detects the human player's move from the camera feed, computes the best response, and physically places its piece. Beyond the game itself, the project is a clear, reproducible tutorial for integrating computer vision, AI game logic, and physical manipulation, all using accessible open-source tools.
Sources: Hackster.io Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
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