Runar Tenfjord releases an open STM32C5 dev board with Oberon-2 support2 sources

Runar Tenfjord has released an open-source STM32C5 development board with Oberon-2 support, published under an MIT license and made available through hackster.io. The primary software offering is ESCOberon, an embedded variant of Oberon-2 that provides a programming alternative to the standard C and C++ environments common in embedded development. The board lets developers code directly in Oberon-2 syntax on the STM32C5 architecture, targeting embedded systems developers who are seeking non-traditional language stacks. No pricing or additional hardware specifications have been disclosed alongside the announcement. The release makes this specific open-source toolchain accessible to microcontroller developers with an interest in Oberon-2.

Ploopy’s open-source A+ Trackball launches August 19 at $99 CAD2 sources

Ploopy is launching the open-source A+ Trackball on August 19 at $99 CAD, bringing an update to its popular Adept design. The new model adds two rotary encoder knobs that function as secondary inputs alongside the trackball mechanism – a feature not found on the Adept. As with its predecessor, the A+ Trackball’s design is open-source, leaving the door open for community modification. Reported by hackster.io, the release gives Ploopy’s existing fan base a more capable peripheral while keeping the open-hardware ethos that defined the Adept line intact.

Magmabow fits 300 MHz Cortex-M7 into Arduino Nano footprint with 200x more memory

Magmabow has released a modified Arduino Nano form factor board built around a 300 MHz ATSAME70 Arm Cortex-M7 microcontroller that delivers 18 times the processing speed of the original Nano and 200 times its memory capacity. The design maintains the classic Nano’s compact physical dimensions, allowing for significantly higher performance within the same small footprint. Targeting users who require enhanced computational power without changing their hardware size, the board’s specification details – as reported by hackster.io – highlight the potential for high-speed embedded applications in constrained spaces, with the release representing a substantial leap in capability for the popular form factor.

Snap-fit Raspberry Pi Pico case keeps sensors outside the electronics enclosure

Adafruit’s i.boxit has released a snap-fit case for the Raspberry Pi Pico with an integrated sensor cage, compatible with the Pico, Pico W, and Pico 2. The design keeps temperature, humidity, or other sensors mounted outside the electronics enclosure while the board stays protected inside. The case ships with a wall mount, Bootsel button access, a user LED light tube, a cooling grille, and a built-in opener. Print settings call for a 0.4mm nozzle at 0.2mm layer height.

Additive chemistry turns ordinary PLA into some of 3D printing’s strangest filaments

On August 17, 2026, Hackaday published Maya Posch’s Printing FDM Filaments That Are Just Plain Weird, reviewing a Zack Freedman video on unusual thermopolymer additives – a subject Posch notes Freedman has previously explored. Materials covered include CMYK sets for full-color printing, silky PETG, foamy TPU and TPE, Timeplast (usable as soap or fish food), filaments claiming to be the blackest filament, paper-texture mimics, and those made from literal landfill trash. Some emit strong lemon scents to repel flies; others offer pumpkin spice aromas for seasonal decoration. Posch notes the range spans practical applications, green credentials, and olfactory experiences.

Wave overhangs let 3D printers span horizontal gaps without support structures

Al Williams, writing for Hackaday on August 16, 2026, details wave overhangs, a new 3D printing technique that eliminates support structures for horizontal overhangs by instructing slicers to grow the overhang outward from the main part rather than drawing it in free space. The approach targets a known limitation of arc overhangs – dimpling at arc centers – and can diffract around holes and corners for complex geometries. It is currently available in a fork of Orca Slicer, backed by a technical paper, with developers inviting community contributions to refine settings.

Throaty Mumbo revives Nintendo’s 130,000-unit 1988 Famicom network modem

Maya Posch reports on Throaty Mumbo’s 2026 effort to revive the 1988 Family Computer Network System, a modem add-on Nintendo sold 130,000 units of in Japan supporting stock brokering, banking, and Super Mario Club services – groundwork for Satellaview and Nintendo Online. Throaty Mumbo acquired a unit missing its required special card but sourced a functional Super Mario Club card instead. Voiding the warranty, he tested the hardware: remote servers decommissioned decades ago triggered errors via a phone line simulator, and his lack of Japanese complicated navigation.

AGI-64 lets Commodore 64 owners play Sierra’s classic adventure games for the first time

Commodore 64 owners can now play Sierra On-Line’s classic adventure games for the first time, thanks to AGI-64, a project that ports Sierra’s Adventure Game Interpreter engine to the vintage 8-bit hardware. Sierra originally developed AGI for King’s Quest in 1984, but the Commodore 64 never received official support – a gap AGI-64 now closes. Titles including Space Quest are among those accessible through the release, which is available for immediate use. The project resolves a decades-old limitation for retro gaming enthusiasts and confirms that Sierra’s classic catalog, built on that original 1984 engine, now runs on the legacy machine.

Hackaday Europe 2026 brings open source hardware makers underground in Berlin

At Hackaday Europe 2026 on August 17, Phil Underwood presented Open Source Caving: 20 Years of Making Cave Mapping Tools, detailing his design of progressively advanced open hardware devices built to improve the speed and accuracy of underground mapping. Underwood contrasted his work with traditional methods that rely on compasses, inclinometers, tape measures, and intricate manual notes – a process requiring cavers to surface before inputting collected data into software to generate three-dimensional maps. Central to his talk were two decades of lessons learned balancing durability with accessibility, producing hardware capable of withstanding subterranean environments while remaining within reach of hobbyist builders.

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