Live from the Desk of Ladyada

OMG, we're zooming through the backlog... new protos ordered (STC31+SHT41, MT6835) and boards/libraries shipped (Terminal Block BFF, TMAG5273, VCNL4030, MAX44009, TMF8806). Still in progress: RV-8803, WF100DPZ, ADS7128, TMF882x, and VL53L5x, then we're back to Feather designs, home sensors, and Raspi accessories.

OpenClaw wrote our 475-page uBlox GNSS library overnight. Opus suggested packed structs over byte parsing... smart. Also found new L1+L5 GPS modules on DigiKey: ~2x accuracy for $2-3 more. No RTK needed.

This week at the Desk of Ladyada, we’re comin’ back from maternity leave and getting spun up with a bunch of projects. First, a fun mailbag item: the XTEInk ‘pocket’ reader running crosspoint open firmware on an ESP32-C3. Since it’s running an Espressif chip, we could also install CircuitPython or WipperSnapper on it…a great side-effect of more off-the-shelf goods coming with ESP32 chips! See also...

We revisit the PCM5122 DAC, test hot-bar breakouts on a big Quad-Color EPD, check new prototypes, and explore linear image sensors

This week we designed some prototypes: CAN FD version of our FeatherWing and BFF. We also designed a board for the AP33772S (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngQT0Et32wM) which we covered on EYE ON NPI - this is a chip that can do extended range USB Type C Power Delivery (https://www.usb.org/usb-charger-pd) and it seems, Programmable Power Supply mode (https://hackaday.com/2025/03/24/pps-is-the-hot...

This week we got Claude working natively on Windows (yay!) which speeds up development since we're not hitting the filesystem through multiple layers. That meant we also worked on a bunch of little breakouts: the BMP585 protos came in and those worked fine. Plus we knocked out the VEML6046 RGB+IR sensor library (https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_VEML6046) and started work on a few others. It tu...

Fresh drivers for Bosch BMP5xx sensors & LiPoly chargers, plus Particle Tachyon fun with web-console shell + Blinka support! Also, heat sink tips for TO-220s. This week at our desk we cranked through a whole mess of drivers. Starting with the BMP580/BMP581/BMP585 series, which had a proper Bosch driver library (https://github.com/boschsensortec/BMP5_SensorAPI) so we wrappered it with Claude (h...

Last week, we conducted a Great Search for a clear shaft linear potentiometer. This week, the prototypes arrived—and they work great! We're also beginning work on the FruitJam Tester. We'll be showing the finalized silkscreen, the cover plate we designed, and the expected form factor of the tester itself. Additionally, we wrapped up a library for a QMC5883 breakout. This chip serves as a drop-in r...

This week at the desk, we tackled a huge stack of E-Ink displays. A couple of weeks ago, we focused on restocking the tricolor and grayscale 2.13" and 1.54" models. This time, we worked on the 2.9" version for the MagTag and explored some larger, very cool display options: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_EPD/pull/86. We got most of them working! A few were tricky—some had hot-bar connectors (...

Ladyada's diving into solar charging tech with the bq25798 MPPT charger ☀️, exploring IR sensors, drone-friendly compasses, and prepping for another big release ... but take it easy, take it slow ...baby steps 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5925163669389312

(Re-broadcast, LIVE was not working for all social media on Sunday night, so here ya go! This week at our desk, we spent a lot of our focused engineering time working on e-paper display drivers. These displays are a lot more annoying than TFTs, which have settled on standardized MIPI command sets. Also, they have custom "waveforms" used to configure the refresh technique. By default, we use the bu...

We’re finally recovering from being sick all week, so not a ton of new things this time — but hey, we still accomplished a few important updates: Fruit Jam Rev C The Fruit Jam PCBs (https://www.adafruit.com/product/6200) arrived and have been assembled! This is the final hardware revision: our hardware test covers all behaviors and everything works flawlessly now. That means we’re ready to book PC...

This week at the desk, we worked on getting more small hardware boards done. We revised our 1.5" transparent OLED breakout (oops, pins were swapped), designed breakouts for sensors like the AS5600 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/ams-osram-usa-inc/AS5600-ASOM/8250257) and STHS34PF80 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/stmicroelectronics/STHS34PF80/13187390), and updated the NAU7...

This week at the desk, we worked on getting more small hardware boards done. We revised our 1.5" transparent OLED breakout (oops, pins were swapped), designed breakouts for sensors like the AS5600 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/ams-osram-usa-inc/AS5600-ASOM/8250257) and STHS34PF80 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/stmicroelectronics/STHS34PF80/13187390), and updated the NAU7...

This week at the desk, we're working on getting more designs wrapped and out the door so we can keep a steady supply of new products into the shop. First up is a TPS61169 constant current booster, designed to make driving nOOds easier—especially 12V or 24V ones, but also series-connected 3V filaments. 🔗 https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments/TPS61169DCKR/5048578 🔗 https://w...

This week at our desk, we've been working through a substantial pile of prototypes to prepare them for the shop. Several designs from a few weeks ago are now ready. We tested the Ethernet breakout using the W5500 chip (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/wiznet/W5500/4425702), which required no firmware. Additionally, we developed a driver for the STSPIN220 stepper motor driver (https://www...

This week at the Desk of Ladyada, we're getting back into the swing of releasing one or two new products a week after dealing with some tariff-related chaos. Last week we launched the Sparkle Motion Stick and the SEN6x Adapter. Next week, look out for the OPT4048. For the OPT4048, we wanted to easily plot the CIE x & y to a color graph—which used to mean writing a lot of JavaScript (something...

We're back to designing more prototypes to get the product pump primed! Having lots of boards to work with means we can reliably get one or two shipping each week. To that end, here are some upcoming chips we've made breakouts for: SLB9670VQ20FW785 (TPM chip): https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/infineon-technologies/SLB9670VQ20FW785XTMA1/11697680 INA237 (Power monitoring): https://www.digi...

After digging ourselves out of a tariff-induced hole, we're back to working on some hardware (yay). Last week we finished off the Sparkle Motion Stick by moving the microphone around. We're thinking of using this case for the "ESP Trinkeys" we designed last year—we like the simplicity and snap-fit. We also got to testing the SEN-66 QT adapter. It works great, so we booked PCBs. We're now getting a...

Since this is the topic of the day, we'll be looking at how to purchase an item from DigiKey with tariffs in mind. DigiKey is a free trade zone, which means that if you're not in the USA, you will not have to pay additional tariffs on goods that are re-exported. However, for USA destinations, the new tariffs can add a significant cost if the component has its last manufacturing step in China. Let'...

With the RP2350 chip now in wide distribution (https://blog.adafruit.com/2025/03/27/eye-on-npi-raspberry-pi-rp2350a-and-rp2350b-microcontrollers-eyeonnpi-raspberrypi-digikey-raspberry_pi/), we're able to come up with a lot of variants of our popular RP2040 "Bones" (https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/01/22/rp2040-feather-bones-for-a-few-different-varieties/), which ended up becoming a dozen different b...

This week was slow for hardware development—we were getting over being under the weather. But we did poke a little at a PCM5122 breakout board (https://www.digikey.com/short/fnf9t0b1). This chip can do software or hardware control of I2S signals and is preferred by folks who want something a little nicer than the PCM5102 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/6250). We also wrapped up our design for th...

This week, we worked on a few projects: We've got the (hopefully final) TLV320DAC3100 boards (https://www.digikey.com/short/td7742wh). Having spent many weeks on this, we'd like to verify that we have the noise and grounding issues resolved and book PCBs. We'll need this chip working well for Fruit Jam completion! Speaking of, we made a revision of the design with various fixes and tweaks, so let'...

This week, we were all over the place with a bunch of different designs and experiments. After last week's analysis of the TLV320DAC3100, we made some updates to the design and re-booked prototype PCBs. We also designed a triple-matrix bonnet: with our latest work on getting HUB75 RGB matrices working on the Raspberry Pi 5, we can now do matrix control on the latest Pi 5 chip. But we're limited by...

This week - We tackle the TLV320DAC3100, fixing headphone & mic issues for a breakout board. Plan to use it in AudioFX remake. Jepler advanced HSTX DVI text mode for Fruit Jam. Also, a search for a new pocket multimeter begins as the fave Amprobe PM51A is discontinued.