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Modern microcontrollers have become very powerful, with many offering processing capabilities that would have been unimaginable in a home computer from the 1980s. Yet most still aren't capable of running a full-fledged operating system like Linux, largely because they lack a memory management unit (MMU) and have relatively limited RAM. That doesn't mean they can't provide a desktop computing experience, however.

Intel's 1976 8048 microcontroller gets a second life as a retro conference badge with a custom development board and scrolling LED display. The DIY Intel MCS-48 development board (πŸ“·: mwfeurtado) Microcontrollers have come a long way over the past 50 years. Modern chips pack powerful processors, plenty of memory, and wireless connectivity into packages that cost just a few dollars.

To make affordable flip-dot displays, Larry decided to fabricate his own electromagnets and he built this machine to wind the coils. 3 seconds ago • 3D Printing / Productivity / Displays Flip-dot displays are really cool, but they are hard to come by these days. That’s because manufacturers stopped making them. They stopped making them because they’re expensive, thanks to all of the components required. If you want to build your own flip-dot display, you have to contend with that same challenge.

This insect-inspired flying robot can survive being swatted or crushed under 11,000 times its own weight and keep flying. A flying robot modeled after insects (πŸ“·: Wenzhong Yan) Flying insects are incredibly resilient creatures. A fruit fly or bee can slam into a window, bounce off, and continue flying as though nothing happened. But don't try that with a tiny flying robot unless you want to spend some time in the workshop making repairs.

Digital audio offers plenty of flexibility when it comes to manipulating recordings, but something has been lost in the transition away from physical media. With a reel-to-reel tape deck, for example, you can grab a reel and manually move the tape backward or forward to find a particular spot in a recording. Maker Mykle wanted to bring that kind of tactile control to digital audio, so he built TWEACMAN, a pocket-sized WAV player that lets users manipulate recordings with a pair of rotary controls.

I’ve been testing the Elegoo M1 Ultra 3D scanner over the past couple of weeks and in this review, I’ll tell you all about it. Elegoo just released their very first 3D scanner: the M1 Ultra. I’ve been testing it over the past couple of weeks and in this review, I’ll tell you all about it and help you decide if it is the right 3D scanner for you.

NINASENSE nRF is an open source BLE and LoRa sensing board that runs for years on AAA batteries and can be programmed with natural language. The NINASENSE nRF wireless sensing platform (πŸ“·: NearMeter Technologies LLC) Battery-powered wireless sensors are perfect for everything from home automation to industrial monitoring, but keeping them running for the long haul takes a lot of maintenance.

Ivan Miranda put a new spin on the concept to build this marble display that can present scrolling messages. 3 seconds ago • Displays / 3D Printing A lot of makers have used marbles to build displays, because marbles roll easily through mechanisms and there are a wide range of colors available to act as “pixels.” But almost all of those display only a single image at a time and have to “refresh” to display a new one.

Building a device that can see, hear, and detect movement could take a pile of development boards and modules, along with the wiring and software needed to make everything work together. That's not necessarily a problem for experienced developers, but all of this complexity isn't exactly ideal in an otherwise straightforward project.

Mario Cruz upgraded a 1984 Tomy Omnibot with a Raspberry Pi and AI camera, giving the vintage robot the brains it always deserved. An Omnibot with some modern upgrades (πŸ“·: Placitech) In 1984, Tomy released the Omnibot, a toy robot that promised to bring a little bit of the future into people's homes. It could drive around, play cassette tapes, and carry drinks on a built-in serving tray. But despite its futuristic appearance, the Omnibot wasn't particularly intelligent.