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Electronics News Roundup: Week of March 20, 2026

This week brought breakthroughs in chip design, exciting maker projects, and new tools for hobbyists. Here’s what happened in the world of electronics.

RISC-V Gains Ground in Consumer Electronics

The open-source RISC-V processor architecture continued its push into mainstream consumer electronics this week, with several major manufacturers announcing new chip designs based on the instruction set. Unlike ARM, which requires licensing fees, RISC-V is free to use — making it increasingly attractive for everything from IoT devices to laptops. For hobbyists, this means cheaper and more accessible development boards are on the horizon.

New ESP32 Variant Adds Built-In USB-C

Espressif announced a new ESP32 variant with native USB-C support and improved WiFi 6 capabilities. The chip targets maker and IoT applications, offering lower power consumption and faster wireless speeds. Early development boards are expected to ship in Q2 2026, and the Arduino IDE will have board support at launch.

Right to Repair Legislation Advances in Three States

Right-to-repair bills advanced in Oregon, Colorado, and Massachusetts this week, covering consumer electronics and agricultural equipment. The legislation would require manufacturers to provide repair manuals, diagnostic tools, and replacement parts to consumers and independent repair shops. This is good news for the maker community — more access to schematics means more opportunities to fix and modify devices.

JLCPCB Launches Free PCB Design Course

Popular PCB manufacturer JLCPCB launched a free online course covering KiCad basics through advanced multi-layer board design. The course includes a free PCB manufacturing coupon for students who complete all modules. If you’ve been thinking about moving your breadboard projects to custom PCBs, this is a great opportunity.

Maker Project of the Week: Solar-Powered Weather Station

A Hackaday project went viral this week featuring a completely solar-powered weather station built with an ESP32 and an e-ink display. The station measures temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, and rainfall — all powered by a small solar panel and a supercapacitor (no battery needed). The creator published full schematics and code on GitHub, making it a perfect weekend project for intermediate builders.

That’s the week in electronics. Want to stay up to date? Our daily newsletter covers news, tutorials, and projects every morning.