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Nicola Sabaini

00 · Profilo

Nicola Sabaini

Full-stack and embedded developer · Brescia, Italy

software that picks its own limit

I have been writing software since the machine itself was the limit. Now I pick the limit myself: an operating system in half a megabyte, a wargame with AI inside, a radio station that hosts itself.

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512 KB RAM · NucleoOS
1600+ Objects · HiddenIndexEngine
5 Languages · Radio Index

01

Projects

All projects

  1. Game

    A game of ExaWar in progress: the hex grid with units deployed, the resource panel and the turn bar

    ExaWar

    Turn-based strategy on a hex grid, written in Python. Five resources, twelve technologies, fourteen missions, multiplayer on an authoritative server. Free, and finished.

    Status
    Released
    Year
    2025
    Language
    Python 3.12
    Graphics
    Pygame · NumPy
    Code
    ~133k lines
    Tests
    1383
    Languages
    5
    Site

  2. Radio

    Radio Index: a vinyl record, the ON AIR indicator and the five languages the DJ announces in

    Radio Index

    An online station broadcasting around the clock, hosted by an artificial DJ that mixes live and announces in five languages. Embeddable player, public API, and it plays on TuneIn, Alexa, CarPlay and Android Auto.

    Status
    In development
    Year
    2026
    Broadcast
    24/7
    Host
    Artificial DJ
    Languages
    5
    API
    /api/now-playing
    On air

    Site

  3. System

    ANIMA, the offline assistant of NucleoOS Cardputer, open in the browser shell served by the device

    NucleoOS Cardputer

    An operating system for the M5Stack Cardputer: 512 KB of RAM, no PSRAM, and on top of it an offline AI assistant, a bilingual voice and a desktop-class shell served by the device.

    Status
    In development
    Year
    2026
    SoC
    ESP32-S3
    RAM
    512 KB, no PSRAM
    Stack
    C · ESP-IDF · WASM
    Site Source

  4. System

    The LVGL launcher of NucleoOS-P4 on the seven-inch panel: app grid, dock and system bar

    NucleoOS-P4

    An operating system for a seven-inch ESP32-P4 touchscreen: two desktops, a Store with over 400 apps, an assistant that works offline.

    Status
    In development
    Year
    2026
    SoC
    ESP32-P4 + C6
    Display
    7" 1024×600
    Stack
    C++23 · LVGL 9
    Apps
    Native · WASM · Lua
    Store
    Over 400 signed apps
    Source

  5. Engine

    Malonno Survivors, Formis scene: the list of objects to find, the hints, the timer and the score

    HiddenIndexEngine

    An engine and visual editor for hidden-object games. One project, three targets: Windows, web and Android. With a scatterer that understands what camouflage means.

    Status
    In development
    Year
    2026
    Language
    Python 3.12
    Targets
    Windows · Web · Android
    Catalogue
    1600+ objects
    Languages
    5
    Source

  6. Book

    The cover of 512 KILOBYTE: a grid of 512 memory cells on a dark green ground, in gold the eighteen that stay free

    512 KILOBYTE

    The story and the rules of an impossible operating system. How NucleoOS Cardputer came to exist on a chip with no PSRAM, told by the machine that worked on it alongside him.

    Status
    Published
    Year
    2026
    Language
    Italian
    Structure
    16 chapters · 5 appendices
    Length
    ~30,000 words
    Where
    Amazon.it
    Amazon.it

  7. Music

    Indecenti

    The music project. Soundtrack to ExaWar, and in rotation on Radio Index.

    Status
    Active
    Year
    2024
    Where
    Spotify · YouTube
    Also in
    ExaWar · Radio Index
    Spotify YouTube

All projects

02

Latest writing

All writing

  1. Four hundred apps, one at a time

    NucleoOS-P4 has a Store with over 400 apps and an assistant, on a microcontroller. I chose the features. Memory decided the shape.

    5 min read

  2. A computer sold as a component

    The most powerful chip in the ESP32 family has no wifi: a second chip sits next to it. The family born as a radio module took the radio out.

    3 min read

  3. A DJ who does not exist

    At the top of the file that decides what the Radio Index DJ does it says: no ML, pure deterministic logic. And that is the part nobody should notice.

    3 min read