Illustrated Kristina with an IBM Model M keyboard floating between her hands.

Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Ultra-Thin Split

March 19, 2026 by 3 Comments

But sir, it is wafer-thin. That’s how they get you! Just when you couldn’t possibly justify building another keyboard, let alone owning one, along comes the Kambala by [aroum2].

A wafer-thin keyboard in triple black.
Image by [aroum2] via reddit
Now, ‘Kambala’ means a few things, but here it refers to fish, as evidenced by logo and matching themed PCB key chain shown in the gallery.

This catch is so flat because of the switches: PG1316S, and 42 of them. These are better known to some as Kailh butterfly switches, and are meant for laptops. But, this is Hackaday.

No matter what you call them, those switches are controlled by a nice!nano V2-compatible controller, which allows for ZMK firmware support. There’s a 110 mAh battery and four status LEDs, and best of all, the charging indicator is in the fish’s eyes.

[aroum2] might share the files later. Here’s hoping!

Continue reading “Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Ultra-Thin Split” →

Sega Genesis Finally Gets Long-Awaited Stock Ticker App 37 Years After Launch

March 19, 2026 by 13 Comments

Until now, if you were seated at your Sega Genesis and wanted to check your stock portfolio, you were out of luck. You had to get a smartphone, or a computer, or maybe even a television to look up stock prices and understand your financial position. Thankfully, though, Sega’s neglect of its hero platform has finally been corrected. [Mike Wolak] has given the 16-bit console the real-time stock ticker it so desperately needed. 

The build runs on a MegaWiFi cartridge, which uses an ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller to add WiFi communication to the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive). [Mike] wrote a custom program for the platform that would query the Finnhub HTTPS API and display live stock prices via the Genesis’s Video Display Processor. It does so via a clean console-like interface that would be familiar to users of other 16-bit machines from this era, though seeing so much textual output would have been uncommon.

By default, the stock ticker is set to show prices for major tech stocks, but you can set it up to display any major symbol available in the Finnhub data stream. You can configure up to eight custom stocks and input your holdings, and the software will calculate and display your net worth in real time.

All the files are available for those eager to monitor their portfolios on a Sega, as the financial gods intended. [Mike] notes it took a little work to get this project over the line, particularly as the ESP32-C3 doesn’t support HTTPs with stock firmware. A few other hacks were needed to keep the Genesis updating the screen during HTTP queries, too.

If you have a concentrated portfolio and a spare Sega Genesis, this could be a fun retro way to keep an eye on your holdings. Alternatively, you might prefer to go the classic paper tape route.

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Artemis II Agenda Keeps Moon-Bound Crew Busy

March 19, 2026 by 24 Comments

With the launch of Artemis II from Cape Canaveral potentially just weeks away, NASA has been releasing a steady stream of information about the mission through their official site and social media channels to get the public excited about the agency’s long-awaited return to the Moon. While the slickly produced videos and artist renderings might get the most attention, even the most mundane details about a flight that will put humans on the far side of our nearest celestial neighbor for the first time since 1972 can be fascinating.

The Artemis II Moon Mission Daily Agenda is a perfect example. Released earlier this week via the NASA blog, the document seems to have been all but ignored by the mainstream media. But the day-by-day breakdown of the Artemis II mission contains several interesting entries about what the four crew members will be working on during the ten day flight.

Of course, the exact details of the agenda are subject to change once the mission is underway. Some tasks could run longer than anticipated, experiments may not go as planned, and there’s no way to predict technical issues that may arise.

Conversely, the crew could end up breezing through some of the planned activities, freeing up time in the schedule. There’s simply no way of telling until it’s actually happening.

With the understanding that it’s all somewhat tentative, a look through the plan as it stands right now can give us an idea of the sort of highlights we can expect as we follow this historic mission down here on Earth.

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Modular 18650 Packs, No Spot Welding Required

March 19, 2026 by 48 Comments

Building a battery pack from 18650 cells traditionally requires patience, a spot welder, and a supply of nickel strip. But what if there was another way? [Ben] is here with Cell-Lock, a modular battery assembly system.

At the system’s heart are a set of interlocking end caps and connection pieces that function as locking cams as well as the electrical connections where needed. They were inspired by the cam systems used for furniture assembly, and are activated by rotation with a screwdriver. The result is a mechanically stable battery system in which different configurations can easily be assembled.

We like that it doesn’t involve any heat near those cells; in part because we’ve seen our share of dodgy connections overheating. But we do have a few concerns. These include how reliable a connection those cams would make, as well as how much current they could safely take without overheating. If both of those could be addressed, we can see that this is an idea with a future.

You can see plenty of examples on the linked project, including an e-bike pack which seems to return no problems. Meanwhile this is by no means the first modular battery pack system we’ve seen.

Simple MIDI Sample Player Runs On ESP32

March 19, 2026 by 3 Comments

[Jakub] is a musician, and found himself in need of a simple way to trigger samples via MIDI when on stage. So many commercial solutions exist, but most were overkill for the job or too messy and complicated to justify their use in a live environment. Thus, [Jakub] worked up Samplotron to do exactly the job needed with a minimum of fuss.

The project is based around the ESP32. It’s effectively a lightweight hardware sampler that can trigger sounds on command via MIDI. Sample data is loaded from an SD card, which also stores the device configuration. The Samplotron plays back mono 16-bit WAV files at 44,100 Hz, delivering audio via an ES8388 audio codec module connected via I2S. Two encoders are used to control the device, with a menu system presented via an SSD1309 OLED screen. Samples can be loaded and managed via this interface, and it allows tweaks to be made to volume levels and one-shot/loop playback as needed. MIDI input to the device is simply handled via the onboard UART functionality of the ESP32 itself.

It’s a neat little bit of music hardware that does exactly what [Jakub] needs and nothing more. We’ve featured similar builds before, like this neat RP2040 soundboard. If you’re building rad custom hardware for your own musical adventures, we’d love to know all about it. 

Teardown Of A 2026 LEGO SMART Brick

March 18, 2026 by 44 Comments
LEGO SMART brick from its side. (Credit: EvilmonkeyzDesignz, YouTube)
LEGO SMART brick from its side. (Credit: EvilmonkeyzDesignz, YouTube)

At the beginning of March this year LEGO released their new SMART brick, which looks like a 2×4 stud brick and is filled to the brim with sensors, LEDs, NFC and Bluetooth functionality, as well as a purported custom ASIC. The central idea behind it appears to be to add a lot of interactivity to LEGO builds while allowing for mesh-style communication with other SMART bricks. Naturally, this makes it a great subject for a teardown, which is what [EvilmonkeyzDesignz] over on YouTube did in a recent video.

Normally the only way you can purchase one of these new bricks is by buying them as part of a ‘Smart Play’ set, but someone was selling singular bricks on EBay. As the brick is inductively recharged, it’s pretty well-sealed, requiring a fairly destructive opening method.

Directly below the transparent top is a speaker, with the opposing PCB on the main body containing a microphone as well as a number of RGB LEDs. On the opposite side of this PCB we find the photo sensor, but to get to this part of the PCB the copper wires that wrap around the entire main assembly have to be disconnected from the PCB’s side pads with some force as they’re apparently pressed in place without the use of solder.

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DIY Reflow Plate Runs On USB Power Delivery

March 18, 2026 by 18 Comments

If you’re working with surface mount components, you’re likely going to want a reflow plate at some point. [Vitaly] was in need of just such a tool, and thus whipped up a compact reflow plate that is conveniently powered via USB-C. 

This reflow rig is designed for smaller work, with a working area of 80 mm x 70 mm. There are two options for the heating element—either a metal core PCB-based heater, or a metal ceramic heater. The former is good for working with Sn42Bi58 solder paste at 138 C, according to [Vitaly], while the latter will happily handle Sn63Pb37 at 183 C if the dirty stuff is more your jam.

Running the show is an ESP32-C3-WROOM, which serves up a web-based control panel over Bluetooth for setting the heating profiles. Using Bluetooth over WiFi might seem like an odd choice at first, but it means you don’t have to add the hot plate to the local wireless network to access it, handy if you’re on the move. It’s also worth noting that you can’t run this off any old USB charger—you’ll need one compatible with USB Power Delivery (PD) that can deliver at least 100 watts.

If you’re needing to whip up small boards with regularity, a hotplate like this one can really come in handy. Files are on GitHub for those eager to build their own.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen USB-C powering a small reflow plate. Of course, if you make your PCBs self heating, you can sidestep all that entirely.