Samwise Makers' News
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
OmniStamp: A Palm-Sized Omnidirectional Robot Built on M5Stack StampS3A
OmniStamp is a palm-sized three-wheel omnidirectional robot built by PhD student Shuai Liang at Fudan University. Built around the M5Stack StampS3A microcontroller, it uses three 24 mm omni wheels spaced 120 degrees apart for holonomic movement in any direction without pivoting first. Three brushed DC N20 gear motors at 190 rpm are driven by MS8837 motor drivers on a custom baseboard. An OID positioning module gives the robot absolute X/Y coordinates and heading on a printed map, enabling point-to-point navigation. High-level programming is done visually in MicroBlocks firmware. A 1.8-inch 360×360 circular display forms the robot's distinctive face.
Sources: Hackster.io
Sandwiching Carbon-Fiber Cloth Into 3D Prints Triples Yield Strength
Maker MagicLAG has developed a method to dramatically strengthen FDM 3D prints by sandwiching carbon-fiber cloth between a print's core and outer shell layers. The technique prints the part in three pieces — a core and two shells — with a small gap between them, then epoxies carbon-fiber cloth into the gap. Load testing on printed hooks using a load cell showed the composite approach more than tripled yield strength compared to standard prints. Earlier attempts using single fiber strands showed no improvement; only continuous cloth produced significant gains. The method preserves external surface accuracy when slow-cure rather than quick-setting epoxy is used.
Three-Year Build: A Full British Rail Class 800 Cab for Train Simulators
Christopher Mitchell has spent three years building a full-scale replica of a British Rail Class 800 cab for use with Train Simulator and Train Sim World. His July 2026 update covers new progress on his apartment-based build, which uses real components where possible. The Class 800, built by Hitachi as part of their AT300 modular series, first entered UK service in 2017. The cab communicates internally via CAN bus, and real instruments include genuine AWS sunflower signal indicators used in the UK rail safety system. The simulator APIs provide feedback to drive real gauges and LEDs showing the in-game train's external light states.
Developer Ports CP/M to 80386 Protected Mode via CP/M-68K Codebase
Developer johnsonjh has ported CP/M to run in 80386 protected mode, building on the Motorola 68000 variant of the OS rather than the original Z-80 version. CP/M dominated 8080 and Z-80 machines before MS-DOS took over, but was limited by the Z-80's 16-bit address bus, which capped addressable memory at 64KB. The 80386's memory management unit allows full 4KB page remapping into a program's virtual address space. The port is available at gitlab.com/johnsonjh/cpm386 as an early-stage release. Multitasking support via MP/M is partially working; historical CP/M software from other variants will not run without recompilation.
Inside a 1971 Bendix PPI-1 Weather Radar Display From a McDonnell-Douglas DC9
Thomas Scherrer has documented a detailed teardown of a vintage Bendix PPI-1 plan position indicator, a weather radar display removed from a 1971 McDonnell-Douglas DC9. Scherrer has only the display itself, without the accompanying radar hardware or power supply, but the internals reveal design details characteristic of early-1970s avionics: neat wire harnesses, chunky through-hole components, and purpose-built front-panel dimming optics. The case is designed for serviceability. In operation, the PPI-1 displays areas of stronger radar return as lit regions on a plan-position top-down map, helping pilots identify and avoid weather cells ahead of the aircraft.
BornHack 2026 Runs Its First FM Radio Station at 102.8 FM
BornHack 2026, held at the Hylkedam scout camp on Denmark's isle of Funen, featured the first-ever FM broadcast radio station at the annual hacker camp. BornHack Radio broadcast at 102.8 FM with 5 watts effective radiated power from a vertical antenna at the camp's highest point, reaching the two nearest towns. The station operated without music licensing, keeping programming entirely speech-based: talk shows, interview segments, a live feed from the speaker tent, and a robotic numbers station. Hackaday contributor Jenny List produced two recorded shows, including an interview programme and a BornHack edition of the Hackaday Podcast format.
Adafruit Announces CircuitPython Day 2026 for August 21
Adafruit has designated August 21, 2026 as CircuitPython Day, the annual celebration of the MicroPython-derived firmware used widely in educational maker hardware. The announcement appeared in the August 4 ICYMI Python on Microcontrollers newsletter, with special programming planned throughout the day. CircuitPython, originally developed by Adafruit, runs on hundreds of microcontroller boards and prioritizes ease of use for newcomers, allowing Python scripts to run directly from a USB drive without a compile-and-flash step. The 2026 event follows a tradition of live streams, tutorials, and community showcases covering CircuitPython projects and firmware updates.
Sources: Adafruit Blog
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Upcoming Events
CircuitPython Day — Aug 21, 2026 (online)
Maker Faire Bay Area — Sept 25–27, 2026, Mare Island, CA
Hackaday Supercon 2026 — Nov 6–8, 2026, Pasadena, CA
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency