frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Show HN: Creavi Macropad – Built a wireless macropad with a display

https://creavi.tech/blog/creavi-macropad-build-log/
32•cmpx•2mo ago
Hey HN,

We built a wireless, low-profile macropad with a display called the Creavi Macropad. It lasts at least 1 month on a single charge. We also put together a browser-based tool that lets you update macros in real time and even push OTA updates over BLE. Since we're software engineers by day, we had to figure out the hardware, mechanics, and industrial design as we went (and somehow make it all work together). This post covers the build process, and the final result.

Hope you enjoy!

Comments

sulicat•2mo ago
Looks really nice! It looks real professional!

Is there an ESP on there? Are you using lvgl for the display?

cmpx•2mo ago
Thanks!

We planned to use ESP, but turned out it needs a lot of energy, so we are using nrf52840 MCU. Yes, we are using lvgl! Such a nice library!

stavros•2mo ago
This is fantastic. You've detailed a lot of the stuff that ruined my projects, though I never really actually sat down to learn about parasitic inductance and how to combat it. Now I look at the datasheet and make sure I don't miss any of the recommended caps and resistors, though I'm still not at your level of complicated design.

The finished product looks great, well done! By the way, why not add two more buttons at those two blank corners? Is it because the labels wouldn't fit on the display? You could always replicate the layout onto the display itself and put the labels on that.

cmpx•2mo ago
Thanks!

About the buttons in the corners, I wish we could use that space too! :) Most of the electronic components (MCU, power supply circuit) are located in the corners, while the remaining PCB area is occupied by the mechanical switches, display/battery, and the encoder.

stavros•2mo ago
Ahh, I see. Wouldn't it work to put those on the underside?
cmpx•2mo ago
Great idea! Actually the mk3 of the PCB had these parts on the bottom. The reason for putting them on the top layer was that this way we can decrease the thickness of the macropad (we don't need much space between the pcb and the backplate). For now it is basically a tradeoff. One way of improvement could be, that we don't use a BLE module, but solder the MCU directly to the PCB and use smaller passive components. This way the max. height of the components could be decreased and we could put them back on the bottom. This would also mean I have to design the RF parts, which is very far outside of my knowledge.
stavros•2mo ago
Hm yeah, there isn't really much space for the module, huh. One idea would be to cut the PCB and use castellated edges to solder the module to, which will make it thinner by one PCB height, but it'll be tricky.

Plus, it looks like your module has multiple rows of pads, but I'm not sure about that.

Tiny C Compiler

https://bellard.org/tcc/
44•guerrilla•1h ago•12 comments

You Are Here

https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/02/07/you-are-here.html
24•mltvc•1h ago•17 comments

SectorC: A C Compiler in 512 bytes

https://xorvoid.com/sectorc.html
147•valyala•5h ago•23 comments

The F Word

http://muratbuffalo.blogspot.com/2026/02/friction.html
72•zdw•3d ago•28 comments

Brookhaven Lab's RHIC concludes 25-year run with final collisions

https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/brookhaven-labs-rhic-concludes-25-year-run-with-final-collis...
35•gnufx•3h ago•38 comments

Speed up responses with fast mode

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/fast-mode
75•surprisetalk•4h ago•86 comments

Italy Railways Sabotaged

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czr4rx04xjpo
58•vedantnair•1h ago•39 comments

Software factories and the agentic moment

https://factory.strongdm.ai/
115•mellosouls•8h ago•221 comments

GitBlack: Tracing America's Foundation

https://gitblack.vercel.app/
6•martialg•34m ago•0 comments

LLMs as the new high level language

https://federicopereiro.com/llm-high/
13•swah•4d ago•7 comments

Hoot: Scheme on WebAssembly

https://www.spritely.institute/hoot/
155•AlexeyBrin•10h ago•28 comments

OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III

https://openciv3.org/
863•klaussilveira•1d ago•263 comments

Stories from 25 Years of Software Development

https://susam.net/twenty-five-years-of-computing.html
112•vinhnx•8h ago•14 comments

FDA intends to take action against non-FDA-approved GLP-1 drugs

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-intends-take-action-against-non-fda-appro...
26•randycupertino•42m ago•19 comments

Show HN: A luma dependent chroma compression algorithm (image compression)

https://www.bitsnbites.eu/a-spatial-domain-variable-block-size-luma-dependent-chroma-compression-...
20•mbitsnbites•3d ago•1 comments

Al Lowe on model trains, funny deaths and working with Disney

https://spillhistorie.no/2026/02/06/interview-with-sierra-veteran-al-lowe/
72•thelok•7h ago•13 comments

First Proof

https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.05192
73•samasblack•7h ago•57 comments

I write games in C (yes, C) (2016)

https://jonathanwhiting.com/writing/blog/games_in_c/
155•valyala•5h ago•133 comments

Vocal Guide – belt sing without killing yourself

https://jesperordrup.github.io/vocal-guide/
252•jesperordrup•15h ago•82 comments

Start all of your commands with a comma (2009)

https://rhodesmill.org/brandon/2009/commands-with-comma/
528•theblazehen•3d ago•196 comments

Show HN: I saw this cool navigation reveal, so I made a simple HTML+CSS version

https://github.com/Momciloo/fun-with-clip-path
37•momciloo•5h ago•5 comments

Selection rather than prediction

https://voratiq.com/blog/selection-rather-than-prediction/
18•languid-photic•3d ago•5 comments

Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback

https://rlhfbook.com/
97•onurkanbkrc•10h ago•5 comments

The AI boom is causing shortages everywhere else

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/07/ai-spending-economy-shortages/
209•1vuio0pswjnm7•11h ago•314 comments

72M Points of Interest

https://tech.marksblogg.com/overture-places-pois.html
42•marklit•5d ago•6 comments

A Fresh Look at IBM 3270 Information Display System

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/a-fresh-look-at-ibm-3270-information-display-system
52•rbanffy•4d ago•13 comments

Unseen Footage of Atari Battlezone Arcade Cabinet Production

https://arcadeblogger.com/2026/02/02/unseen-footage-of-atari-battlezone-cabinet-production/
129•videotopia•4d ago•40 comments

Coding agents have replaced every framework I used

https://blog.alaindichiappari.dev/p/software-engineering-is-back
269•alainrk•10h ago•448 comments

France's homegrown open source online office suite

https://github.com/suitenumerique
642•nar001•9h ago•281 comments

Show HN: Kappal – CLI to Run Docker Compose YML on Kubernetes for Local Dev

https://github.com/sandys/kappal
40•sandGorgon•2d ago•17 comments