Hackaday Europe 2026: Fluid Kernels And Optimizing C++ For MCUs

September 3, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 6 Comments

Oftentimes, when we’re using a microcontroller, we’re whipping up some very specific code focused on executing a particular task. The device is set up to execute code that does exactly what we want with minimal overhead. However, sometimes, there are scenarios where it pays to go with a somewhat heavier setup, wherein the microcontroller runs an operating system for the benefits that offers.

Federico Terraneo came to Hackaday Europe to discuss this very topic. He talks about kernel architecture, real-time operating systems, and how to best use C++ in the world of microcontrollers.

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Hackaday Europe 2026: Playstation 4 To Psychometer

September 1, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest No comments

There are many ways to detect stress in an individual. You can use self-reporting checklists, you could try and measure various vital signs like respiratory rate and pulse and infer things, or you could observe the levels of hormones like cortisol in the blood.

Or… you could pull some parts out of a Playstation 4, and get hacking. Edwin Hwu did precisely that, creating a device that can image the skin down to the nanometer and potentially even determine fine details about an individual’s health status. He came to Hackaday Europe 2026 to tell us all about it.

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Hackaday Europe 2026: PCBs With A Plot

August 26, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest No comments

Printed circuit boards were developed first for function over form. They were a way to mount components and connect them in a stable, robust fashion, while taking into regard things like packaging and cooling requirements to enable a circuit to function. Circuit boards often end up looking cool in a techy kind of way, but their aesthetic is usually very much secondary to their actual purpose.

Katrin Dietzsch likes to use her PCBs a little differently, however. She designs boards that are intended to be a narrative tool for tabletop roleplaying, and came down to Hackaday Europe 2026 to walk us through the development of this very whimsical hardware.

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So, You Found A Foden Steam Lorry In A Field. What Next?

August 23, 2026 by Jenny List 41 Comments

It’s quite likely that many readers will have harbored dreams of owning, or at least driving, a steam engine of some kind. [James Hervey-Bathurst] was lucky enough to do so in a time when it was still possible to find scrap steam-powered machinery for restoration, and at the recent Electromagnetic Field event in the UK he took the time to describe his journey from finding an abandoned steam lorry in a Buckinghamshire field in 1975, to a few years later, taking it to the road.

The talk starts with the story of its retrieval, then the long process of rebuilding, and finally its first run. He’s the owner of Eastnor Castle, the ancestral pile that serves as venue for EMF Camp, so we’re guessing that having somewhere spacious for such a project must have helped. Along the way, we get a comprehensive run through the workings of a 1920s steam vehicle, from its double-expansion compound engine to its three-speed gearbox, stopping for small details like its injectors, and a curious exhaust steam heater designed to reduce the clouds of visible steam.

Most of us will never get the chance to take the wheel of a Foden such as this one, but at least we’ve had a chance for a closer look thanks to EMF. The full video is below the break, meanwhile if you’d like more on steam injectors we have you covered.

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Hackaday Europe 2026: The 1-Bit CPU That Ran Factories

August 19, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 29 Comments

Powered machinery started the industrial revolution, and it was automation that kicked it up another notch in the 20th century. The ability for machines to make things by themselves spurred increased output and in turn boosted economic growth. The concept became widely popular for manufacturers to implement, as any change with serious economic benefit tends to do. Fast forward to today, and advanced robots and fancy machine vision systems running on powerful computers are the norm in modern factories which create the many wonderful products that we all purchase, use, and enjoy.

Once upon a time, though, things weren’t so sophisticated. [Nicola Cimmino] came to Hackaday Europe 2026 to tell us all about a remarkably simple 1-bit CPU that used to run factories.

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Hackaday Europe 2026: Open Source Hardware Goes Underground, Literally

August 17, 2026 by Tom Nardi 7 Comments

These days open source is everywhere, and frankly, we couldn’t be happier about it. But even with as prevalent as open software and hardware has become, we still occasionally hear about a project that takes the concept somewhere unexpected. Which is precisely why we were so eager to hear more about the fascinating work [Phil Underwood] has been doing.

In his talk Open Source Caving: 20 Years of Making Cave Mapping Tools at Hackaday Europe 2026, [Phil] takes us through a series of progressively more advanced open hardware devices that he’s designed to increase the speed and accuracy of underground mapping efforts. Along the way, he’s learned a number of valuable lessons about designing hardware that’s robust enough to handle the uniquely challenging environment underground while still being accessible enough for a hobbyist to build and use.

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Supercon Ten Tickets On Sale Now

August 13, 2026 by Elliot Williams 9 Comments

Hackers, start your engines! We’re opening up ticket sales for our tenth, the 2026 Hackaday Supercon, to take place Nov 6-8 in Pasadena, CA. As always, because we haven’t announced the full slate of talks yet, we’d like to give the Hackaday True Believers out there a bonus: early bird tickets for $150 instead of the regular price of $296 (plus fees). If you know you want to attend (and you know that you want to attend) do not delay and order your tickets now!

As we mentioned before, there are a few exciting changes coming to this year’s Supercon. First off, we are moving to a larger venue on Saturday and Sunday: a few blocks south at the ArtCenter South Campus. We’re looking forward to two larger stages, more room for attendees, and more space to spread out and hack. No longer crammed into a cozy alley, we’ll sprawl out in a luxurious courtyard.

We have more tickets available than ever this year, which is great because Supercons past have all sold out. But we’re not expanding so much that we’ll lose the killer signal-to-noise ratio and friendly hacker atmosphere that makes Supercon our favorite con.

But do get your tickets soon! Whether you get in at the True Believer rate or not, Supercon is a bargain. Two and a half days of fully catered hacking and entertainment, plus the great talks, make it a bargain. Then we throw in sweet hackable badge over the top. But it’s truly the assembled crowd that makes it a priceless experience.

If you’re a Hackaday Supercon regular, we look forward to seeing you again soon! If you’ve always wanted to attend, but never pulled the trigger, the nice round number of Supercon Ten is a great excuse.

Of course, the best way to attend any convention is as a presenter, and our call for proposals just got extended for another two weeks. If you have something you’d like to say: let us know soon!