VoltJots | Electronics and IoT

Issue 48

Welcome to the latest edition of the VoltJots newsletter, linking you to the very best electronics and IoT news, products, and projects.

Hope you enjoy! Until next week,

VoltJots

NEWS & ARTICLES

Pohang University have developed an OLED prototype that uses ultra-thin, pixel-aligned piezoelectric elements to turn each pixel into its own independent speaker—enabling precise, multichannel “pixel-based” sound without external drivers.

Researchers in Bangkok are exploring how UV sensors can generate enough photocurrent to power circuits, potentially acting as UV-activated switches without needing microcontrollers.

China's massive $138 billion investment in embodied AI is revolutionising robotics, enabling machines to think, move, and interact like humans, with implications for industries and everyday life.

Max Planck revolutionised physics by introducing the concept of quantised energy, paving the way for quantum mechanics and influencing modern technology.

A jet-powered humanoid robot, called iRonCub3, just flew 50 cm off the ground!

Energous has launched the e-Sense tag, a compact, battery-free wireless sensor for real-time location and temperature monitoring, designed for retail and logistics, and powered by energy harvested from its wireless network.

The semiconductor industry is facing a growing talent shortage as engineers and technicians overlook it in favour of flashier, better-paying tech sectors, revealing a serious perception problem that threatens future growth.

PROJECTS & TUTORIALS

Build a smart clock with a PIC16F13145 board that shows time, date, and temperature on a unique 4x8x8 matrix display, using an MCP79400 RTC and MCP9808 sensor.

Understanding oscilloscope input coupling and when to use 50-Ω versus 1-MΩ terminations is key to getting accurate signals without distortion.

ESP32-CAM captures images and serves them via a web server, while a Python OpenCV app processes these images for OCR with EasyOCR.

Build a pocket-sized, ATtiny85-based DIY game console with OLED display, buttons, buzzer, and 3–6 day battery life, and play classic games like Tetris and Snake offline.

Retro handheld gaming with the ESP32 CYD lets you play classic 8-bit and some 16-bit games, plus Doom, all on a 2.8" LCD touchscreen for just $6-10.

Check out this neat tutorial: a Raspberry Pi temperature sensor that uses the waterproof DS18B20, and can handle temperatures up to 125°C.

PRODUCTS

Test your vintage RAM with this versatile DRAM Tester that supports various common parts and offers four test modes to identify faulty cells and intermittent issues.

Add rotational sensing without mechanical connections using the Adafruit AS5600 Magnetic Angle Sensor, which detects magnetic fields up to 3mm away and offers 360-degree rotation with 0.1° precision, and 0.4° accuracy.

Built for applications such as structural health monitoring and machine control, the SCA3400-D01 3-axis accelerometer offers precise tracking with ultra-low noise and minimal drift.

If you're looking to build edge AI and robotics projects, look no further than the Milk-V Jupiter NX, a compact RISC-V-based AI system-on-module with an octa-core CPU, up to 16GB RAM, dual Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6, and 4K multimedia support.

Thanks for subscribing and reading. If, however, you are not a subscriber, and you would like to receive this newsletter in your inbox, then hit the subscribe button now — it’s free, and you can unsubscribe any time you like.