Board with Lasers, Op-Amp Torture, and Farewell Supercon 9

Hackaday Podcast · 7 Nov 2025 · 1h 13m · Episode 344

What this episode covers

Hackaday editors Tom Nardi and Al Williams review highlights from Supercon 9, focusing on the Component Abuse Contest and innovative hardware projects. They discuss Stephen Halls' laser-etched PCBs using pre-drilled vias, Trashtronic's pressure-sensitive op-amp weight sensor, and the repurposing of X96Q Android TV boxes as $10 Linux servers. The episode also covers HTX Studio's reproduction of the Ming Kai typewriter, Prusa's silicone printing head for the XL, and the community-driven success of the Supercon badge.

Mentioned

Companies
Prusa, Filament Two
Products
X96Q, Ming Kai typewriter, Prusa XL
Chips
TL 074, Z80, ESP32
Tools
SolidWorks
Also
Stephen Halls, Trashtronic, HTX Studio, NFC, MeshTastic

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

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  • 033 - All Over the Place

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  • 016 - Supercon 2018 Part 1

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  • Embedded.fm · 1h 15m

    494: All Tech Is Wearable

    Debra Ansell, known as GeekMomProjects, discusses her winning entry for the Hackaday Supercon badge add-on contest: a flexible, bendy PCB structure called the 'Bendy SAO' that mimics a wacky waving inflatable tube man. She details the mechanical engineering challenges of creating slip-ring-like connections between eight PCBs using spring contacts and push rivets, and the subsequent crisis of wiring the SAO connector backwards. The episode covers her efforts to make the device programmable via I2C using an ATtiny3224 and a Raspberry Pi Pico, while navigating the complexities of having Supplyframe manufacture the unmanufacturable design in China for RoHS compliance.

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