This is Maru, the “on beyond smart hoop” that Chris Wang of Freaklabs has been working on. It’s version 1. Version 2 is already in the lab with a tinier logic and power supply:
Chris watched the Maru video above and decided to switch from slow software serial to faster hardware serial to eliminate glitches during heavy data transfers like fading. So he made a new board right after our meeting yesterday, and explains, “Here’s a shot of the new logic and power supply circuit for Maru. The power supply IC is tiny now so it heats up quickly. I’m going to have to figure out how to dissipate the heat. Otherwise, logic gating works fine. It’ll be nice to be able to use hardware SPI. Software serial is so flaky.” He made a video in the lab of the faster acting updates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgFec0NRjg
The prog