🔧 Tool of the Week
TI — Up to 1500V Stackable Battery Management Unit (BMU) reference design A full reference design for high‑voltage, stackable battery systems with integrated EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and test reports — useful if you design large battery racks, EV/ESS prototypes, or need a production‑grade BMU starting point. 🔗 TI SLVT251 reference design (ti.com)
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🛒 Deals & Finds
- RootBoard — open pocket Linux computer (Kickstarter / BackerKit)
– Open‑hardware Pi‑Zero shell with 3.5" display + 70‑key keyboard; good for portable terminals, field tooling, or cyberdeck builds. 🔗 RootBoard (BackerKit summary / links to campaign) (backerkit.com)
- PicoPD Pro — RP2040 dev board with USB‑PD 3.1 (PPS/AVS) support
– RP2040 form factor + AP33772S PD sink controller: lets you prototype high‑voltage USB‑PD power delivery (useful for motor drivers, LED drivers, small bench supplies). Available from Lectronz / Tindie sellers. 🔗 PicoPD Pro product page (lectronz.com)
- AP33772S evaluation board / PD sink controller (Diodes / Mouser)
– If you’re doing USB‑C PD/PPS builds, this chip and its EVB are the fastest path to a programmable sink. 🔗 AP33772S on Mouser / product overview (mouser.com)
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🧪 Cool Build
PowerPD — ESP32 USB‑C PD/PPS bench power supply A compact ESP32‑based project that turns a USB‑C PD charger into a programmable bench supply (AP33772S + INA226 monitor + OLED UI). Good build if you want a small, portable PD‑controlled supply. 🔗 PowerPD — Hackaday.io project page (hackaday.io)
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📚 Worth Reading
- Pi 5 Becomes ALSA‑Compatible TOSLINK Sound Card – Short: Raspberry Pi 5 can bit‑bang a TOSLINK S/PDIF transmitter and act as a USB sound gadget; handy for multichannel audio hacks and USB‑gadget audio experiments. 🔗 Hackaday: Pi 5 TOSLINK / CamillaDSP writeup (hackaday.com)
- This DIY Time Server Is More Accurate Than You Need – Short: an inexpensive PTP grandmaster using GNSS + ESP32‑P4 shows hobbyist‑grade precision timing is approachable for lab networks and audio/video sync. 🔗 Hackaday: DIY PTP/GNSS time server (hackaday.com)
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⚡ Quick Hits
- AP33772S (PD3.1 sink controller) — datasheet and EVB are available; good starting part for PD/PPS/AVS designs. 🔗 Diodes / Mouser AP33772S info (diodes.com)
- Scrutiny runtime debugger — recent Python/GUI builds and wheels make the runtime debugger/SDK easier to install for embedded test automation. 🔗 Scrutiny downloads / installation notes (site + piwheels) (scrutinydebugger.com)
- CamillaDSP + Pi‑5 USB gadget docs — notes and configs for using Pi‑5 as a USB audio interface and driving a TOSLINK transmitter; practical if you want to experiment with Pi‑based DSP endpoints. 🔗 Raspiaudio / CamillaDSP Pi‑5 notes (forum.raspiaudio.com)
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📺 Cool Videos
- USB‑C Just Got Even Better! (PPS)
– GreatScott! explains PPS/PDO/AVS, shows breakout boards and demos how PPS turns chargers into adjustable supplies — practical primer before you wire up PD negotiation chips. 🔗 YouTube: GreatScott! (PPS explainer) (classcentral.com)
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Notes: links above point to project pages, vendor docs, and hands‑on writeups so you can download schematics, get BOM/EVB parts, or follow a build immediately. If you want a short parts list or BOM for PowerPD or PicoPD Pro to start ordering, reply and I’ll extract it for you.