Author: Heidi Ulrich

127 Articles

C64 on desk with NFC TeensyROM and game token

TeensyROM NFC Game Loading On The C64

May 23, 2025 by 6 Comments

When retro computing nostalgia meets modern wireless wizardry, you get a near-magical tap-to-load experience. It’ll turn your Commodore 64 into a console-like system, complete with physical game cards. Inspired by TapTo for MiSTer, this latest hack brings NFC magic to real hardware using the TeensyROM. It’s been out there for a while, but it might not have caught your attention as of yet. Developed by [Sensorium] and showcased by YouTuber [StatMat], this project is a tactile, techie love letter to the past.

At the heart of it is the TeensyROM cartridge, which – thanks to some clever firmware modding – now supports reading NFC tags. These are writable NTag215 cards storing the path to game files on the Teensy’s SD card. Tap a tag to the NFC reader, and the TeensyROM boots your game. No need to fumble with LOAD “*”,8,1. That’s not only cool, it’s convenient – especially for retro demo setups.

What truly sets this apart is the reintroduction of physical tokens. Each game lives on its own custom-designed card, styled after PC Engine HuCards or printed with holographic vinyl. It’s a tangible, collectible gimmick that echoes the golden days of floppies and cartridges – but with 2020s tech underneath. Watch it here.

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Atari ST desktop with Doom shortcut

Running DOOM On An Atari ST

May 22, 2025 by 27 Comments

If you grew up with a beige Atari ST on your desk and a faint feeling of being left out once Doom dropped in 1993, brace yourself — the ST strikes back. Thanks to [indyjonas]’s incredible hack, the world now has a working port of DOOM for the Atari STe, and yes — it runs. It’s called STDOOM, and even though it needs a bit of acceleration or emulation to perform, it’s still an astonishing feat of retro-software necromancy.

[indyjonas] did more than just recompile and run: he stripped out chunks of PC-centric code, bent GCC to his will (cheers to Thorsten Otto’s port), and shoehorned Doom into a machine never meant to handle it. That brings us a version that runs on a stock machine with 4MB RAM, in native ST graphics modes, including a dithered 16-colour mode that looks way cooler than it should. The emotional punch? This is a love letter to the 13-year-old Jonas who watched Doom from the sidelines while his ST chugged along faithfully. A lot of us were that kid.

Sound is still missing, and original 8MHz hardware won’t give you fluid gameplay just yet — but hey, it’s a start. Want to dive in deeper? Read [indyjonas]’ thread on X.

[Austin Blake] sitting on line follower cart in garage

Honey, I Blew Up The Line Follower Robot

May 21, 2025 by 6 Comments

Some readers may recall building a line-following robot during their school days. Involving some IR LEDs, perhaps a bit of LEGO, and plenty of trial-and-error, it was fun on a tiny scale. Now imagine that—but rideable. That’s exactly what [Austin Blake] did, scaling up a classroom robotics staple into a full-size vehicle you can actually sit on.

The robot uses a whopping 32 IR sensors to follow a black line across a concrete workshop floor, adjusting its path using a steering motor salvaged from a power wheelchair. An Arduino Mega Pro Mini handles the logic, sending PWM signals to a DIY servo. The chassis consists of a modified Crazy Cart, selected for its absurdly tight turning radius. With each prototype iteration, [Blake] improved sensor precision and motor control, turning a bumpy ride into a smooth glide.

The IR sensor array, which on the palm-sized vehicle consisted of just a handful of components, evolved into a PCB-backed bar nearly 0.5 meters wide. Potentiometer tuning was a fiddly affair, but worth it. Crashes? Sure. But the kind that makes you grin like your teenage self. If it looks like fun, you could either build one yourself, or upgrade a similar LEGO project.
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MiSTER Multisystem 2 on a wooden table

MiSTer For Mortals: Meet The Multisystem 2

May 19, 2025 by 21 Comments

If you’ve ever squinted at a DE10-Nano wondering where the fun part begins, you’re not alone. This review of the Mr. MultiSystem 2 by [Lee] lifts the veil on a surprisingly noob-friendly FPGA console that finally gets the MiSTer experience out of the tinker cave and into the living room. Developed by Heber, the same UK wizards behind the original MultiSystem, this follow-up console dares to blend flexibility with simplicity. No stack required.

It comes in two varieties, to be precise: with, or without analog ports. The analog edition features a 10-layer PCB with both HDMI and native RGB out, Meanwell PSU support, internal USB headers, and even space for an OLED or NFC reader. The latter can be used to “load” physical cards cartridge-style, which is just ridiculously charming. Even the 3D-printed enclosure is open-source and customisable – drill it, print it, or just colour it neon green. And for once, you don’t need to be a soldering wizard to use the thing. The FPGA is integrated in the mainboard. No RAM modules, no USB hub spaghetti. Just add some ROMs (legally, of course), and you’re off.

Despite its plug-and-play aspirations, there are some quirks – for example, the usual display inconsistencies and that eternal jungle of controller mappings. But hey, if that’s the price for versatility, it’s one you’d gladly pay. And if you ever get stuck, the MiSTer crowd will eat your question and spit out 12 solutions. It remains 100% compatible with the MiSTer software, but allows some additional future features, should developers wish to support them.

Want to learn more? This could be your entrance to the MiSTer scene without having to first earn a master’s in embedded systems. Will this become an alternative to the Taki Udon announced Playstation inspired all-in-one FPGA console? Check the video here and let us know in the comments. Continue reading “MiSTer For Mortals: Meet The Multisystem 2” →

Work, Eat, Sleep, Repeat: Become A Human Tamagotchi

May 12, 2025 by 10 Comments

When [Terence Grover] set out to build a Tamagotchi-inspired simulator, he didn’t just add a few modern tweaks. He ditched the entire concept and rebuilt it from the ground up. Forget cute wide-eyed blobby animals and pixel-poop. This Raspberry Pi-powered project ditches nostalgia in favour of brutal realism: inflation, burnout, capitalism, and the occasional existential crisis. Think Sims meets cyberpunk, rendered charmingly in Python on a low-res RGB LED matrix.

Instead of hunger and poop meters, this dystopian pet juggles Maslow’s hierarchy: hunger, rest, safety, social life, esteem, and money. Players make real-life-inspired decisions like working, socialising, and going into education – each affecting the stats in logical (and often unfair) ways. No free lunch here: food requires money, money requires mind-numbing labour, and labour tanks your rest. You can even die of overwork à la Amazon warehouse. The UI and animation logic are all hand-coded, and there’s a working buzzer, pixel-perfect sprite movement, and even mini-games to simulate job repetition.

It’s equal parts social commentary and pixel art fever dream. While we have covered Tamagotchi recreations some time ago, this one makes you the needy survivor. Want your own dystopia in 64×32? Head over to [Terence Grover]’s Github and fork the full open source code. We’ll be watching. The Tamagotchi certainly is.

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Nebula Mouse with sliced CAD view in the back

Nebula Mouse: The 6-DOF You Build Yourself

May 5, 2025 by 30 Comments

Let’s say your CAD workflow is starving for spatial awareness. Your fingers yearn to push, twist, and orbit – not just click. Enter the Nebula Mouse. A 6-DOF DIY marvel, blending 3D printing, magnets, and microcontroller wizardry into a handheld input device that emulates the revered 3DConnexion SpaceMouse – at a hacker price. It’s wireless, RGB-lit, powered by a chunky 1500 mAh cell, and fully configurable through standard apps. The catch? You print and build it yourself, with a little help of [DoTheDIY]’s design files.

This isn’t some half-baked enclosure on Thingiverse. The Nebula’s internals are crafted with the kind of precision that makes you file plastic for hours just to fit weights correctly. Hall effect sensors track real-world movement in all axes; a Seeed Xiao nRF52840 handles Bluetooth duty. It’s hefty (280 g), intentional, and smartly designed: auto-wake, USB-C, even a diffused LED bezel for night-time geek cred. Just beware that screw lengths matter. Misplace a 20 mm and you’ll hear the soft crack of PCB grief. No open firmware either – you’ll get compiled code only, unlocked per build via Discord.

In short: it’s not open source, but it is deeply open-ended. If your fingers itch after having seen the SpaceMouse teardown of last month, this might be what you’re looking for.

Pried open clamp meter on blue desk

Frnisi DMC-100: A Clamp Meter Worth Cracking Open

May 4, 2025 by 17 Comments

Not all clamp meters are the same, and this video shows just that. In a recent teardown by [Kerry Wong], the new Fnirsi DMC-100 proves that affordable doesn’t mean boring. This 10,000-count clamp meter strays from the classic rotary dial in favour of a fully button-based interface – a choice that’s got sparks flying in the comments. And yes, it even auto-resumes its last function after reboot, like it knows you’re busy frying other fish.

What sets this meter apart isn’t just its snappy interface or surprisingly nice gold-tipped probes. It’s the layered UX – a hackable interface where short- and long-presses unlock hidden menus, memory functions, and even a graphing mode. A proper “hold-my-beer” moment comes when you discover it can split-display voltage and current and calculate real-time power (albeit with a minor asterisk: apparent power only, no power factor). Despite a few quirks, like accidentally triggering the flashlight when squeezing the jaw, it holds up well in accuracy tests. Even at higher currents where budget meters usually wobble.

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