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Week 26, 2026: roundup
The plan for this week was a single bar: prove the runtime-config path end to end, set one config value on a real board from the configurator and read it back. That round trip is not finished. The on-board half of it got built …read more
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Unbricking hoverboard controllers: not dead, just asleep
While building runtime-hal, my one-binary-runs-on-any-chip HAL, I started bricking GD32F130C8 hoverboard controllers, and the pile kept growing. The pattern was deceptive. The test firmware would be flashed with the board running …read more
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Shopping list, 22 June 2026
A batch of parts is going into the cart for the hoverboard firmware bring-up. These are not recommendations I am handing down from on high, they are the things I am actually about to buy for the bench. The links are affiliate …read more
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Week 26, 2026: the plan
Two different hoverboards are on the bench this week, and the point of the picture is that they are different. On the left, a split board: each wheel driven by its own little controller, the two halves wired together. On the …read more
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Week 25, 2026: what got done
The plan for this week was to get the ClassyWalk board to balance on its own sensors and take drive and steer commands over its built-in wireless module at the same time, all from a clean-room reproduction of the stock firmware. …read more
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Week 25, 2026: the plan
This week's project is Declassyfied: an open-source, clean-room firmware for the ClassyWalk offroad, the GD32F130 self-balancing board from the now-defunct Stay Classy. There is no source, no support, and no spare parts, and the …read more
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Week 24, 2026: what got done
The plan for this week had four items. Here is the scorecard: - ✅ Wireless SWD on both boards — done (probes externally powered, by choice). - ❌ Balance under control — not reached; commutation and IMU both working underneath. - …read more
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Week 24, 2026: the plan
Last week ended with remote drive working over the board's own Bluetooth, no added microcontroller. This week is about being able to iterate on the balancing firmware safely, and then proving the thing balances while I drive it …read more