Tod and Paul share a new AI CAD service, a $70 hackable synth, KiCad in the browser, and more. Detailed show notes are available at thebootloader.net.

Tod and Paul will be hosting a livestream on their Discord server on Wednesday, November 18th at 7:30 p.m. EST / 4:30 p.m. PST. We hope to see you there!

00:00 Intro

00:23 PartForge.AI

7:14 M-VAVE FM-1 synth

Tod and Paul are back and share CircuitPython Turbo, an open source ambient TV lighting project, LoRa radios, and cheap music gadgets.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:30 CircuitPython Turbo

6:53 HyperHDR

13:42 Evil-M5 Project

18:08 Mesh Core and Meshtastic and FCC regulations

21:53 Broke Beats

Tod and Paul take a look back at the last year and share some of their favorite CircuitPython projects and features. This is a replay of The Bootloader's livestream on the Adafruit YouTube channel on CircuitPython Day. It has been slightly edited and we do use screensharing, so you may want to check out the video on YouTube.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:57 CircuitPython in the last year

1:24 CircuitPython 10 Audio Effects

4:24 CircuitPython 10.1 and 10.2 updates

4:37 MicroPython and upstream

In this episode, Tod and Paul share everything you wanted to know about USB, what's new in CircuitPython, a retro MP3 player, and more.

Follow the show on BlueSky.

00:19 Understanding USB

6:13 Terry Godier

10:19 CircuitPython Updates

16:55 AP30 Music Boy MP3 Player

19:11 awes...

Paul and Tod share a new CircuitPython IDE, a new selling platform for makers, Space Cadet Pinball, and more.

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Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:19 RV Circuit Studio

4:20 The curse of being a production maker

10:00 Bambuddy

Paul and Tod are back and discuss a nostalgia archive on the web, Web Serial in Firefox, real time OSes, a follow-up to last episode’s story on Parachord, and more.

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Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:20 FreeMediaHeckYeah

3:34 Flipper One

8:55 You Don’t Need an RTOS

Paul and Tod discuss a new review site for dev boards, add textures to your 3D prints, an open source music player, and more.

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Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:20 OpenBoardsGuide.com

4:49 BumpMesh.com

8:10 Parachord

11:51 SerialPlotster

18...

In this episode, Tod and Paul share a secondary display for your Bambu Labs 3D printer, a small eink eReader, an open source microcontroller, and more.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:15 BambuHelper

BambuHelper is a tiny ESP32-powered desk friend to tell you how your 3d printer is doing!

5:56 OpenScan

OpenScan is a low-cost and high quality 3D scanner that you build yourself that is open source and modular.

Paul and Tod chat about an open source record player, MicroPython’s new operating system, 3D printing news, and you won’t believe who is going to Eurovision.

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Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:19 The Statimatic STM-01 Automatic Turntable

5:00 MicroPythonOS and WaveShare ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-2

In this episode, Tod and Paul discuss hacking Flock cameras, the Adafruit Fruit Jam, Neural Networks in CircuitPython, some bad 3D printing legislation, and more.

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00:00 Intro

00:17 Flock Camera Hacking

5:46 Naya Connect

8:58 ESP32 supports 5GHz...

Paul has mic issues and Tod has a cold, but they’re here to discuss building your own Steam Machine, learning to sew, circuits and synths, and more.

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Show Notes

Show Notes

0:00 Intro

00:20 Build your own Steam Machine

Building my own Steam Machine with Bazzite

Reddit Guide to turn your Steam Machine into a console

Interview with Jorge Castro about Bazzite and more

4:56 Learning to sew

Learn To Sew...

Show Notes

In this episode, Tod and Paul discuss the recent Hackaday Supercon, including a talk and a workshop, Microsoft open sources Zork, the return of 80s style computer magazines, and more.

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00:23 Supercon Recap

Supercon 2025

YouTube playlist

2:10 Tod’s favorite Supercon talks

3:57 Arduino Uno Q Workshop (Tod #1)

Jeff Geerling’s video review

Using arduino-app-cli on Uno Q by Shawn Hymel

Uno Q user...

Liz Clark joins the show for a second time. Liz, Paul, and Tod each share two things they found interesting including remoting in to a Raspberry Pi, code as PCB design, an open source ereader, and more.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:20 Stickers!

00:31 Welcome Liz Clark

00:53 Raspberry Pi Connect

4:24 The Open Book Touch

8:39 Atopile

Paul and Tod discuss speeding up a Raspberry Pi, parts management with Inventree, product reviews, synths, and more.

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Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:23 Make Your Raspberry Pi Faster

5:13 Inventree

7:59 Framework 12 Laptop

15:18 Channels

19:26 Mutable Instruments ported to the Pico

23:38 3D Printable and Dissolvable Circuit Boards

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

This episode is a replay of The Bootloader’s live CircuitPython Day 2025 show from August 15th, 2025 hosted on Adafruit’s YouTube channel. The episode has been lightly edited.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky.

00:00 Intro

00:26 Welcome

1:02 Thank you Anne Barela

1:46 CircuitPython Fonts

6:57 CircuitPython v2 extension for VS Code

In this episode, Tod and Paul welcome John Park to the show. They discuss a floppy disk MIDI boombox, live-coding music, RP2350 as a mini-computer, and more.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky.

Show Notes

00:00 Intro

00:54 Floppy Disk Midi Boomboxes (John #1)

9:04 AlgoRave (Tod #1)

Tod and Paul discuss a MIDI chip, an epic rant, a love letter, and more.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky.

00:00 Welcome

00:17 SAM2695 General MIDI chip

3:51 Supercollider and Supriya

5:47 The STM32 rant

12:18 A love letter to embedded engineering

16:10 Altern...

Paul and Tod discuss tariffs, desoldering tricks, a classic arcade game, and more.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky. Follow Paul on Mastodon or Bluesky. Follow Tod on Mastodon or Bluesky.

For detailed show notes and transcripts, visit TheBootloader.net

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:17 Tarriffs are Bullshit

6:00 Desoldering Tricks

10:21 Philips Fixables

12:45 Resurrecting Sinistar

15:36 Kiwix

17:56 Euroknob

21:40 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your...

Welcome to a new episode! Tod and Paul chat about woodworking, MP3 players, a CircuitPython synthio tutorial, and more.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky.

00:00 Intro

00:12 Hyperwood

2:34 Synology NAS devices

7:27 TRMNL WiFi ePaper display

11:29 Rockbox 4.0

13:02 CircuitPython synthio tutorial

16:05 mobygratis

18:13 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your su...

Andy Piper joins Tod and Paul and they discuss an open source laptop, 3D printing filament detection, synths, and more.

Visit Andy’s homepage

Check out TheBootloader.net for detailed show notes and transcript.

Follow us on social media:

00:00 Intro

00:59 Glance app

5:33 Soundfonts, General MIDI, and a ROMpler

11:55 OpenSpool and SpoolEase

15:39 MNT Pocket Reform

21:55 DIYR Design Lamps and Speaker

25:20 Podcast La...

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Check out TheBootlader.net for detailed show notes, links, and transcript.

Brent Rubell of Adafruit Industries joins Tod and Paul. They discuss the Wippersnapper IoT firmware, Arduino libraries, microcontrollers as mini-computers, and more.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome

00:27 Wippersnapper’s new offline mode

5:36 rp2040 speed update

9:19 Microcontrollers as mini-computers

14:14 Obsidian note taking app

17:44 Ar...

Paul and Tod discuss drama in the world of 3D printing, oscilloscope music, inventory management for makers, and more.

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Show Notes

bamboozle: To deceive or dupe; hoodwink. synonym: deceive.

00:00 Welcome

00:14 Drama in the world of 3D printing

8:36 Oscilloscope music

13:00 ucritair

15:50 Buchla and friends

19:02 Inventory management for...

Happy New Year! Tod and Paul are back, each with three things to share. They discuss sunsetting a popular IDE, Tod’s favorite synth (which does so much more), 3D printing, pinball, and more.

We’re now on Bluesky! Follow us on Bluesky or subscribe to our newsletter.

Visit The Bootloader.net for detailed show notes, links, transcripts, and more.

00:00 Welcome

00:19 Sunsetting Mu

3:23 The Synthstrom Deluge

9:11 Home Assistant Voice (Preview Edition)

12:13 The Sound of Logic: Klangorium

15:50 3D Printing News Round-up

Tod and Paul discuss the recent Hackaday Supercon. They share some of their favorite talks, the Supercon badge, and notable add-ons for the badge.

For detailed show notes, including pictures, visit TheBootloader.net. And while you’re there, sign up for our newsletter!

00:00 Welcome

00:25 What is Supercon?

3:23 The Supercon badge

5:25 Supercon badge simple add-ons

6:44 The 2024 Supercon badge

7:16 Tod’s simple add-on, the touchwheel SAO

10:03 Conference talks overview

10:35 Giving Robotic Friends a Voice (Paul #1)

12:59 CircuitGraver (Tod #1)

15:17 Solving the Last...

Welcome to the show

For detailed show notes and a transcript, visit TheBootloader.net

Join our newsletter! Keep up with the show and what Paul and Tod are up to. Visit The Bootloader’s newsletter page to browse the archives or subscribe.

Welcome to our second guest, Kevin Santo Cappuccio, the creator of Jumperless.

6:20 The UNO Plus+ (Kevin #1)

The UNO Plus+ from John Loeffler is what the Arduino UNO should’ve been all along. It’s the same shape and hardware as the Arduino UNO, with the added bonus of LED...

Paul and Tod welcome their first ever guest, Liz Clark aka BlitzCityDIY. They chat about the itsaSNAP iOS app from Adafruit, the new Raspberry Pi AI camera, maker skill trees, and more.

Join our newsletter! Keep up with the show and what Paul and Tod are up to. Visit The Bootloader’s newsletter page to browse the archives or subscribe.

Show Notes

00:25 Adafruit itsaSNAP iOS App (Liz #1)

I have to say I’m a little biased with this pick because I contract with Adafruit, but I’m mildly obsessed with the new it...

Welcome to a new episode of The Bootloader. For detailed show notes and transcripts, check out TheBootloader.net. Join our new newsletter or check out the archives.

00:00 Welcome

00:26 Recap: The Bootloader live on CircuitPython Day

3:00 MICRORACK (Tod #1)

08:16: Pimoroni’s Picade Max (Paul #1)

13:17 A bug in the Raspberry Pi RP2350 (Tod #2)

18:36 Stratasys sues Bambu Lab (Paul #2)

22:18 Wrap-up

Enjoying the show? You can now spon...

In this episode of The Bootloader, Paul and Tod are joined by Debra Ansell who recaps Teardown 2024. Tod and Paul share a few interesting things including the Tulip Creative Computer, code editors, metal 3D printing, and more.

Stay until the end for a special announcement about CircuitPython Day on August 16, 2024.

For detailed show notes, transcripts, and to join our newsletter, visit The Bootloader.net

00:28 Interview with Debra Ansell Tod and Paul are joined by Debra Ansell (geekmomprojects on Instagram and Mastodon). Debra recaps her experience at the recent Teardown 2024 conference hosted by Crowd...

Paul and Tod chat about Professor Gallaugher’s CircuitPython tutorial videos, Embedded Swift, a special interview with Justin Myers, the author of the new CircuitPython ConnectionManager library, and more.

For detailed show notes and transcripts visit The Bootloader.net

Show Notes:

00:21 CircuitPython videos by Professor John Gallaugher

In episode 9, Paul and Tod chat about the M5Stack Cardputer, RadioFreeFedi, migrating to Kicad, the CircuitPython Online IDE, and more.

For detailed show notes, visit TheBootloader.net.

00:00 Welcome

00:20 The M5Stack Cardputer - Tod #1

2:10 CircuitPython build for the Cardputer

2:40 Available from Electromaker.io

4:29 RadioFreeFedi.net - Paul #1

5:57 FediVision

6:20 Bandcamp Friday / Faircamp Friday

6:48 Faircamp static site generator

8:19 Moving from Eagle to Kicad - Tod #2

9:55 PlumPot YouTube channel with Kicad tutorials

11:16 What is the most challenging...

In this episode, Paul and Tod each share three interesting things from learn to solder kits to programming ARM in assembly and more. Visit TheBootloader.net for more information including detailed show notes and transcripts.

00:22 Meet the Maker: Carrie Sundra of Alpenglow Industries. (Paul #1)

1:29 SMT Garden - surface mount soldering kit

3:51 Building a synthesizer with the Daisy Seed from Electrosmith (Tod #1)

5:56 synthUX Academy classes on YouTube

8:08 Microdot web framework for MicroPython (Paul #2)

9:08 Programming for both CPython and CircuitPython or MicroPython

10:25 ARM Assembly Deep-dives by Carlynorama...

00:00 Welcome to The Bootloader

00:22 What are we excited about in CircuitPython 9?

00:56 jpegio and the Memento Camera

2:12 The one downside of JPEG vs. BMP or PNG

3:03 How Adafruit is innovating around the hardware and software

3:57 bitmapfilter image effects

4:28 USB Host

5:07 Keyboards on USB Host

7:12 MicroPython and merging its changes into CircuitPython

9:55 paralleldisplaybus

12:13 CIRCUITPY on Android

Tod shares some of his favorite talks from the recent Supercon  conference in Pasadena, CA.  Paul and Tod each share one thing they  found interesting.  

Follow Tod on Mastodon: @[email protected] 

Follow Paul on Mastodon: @[email protected]

Show Notes

0:00 Welcome to the Supersize Supercon episode

3:17 The Supercon badge

8:02 DIY Vacuum Tubes by Nick Pool

10:31 Personal Electric Vehicles by Bradley Gawthrop

13:00 Samy Kamkar’s Random Walk Exploration

15:45 How to Hang and Sell Your Blinky Goodness as Art byChris Combs

18:15...

Tod and Paul share a few interesting things including virtual breadboards, Hey Github, and creating virtual synthesizers.

00:00 Welcome

00:26 MicroPython by Arduino Labs

6:15 Home Assistant

9:50 WithDiode.com and virtual breadboards

14:09 Hey, Github

17:40 Virtual Synthesizers - Turn Max patches into VST

22:48 Mastodon

For detailed show notes, transcripts, and to support the show, visit TheBootloader.net.

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

In episode 4, Tod and Paul discuss macOS Ventura, the Matter smart home specification, video synths and more.

Show Notes:

00:22 macOS Ventura cannot copy UF2 files

2:37 Matter smart home specification

7:00 3D printing for good causes

10:00 Video Synthesizers

13:10 IO Rodeo’s Open Colorimeter

15:40 ffmpeg.guide

Thank you for listening!  For show notes, transcripts, and to support the show, visit thebootloader.net.

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!

In episode 3, Paul and Tod share news about boards, code editors, sensors, and something fun at the end.

0:15 RISC-V Arduino Chip

04:28 Code editors and JetBrains Fleet

09:35 Person Sensor by Useful Sensors

13:38 GitHubCopilotInvestigation.com

19:18 CircuitPython’s ulab

23:57 MakerDeck

If you like what you hear, one of the best things you can do to help the show is tell a friend or write a review.

Consider supporting the show financially - your support helps with  the cost of hosting, recording and transcripts.  Thank you for your...

In episode 2, Paul and Tod talk about some makers and their cool projects, including the Lux Lavalier and Pikon; creating music in a web browser, and more.

PixelBlaze expression language (Tod #1) 1:45

Whisper OpenAI (Paul #1) 5:50

Music generation in the browser (Tod #2) 11:03

In this first episode, Paul and Tod each share a few things they found interesting.  They discuss open source projects including tio and Belay, 3D printing, and a rock star's Python project.

Follow the show on Twitter or visit The Bootloader for full show notes and transcripts.

The Hosts

Sponsor The Bootloader

Paul and Tod preview The Bootloader and share a fun fact.  The Bootloader is coming September 26th.

Follow us on Twitter @thebootloader

Visit our homepage at thebootloader.net

Enjoying the show? You can now sponsor the show, learn more at www.circuitpythonshow.com. Thank you for your support!