VGA Output From A PIC18

In the maker world, it’s the Arduino and ESP32 lines that get the lion’s share of attention. However, you can do fantastic things with PIC chips, too, if you put the dev time in—it’s just perhaps less likely another maker has done so before you. A great example is this VGA output project from [grecotron].

A PIC18F47K42 is perhaps not the first part you would reach for to pursue any sort of video-based project. However, with the right techniques, you can get the 8-bit microcontroller pumping out the pixels surprisingly well. [grecotron] was able to get the chip outputting to a...

The Most Intricate Of Freeform Digital Clocks

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=w20A85zaaos

Digital clock projects have been with us since the 1970s, when affordable LEDs and integrated circuits became available. In 2026 most of them use a microcontroller, but for the AliExpress fans there’s one that goes straight back to the ’70s with a pile of logic chips. You can make it on the supplied PCBs, but that wasn’t for [ALTco]. Instead, he made the circuit in free form, using six metres of brass wire.

The construction is anchored together by a set of busbars that carry sockets for a set of seven-segment and driver modules. The circuit is typical for the day,...

Alibaba XuanTie C950 – A powerful, RVA23-complaint 64-bit RISC-V core for Edge AI computing

Alibaba has introduced the XuanTie C950 high-performance, 64-bit multi-core CPU IP with an out-of-order superscalar microarchitecture, RVA23 profile compliant, and support for “all optional extensions” such as Vector Crypto, Zacas, and Zama16. The company also says the XuanTie C950 supports the proprietary XuanTie AME (Attached Matrix Extension) ISA and supports integration with the company’s XuanTie TPE (Tensor Processing Engine) IP. The new 64-bit RISC-V core will be found in SoCs with up to eight cores per cluster, targeting high-performance applications, such as cloud computing, edge computing, and AI computing. XuanTie C950 specifications: Architecture – RVA23 Profile Up to 8x cores...

Quixant IQON 3 and Air 3 AMD Ryzen Embedded 8000 systems target casino and arcade gaming

Quixant IQON 3 and IQON Air 3 are two new Ryzen Embedded 8000-based industrial systems designed specifically for casinos, sports betting, and arcade gaming machines. Built around AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 PRO R8000 Series SoCs, they support four independent 4K displays and feature game-specific hardware, including 4MB of battery-free MRAM for instant state saving, eleven physical intrusion-detection monitors, dedicated LED controllers, and casino-standard serial interfaces such as ccTalk, JCM ID003, and SAS. Both systems are very similar in hardware specifications, but the IQON 3 is a passively cooled, fanless system, whereas the IQON Air 3 comes with a...

RainbowLink-V2 compact USB-to-serial converter features 12V output, dual TTL, isolated RS-485 and RS-232 interfaces

DFRobot’s RainbowLink-V2 USB-to-serial converter features four independent channels, namely one isolated RS-485, one isolated RS-232, and two TTL interfaces usable simultaneously. The compact tool also converts 5V provided from the host’s USB interface to 12V/800mA, 5V/2A, and 3.3V/200mA outputs, eliminating the need for a separate power adapter. RainbowLink-V2 (TEL0190) specifications: USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and adata Serial 2x TTL (3.3V) via headers 1x fully isolated RS485 channel via lever terminal 1x fully isolated RS232 channel via lever terminal Baud Rate – 2400 to 128000 bps Misc 3x Power LEDs for 3.3V, 5V, and 12V 4x Link...

Book Explores ELBE Workflows for Embedded Linux Systems

A new book titled Building Embedded Systems with Raspberry Pi, Linux, and ELBE by Krishna Pattabiraman describes approaches for developing reproducible Debian-based embedded Linux systems using the ELBE build environment. The content focuses on structured system design, image generation, and long-term maintainability for Raspberry Pi–based platforms. The content targets developers working on production-oriented systems, with […]

DietPi March 2026 Update Adds Immich, uv, and RustDesk Client

The March release of DietPi v10.2 introduces new software options including Immich, uv, and the RustDesk Client, along with a range of enhancements and bug fixes across supported single-board computers. DietPi: DietPi is a lightweight, Debian-based operating system optimized for single-board computers and embedded devices. It focuses on minimal resource usage while providing automation utilities […]

LooperRobotics Insight 9 standalone spatial AI camera features D-Robotics RDK X5 SoC, supports ROS 2 (Crowdfunding)

LooperRobotics Insight 9 is an autonomous plug-and-play spatial AI camera designed for embodied intelligence, quadruped robots, and dynamic mobile platforms. Compared to typical USB depth cameras like Intel RealSense D435i or Luxonis OAK-D, which rely on a host PC for processing, the Insight 9 integrates a D-Robotics RDK X5 octa-core Cortex-A55 processor with a 10 TOPS AI accelerator, allowing it to run Visual SLAM (V-SLAM) and depth mapping entirely on-device. The camera features a “Tri-Eye Perception Matrix,” which includes an 8.4MP Sony Starvis IMX415 RGB sensor with an ultra-wide 188° field of view, and two SmartSens SG0132 global shutter sensors for stereoscopic...

Using FireWire on a Raspberry Pi

After learning Apple killed off FireWire (IEEE 1394) support in macOS 26 Tahoe, I started looking at alternatives for old FireWire equipment like hard drives, DV cameras, and A/V gear.

I own an old Canon GL1 camera, with a 'DV' port. I could plug that into an old Mac (like the dual G4 MDD above) with FireWire—or even a modern Mac running macOS < 26, with some dongles—and transfer digital video footage between the camera and an application like Final Cut Pro.

Upcoming ESP32-S31 dual-core RISC-V MCU offers Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 connectivity

It looks like Espressif Systems has a new powerful wireless microcontroller in the works, with the ESP32-S31 sharing some features of the ESP32-P4 and ESP32-S3 microcontrollers. The ESP32-S31 is a dual-core RISC-V MCU with one high-performance core with FPU and SIMD instructions, and one low-power RISC-V core, featuring 62 GPIOs, a Gigabit Ethernet MAC, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee/Matter) wireless connectivity, and more. ESP32-S31 preliminary specifications: MCU subsystem RISC-V HP (High-performance) RV32IMAFCP CPU with FPU, SIMD, etc.  RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core Memory & Storage I/F 512 KB SRAM 32 KB RTC SRAM Support for external octal PSRAM and flash...