Samwise Makers' News
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics Launch $399 Microduck Biped Robot for Physical AI
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics unveiled Microduck, a $399 open-source biped robot built specifically for reinforcement learning and physical AI experimentation. Standing 25 cm tall and weighing 780 grams, the robot has 15 degrees of freedom and can walk, crouch, roller-skate, and recover from falls. Its articulated beak doubles as a gripper for small-object manipulation. Onboard hardware includes a wide-angle camera, an 8×8 time-of-flight LiDAR sensor, two IMUs, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and dual NFC antennas. Behaviors are trained in simulation using the open-source SDK, then transferred to the hardware. Pre-orders open now; shipping before Christmas 2026 to North America, Europe, and the UK.
Sources: Hackster.io
DOOM’s Opening Track Recreated With Only 555 Timer ICs
Builder [Nick] reconstructed the DOOM opening track using an all-analog circuit of 555 timer ICs, with no microcontroller anywhere in the design. A first 555 oscillates at 7 Hz, clocking a binary counter that drives a 4-to-16 line decoder. Fifteen decoder outputs are hard-wired through a diode matrix to select one of six pitches per melodic step. A second 555, configured with resistor networks tuned to each pitch, generates the audio. The result faithfully reproduces the iconic opener using only components available in 1975 — a masterclass in squeezing musical complexity from the simplest possible chips.
CircuitPython 10.3.0-rc.0 Released With New picogame Engine Module
Adafruit released CircuitPython 10.3.0-rc.0, the first release candidate for the 10.3 branch. The headline addition is the picogame module, a performance-oriented game engine designed as a faster alternative to displayio for rendering-intensive projects. The release also includes e-ink display quality improvements affecting several boards, notably the MagTag 2025. As a release candidate, it is intended for testing rather than production deployment, and the team is asking the community to report issues before the stable release. CircuitPython 10.3.0-rc.0 is available now from circuitpython.org; full release notes appear on the Adafruit blog.
Sources: Adafruit Blog
Casting Metal Engine Parts From Lost-PLA 3D Prints
Tired of the material waste from milling billet aluminium, Camden Bowen switched to lost-PLA metal casting to produce engine components. He built his own kiln from cement, perlite, and a propane burner, then converted aluminium alloy wheels into casting-grade ingots. PLA prints of the target shapes are embedded in a sand-reinforced Plaster of Paris mold, burned out in the kiln, then replaced by poured aluminium. After troubleshooting residue left by the PLA burnout, Bowen successfully cast an engine cylinder with only minor imperfections — demonstrating that hobbyist-grade tooling can produce precision parts that would otherwise require extensive machining.
Pine64 Halts Linux Device Production as RAM and eMMC Prices Spike
Pine64, the open hardware company known for its PINE64 SBC family, PinePhone, and related Linux devices, has halted production of new hardware. The cause: RAM and eMMC storage costs have risen to levels that make manufacturing unviable, driven by AI industry demand and other market forces. Hackaday coverage notes that while most consumers and builders simply feel the price pain, Pine64 has been pushed to a complete production stop. The halt directly impacts maker access to affordable open Linux hardware — an increasingly rare product category as component costs continue to escalate.
Miles-Long Panoramic Photos Captured With an Industrial Line-Scan Camera
Photographer [Philo] built a rail-mounted line-scan camera system capable of capturing ultra-wide panoramic images by stitching single columns of pixels as the sensor moves. Starting as a smartphone proof-of-concept — rotating on a chair to capture one column per frame — the project evolved into a purpose-built rig using an industrial line-scan camera designed for imaging assembly lines. Mounted aboard trains and boats, the camera assembles miles of continuous landscape into single seamless images. Accelerometer data helps compensate for platform vibration during capture. The full build and software stack are documented on Philo’s website, with results that far outreach conventional panoramic stitching.
Failed SD Card Recovered After Shorted MLCC Capacitors Found Inside
Data recovery specialist Yevgeniy Kapishon successfully recovered a failed 32 GB SD card by diagnosing and removing two shorted MLCC capacitors buried inside the monolithic package. The initial clue was a short between the supply rail and ground. Because this card integrates all components into a single sealed package — unlike older designs with exposed PCB components — an X-ray machine and thermal camera were needed to locate the fault. Cross-referencing the thermal hot spot with the X-ray image identified the offending passives near the package edge. With both capacitors removed, the power rail cleared and the card resumed normal operation.
Top Crowdfunding
Kickstarter / Indiegogo
eufyMake E1 (3D printer) — $46M raised, Kickstarter
Snapmaker U1 — $20.6M raised, Kickstarter
HeyGears G1 Series (full-color 3D/UV printer) — live on Kickstarter
GitHub Trending
Makers & Hardware
None this week — star counts unavailable
Upcoming Events
Maker Faire Bay Area — Sept 25-27, 2026, Mare Island, Vallejo CA
Hackaday Supercon 10 — Nov 6-8, 2026, ArtCenter Pasadena CA
Every newsletter preserved and searchable
Curated by JD · samwise.agency