Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: Open Source Hardware, Fisher-Price USB Foot Pedal, QT Py ESP32 Pico and more!
ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP
We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.
Over the last 15+ years, innovative electronics companies have designed and released thousands of open-source hardware designs, creating a flourishing industry. Open-source hardware companies collectively created, and signed the open-source hardware definition which means products meet a uniform and well-defined standard for open-source software and hardware.
However, recently some open-source hardware companies have either gone closed-source on products, are in process of going closed-source, are delaying the release of files/source code, or require NDAs to obtain the software for an advertised-as open-source hardware & OSHWA certified product. Many of the formerly open-source hardware and software based companies were built on open-source, what will this mean for the users, and open-source community going forward?
If your little one has the Fisher-Price Deluxe Kick & Play Piano Gym, then you will know all about the “purple monkey in a bubble-gum tree” ♫ song and the endless hours of entertainment. Its a great sensory toy but when it reaches its end of life, it can be easily modded into a pretty durable 5-button USB foot pedal.
Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
