Schlagwort: Projects

  • Introducing new artificial intelligence and machine learning projects for Code Clubs

    Introducing new artificial intelligence and machine learning projects for Code Clubs

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    We’re pleased to share a new collection of Code Club projects designed to introduce creators to the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). These projects bring the latest technology to your Code Club in fun and inspiring ways, making AI and ML engaging and accessible for young people. We’d like to thank Amazon Future Engineer for supporting the development of this collection.

    A man on a blue background, with question marks over his head, surrounded by various objects and animals, such as apples, planets, mice, a dinosaur and a shark.

    The value of learning about AI and ML

    By engaging with AI and ML at a young age, creators gain a clearer understanding of the capabilities and limitations of these technologies, helping them to challenge misconceptions. This early exposure also builds foundational skills that are increasingly important in various fields, preparing creators for future educational and career opportunities. Additionally, as AI and ML become more integrated into educational standards, having a strong base in these concepts will make it easier for creators to grasp more advanced topics later on.

    What’s included in this collection

    We’re excited to offer a range of AI and ML projects that feature both video tutorials and step-by-step written guides. The video tutorials are designed to guide creators through each activity at their own pace and are captioned to improve accessibility. The step-by-step written guides support creators who prefer learning through reading. 

    The projects are crafted to be flexible and engaging. The main part of each project can be completed in just a few minutes, leaving lots of time for customisation and exploration. This setup allows for short, enjoyable sessions that can easily be incorporated into Code Club activities.

    The collection is organised into two distinct paths, each offering a unique approach to learning about AI and ML:

    Machine learning with Scratch introduces foundational concepts of ML through creative and interactive projects. Creators will train models to recognise patterns and make predictions, and explore how these models can be improved with additional data.

    The AI Toolkit introduces various AI applications and technologies through hands-on projects using different platforms and tools. Creators will work with voice recognition, facial recognition, and other AI technologies, gaining a broad understanding of how AI can be applied in different contexts.

    Inclusivity is a key aspect of this collection. The projects cater to various skill levels and are offered alongside an unplugged activity, ensuring that everyone can participate, regardless of available resources. Creators will also have the opportunity to stretch themselves — they can explore advanced technologies like Adobe Firefly and practical tools for managing Ollama and Stable Diffusion models on Raspberry Pi computers.

    Project examples

    A piece of cheese is displayed on a screen. There are multiple mice around the screen.

    One of the highlights of our new collection is Chomp the cheese, which uses Scratch Lab’s experimental face recognition technology to create a game students can play with their mouth! This project offers a playful introduction to facial recognition while keeping the experience interactive and fun. 

    A big orange fish on a dark blue background, with green leaves surrounding the fish.

    Fish food uses Machine Learning for Kids, with creators training a model to control a fish using voice commands.

    An illustration of a pink brain is displayed on a screen. There are two hands next to the screen playing the 'Rock paper scissors' game.

    In Teach a machine, creators train a computer to recognise different objects such as fingers or food items. This project introduces classification in a straightforward way using the Teachable Machine platform, making the concept easy to grasp. 

    Two men on a blue background, surrounded by question marks, a big green apple and a red tomato.

    Apple vs tomato also uses Teachable Machine, but this time creators are challenged to train a model to differentiate between apples and tomatoes. Initially, the model exhibits bias due to limited data, prompting discussions on the importance of data diversity and ethical AI practices. 

    Three people on a light blue background, surrounded by music notes and a microbit.

    Dance detector allows creators to use accelerometer data from a micro:bit to train a model to recognise dance moves like Floss or Disco. This project combines physical computing with AI, helping creators explore movement recognition technology they may have experienced in familiar contexts such as video games. 

    A green dinosaur in a forest is being observed by a person hiding in the bush holding the binoculars.

    Dinosaur decision tree is an unplugged activity where creators use a paper-based branching chart to classify different types of dinosaurs. This hands-on project introduces the concept of decision-making structures, where each branch of the chart represents a choice or question leading to a different outcome. By constructing their own decision tree, creators gain a tactile understanding of how these models are used in ML to analyse data and make predictions. 

    These AI projects are designed to support young people to get hands-on with AI technologies in Code Clubs and other non-formal learning environments. Creators can also enter one of their projects into Coolest Projects by taking a short video showing their project and any code used to make it. Their creation will then be showcased in the online gallery for people all over the world to see.

    Website: LINK

  • Kick off the Monaco Grand Prix weekend with these Formula 1-inspired Arduino projects

    Kick off the Monaco Grand Prix weekend with these Formula 1-inspired Arduino projects

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    The Monaco Grand Prix is just days away and will likely be one of the most exciting races of the season. While most fans can’t participate directly — except as spectators — they can celebrate their passion through DIY projects. That’s why we’ve scoured the community to find the best of those builds for every skill level. Check out the list below!

    Formula 1 start lights

    Formula 1 races get underway with a light sequence that is unique in motorsports. That sequence starts with the lights illuminating one after another, telling the drivers to prepare. Then, after a random delay, the lights turn off and drivers can launch. This tests driver reaction, rather than memorized timing.

    Project Hub user BirdGuy’s project replicates those start lights using just an Arduino UNO Rev3, some LEDs and resistors, a momentary push button, and a breadboard. It is perfect for beginners, thanks to the simple wiring and sketch.

    Logitech Driving Force Shifter adapter

    Logitech’s G Driving Force Shifter is a popular six-speed racing simulator peripheral. Modern Formula 1 cars use electronic sequential shifters, but this accessory would be perfect for vintage F1 cars in racing sims.

    However, there is a problem: this shifter only works with a Logitech wheel. Dave Madison’s Arduino Leonardo-based adapter lets digital racers connect the shifter directly to a PC. It breaks out the DB9 connector and reads the inputs, then provides USB output. No soldering or breadboard necessary!

    Race lights reaction timer

    The previous start lights project is a great demonstration, but Stephan Holding’s reaction timer puts user skill to the test. The concept is very similar, but with a second button that represents an accelerator pedal and an OLED screen that shows the user’s reaction time.

    This project is a bit more complex, with that OLED screen, WS2812B individually addressable RGB LEDs, a piezo buzzer, and a laser-cut MDF enclosure. But it is still suitable for beginners who want to train their reaction time.

    Racing gates  

    Formula 1 is a wildly expensive sport, but dedicated enthusiasts can participate in amateur racing leagues to get their wheel-to-wheel fix. Those enthusiasts will want some way to measure lap times or speeds during practice and Project Hub user nfarrier’s DIY race photogate can help.

    This was designed for small-scale model cars, but the same hardware will work for full-size cars. Each PVC pipe gate has a homemade break-beam sensor and an Arduino UNO Rev3 monitors those. Enabling multiple lanes is as simple as adding more break-beam sensors. The Arduino times the interval between gate sensor triggers and sends the results to a basic Android app through an HC-05 Bluetooth for logging.

    Sequential gear shift

    Sequential transmissions, which weigh less and shift faster, took over F1 about 30 years ago. Most have “flappy paddle” electronic shifters integrated into the steering wheel, but many people prefer the feeling of reaching over to a shifter lever. Those people should enjoy Carlos Almeida’s sequential gear shift controller for sim racing.

    This project required 3D CAD modeling skills and a well-tuned 3D printer, so it is a step up in difficulty. It utilizes an Arduino MKR1000 WiFi board, because that is what Almeida had on hand. But it should work with several other models. There is even a seven-segment display that indicates the current gear.

    V12 engine clock

    Current Formula 1 regulations mandate the use of 1.6L V6 hybrid engines, but the V12 era was the most quintessential F1 experience for many fans. And the number of pistons on a V12 engine just happens to match the number of hours on a clock. That gave Will Reeve the inspiration to construct this V12 engine clock.

    Reeve styled this 3D-printed clock after a simplified V12 engine. As each hour passes, internal servomotors lift pistons to indicate the time. A seven-segment display on the front of the engine block shows the minutes. An Arduino Mega 2560 controls that process and LEDs provide accent lighting.

    Predicting the F1 champion with tinyML

    Cutting-edge machine learning models are capable of amazing feats and often reach conclusions that we humans cannot. Leonardo Gonçalves theorized that a machine learning model could predict the winner of a Formula 1 race and this project tests that idea.

    Gonçalves didn’t have access to actual F1 cars, so this project is only a demonstration of the concept using unpowered scale models. The idea is that a machine learning model trained on data from F1 cars can predict the winner of an ongoing race based on the new real-time data.

    Here, that data comes from an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense attached to the model car, which has all kinds of onboard sensors for collecting data, including an IMU (inertial measurement unit). That data went to a Neuton tinyML model for training and new data goes to the trained model for predictions. The results are fun to see, even if the test was dramatically simplified compared to a real race.

    Force feedback accelerator pedal

    The racing sim hardware we’ve already discussed only approximates the experience of driving a real car. But this active racing simulator pedal is much more robust and provides force feedback resistance. While drive-by-wire throttle systems are making it a thing of the past, mechanical throttle linkages impart noticeable feedback through the pedal. This DIY pedal replicates very high-end Simucube hardware, providing that feedback at a fraction of the cost.

    The two killer features are a load cell to measure pressure on the pedal and a large servo with a leadscrew to generate feedback. An Arduino controls the servo and reads the signal from the load cell’s amplifier. With the help of software running on a connected PC, this closed-loop system can accurately replicate the feel of an accelerator pedal in the real world.

    PorscheKart steering wheel

    Wesley Kagan is on an incredible quest to build his own F1 car, complete with a Mercedes V12 engine. There is a massive amount of custom work that Kagan has put into this project, but one of the highlights is the steering wheel. It looks and operates a lot like what you would see on an F1 car today, but is 100% bespoke.

    This requires three Arduino development boards. The first, an Arduino Mega 2560, collects data from the car’s sensors. The other two, Arduino Micro boards, read the steering wheel buttons and switches, and display content on the 3.5” LCD screen. That shows information like the current gear and speed, just like today’s F1 drivers see on their steering wheels.

    If you have an F1-themed project or get inspired to create one after watching the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, be sure to upload it to the Project Hub!

    The post Kick off the Monaco Grand Prix weekend with these Formula 1-inspired Arduino projects appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • 5 ways to use Arduino with kids

    5 ways to use Arduino with kids

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    One of the great things about making is that it really is for everyone — every budget, every skill level, and every age group.

    Children are one of the groups that can benefit the most from Arduino. Getting exposed to making and home automation from an early age can be enormously beneficial for kids and their families, and can spark a lifelong love for technology.

    In this article, we’ll look at why Arduino is so great for kids, and some of the ways parents, older relatives, and teachers can use Arduino’s products to entertain, educate, and inspire young learners.

    Why is Arduino so great for kids?

    • It teaches valuable STEM skills: STEM has always been a lucrative field, and as we enter an increasingly tech-driven world this trend looks likely to continue. Arduino projects can help kids gain hands-on experience and build a solid foundation of STEM skills from an early age.
    • It can begin a lifelong love for engineering. Making projects from a young age can be the start of a wonderful journey, giving kids a passion that can follow them through life and lead to many great experiences.
    • It’s a community: The Arduino community extends across the entire world, with regular meetups and events where like-minded makers can get together. For kids, this can be a great way to make friends and be part of a wider group.
    • It helps build wider skills: On top of pure STEM, using Arduino can also help kids grow in other areas, by encouraging skills like problem-solving and teamwork.
    • It’s fun: What more needs to be said? Tinkering with Arduino projects is a ton of fun, and that’s a huge benefit in itself.

    5 ways to use Arduino with kids

    Now let’s take a look at some specific ways we can use Arduino with young learners, illustrated with a few real-life examples of projects.

    1. Learn through projects

    Arduino can be the perfect gateway into making and engineering as hobbies, by giving kids accessible and fun projects to learn fundamental skills and gain practical experience.

    Take a look at this project, for example — which teaches kids the fundamentals of AI and machine learning via a fun game. Since these skills are exploding in importance, getting a solid headstart here is a valuable opportunity.

    2. Projects for groups

    One of the best things about Arduino for kids is the teamwork aspect, and the ability to work together toward a shared goal. This not only brings a new dimension of fun to the activity but also helps foster social skills and make friends.

    Take a look at this automated gardening project from EDUcentrum. In this tutorial, kids build a smart watering system for a connected plant, which they will then monitor over time. Then, they’ll discuss the project with their peers and do a presentation.

    3. Projects for kids with kids with autism

    STEM really should be accessible to everyone, and in fact, children with autism can benefit enormously from Arduino projects.

    Arduino For Autism is a group dedicated to helping mentor kids with autism, showing them how to work with microcontrollers. It’s designed to give kids with autism an introduction to the world of making and STEM in general, helping lay the foundations for skills like coding, engineering, and game development.

    Arduino can also be a useful tool for parents of children with autism. Phillip Mallon is a great example — on his website he shares the projects he’s built to help his son Jason, who has severe autism. Examples include a simpler timer for time management and an easy-to-use MP3 player.

    4. Projects to help parents

    Parenting is a tough task, but Arduino can help in this area, too.

    For example, check out this baby formula tracker. The monitor is designed to help randallph and his wife keep track of their daughter’s feeding times and make sure she is eating the right amounts at the right intervals.

    5. Learning mixed with fun

    Learning doesn’t have to be a chore — and there’s no better proof of that than this project, a device that launches NERF darts to show how angles affect the trajectory of ballistics.

    It was built by Arduino user buildfams and won Arduino Project of the Month in March 2023. Buildfams and his son worked together to build the project — a valuable learning experience in itself — and ended up with a fun gadget and a great way to learn key physics concepts.

    Tools and products

    On top of project ideas, Arduino also has several tools and products specifically designed to help beginners and kids make a start with their own projects. Let’s take a closer look.

    Get started with making

    If you or your kids are brand new to making, Arduino’s Student Kit is made for you. It’s built to help learners get started with making projects, covering basic skills like coding and building electronic circuits. It’s made for complete beginners — making it perfect for kids — and includes 11 activities designed to guide the learner through key concepts and important skills.

    Learn key scientific skills

    If learning basic scientific skills and concepts is your goal, look no further than the Science Kit R3 by Arduino. Designed to teach key scientific skills, bringing abstract theories to life through practical, interactive projects.

    Learn the basics of STEM

    Arduino’s Starter Kit is the perfect introduction to STEM and can be used at home or in the classroom. The kit teaches fundamental skills like coding and electronics through engaging, fun projects. It covers a ton of important basic concepts, from sensors and actuators to digital logic, while also encouraging learners to think critically and work together to solve problems.

    Alvik

    Arduino enthusiasts have yet another product to play with! Alvik is designed for students and teachers to explore the world of robotics, introducing this fascinating field to young learners with a unique approach. Why not grab yours today?!

    Learn more about Arduino and how you can use it with young learners (and older ones too!).

    The post 5 ways to use Arduino with kids appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • How to make energy saving really work

    How to make energy saving really work

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Conserving energy is something every animal does, and we humans are no exception.

    Especially when energy costs are high — something many of us have been uncomfortably aware of in recent years — figuring out ways to live life without burning through excess fuel (and polluting the environment) is a serious priority.

    Technology has promised many solutions here, with all kinds of energy-saving products on the market claiming to cut energy bills in half while saving the planet. But how many of these gadgets actually work? And could it be better to make your own?

    In this article, we’ll look at some of the most common energy-saving devices and some examples of homemade alternatives from Arduino users.

    Why is energy saving important?

    There are several good reasons to focus on saving energy, both for your own benefit and to help others. These include:

    • It saves money. Energy costs are still high around the world, and being careful about managing your energy usage can have a significant impact on your energy bill.
    • It helps save the planet. The burning of fossil fuels contributes to climate change, and wasting less energy means your personal impact on this will be lower.
    • It’s healthier. Carbon emissions and other fuels can pollute the environment and negatively impact our collective health. According to one report, cutting energy consumption by 15% for one year could save six lives and save up to 20 billion US dollars in health costs.

    What are energy-saving devices?

    Energy-saving devices are products designed to help you cut down on your energy usage, and they can approach this task from many different angles. Here are a few of the most common examples:

    • LED light bulbs that use significantly less electricity than their traditional incandescent counterparts.
    • Smart energy meters that keep track of your usage, suggest adjustments when energy is being wasted, and help you make more efficient and informed choices.
    • Energy-efficient appliances like washing machines and AC units, designed to use minimal energy with no waste.

    Do energy-saving devices really work?

    So, do these devices really work, or is it just hype and marketing?

    The (perhaps unsatisfying) answer is… sometimes. Some energy-saving devices like LED bulbs and highly rated efficient appliances can have a tremendous impact on your usage and save you noticeable amounts of money.

    Others — especially more complicated-sounding devices that don’t come with official accreditation — may end up being a waste of money.

    The third category here is devices that can work as long as you use them correctly. This applies to tools like smart meters, which can help you make extremely useful changes to your energy usage as long as you pay attention to them and act on the insights they provide. 

    3 ways to save energy with Arduino

    You don’t have to buy your energy-saving devices from the store, of course. With some basic coding knowledge and a few simple components, you can put together your very own projects at home. Many Arduino users have done exactly that, with impressive results.

    Let’s check some out!

    Smart energy meters

    One Redditor and Arduino user decided to develop their own version of a smart meter to help monitor energy usage and save costs.

    The device monitors amp, watt, and unit energy and allows you to view this data from your Android phone. Even more impressively, you can also turn devices on or off from your phone, managing your home’s energy usage from wherever you are. On top of that, if your devices consume more than 500W, the tool will turn them off automatically.

    This Arduino IoT-based energy meter is another great example of how to carefully track your energy usage through the Arduino Cloud.

    Glasses that save power

    If your eyes are closed, do you even need the lights to be on?

    That’s the idea behind a pair of glasses that automatically turn off the lights in your home whenever you close your eyes, helping you save on your electricity bill. 

    To add some extra spice, you can even add a TENS unit to make the glasses physically shock you into keeping your eyes closed longer. Evil, perhaps. Hilarious — definitely. Check out the video here.

    Snap circuits – energy saving

    The best way to build lifelong good habits around energy saving is to start young. 

    EDUcentrum’s snap circuits project is designed to introduce kids to the world of circuitry and electronic prototyping, while also teaching them about energy saving.

    The project teaches kids how to assemble their own snap circuits while learning about key topics like home automation and energy saving.

    Share your own Earth Day projects!

    Have you made any energy-saving devices or projects of your own? If so, we’d love to hear about them. Share the details in the comments below!

    Psst! For a limited time, we’re offering a special opportunity to create your own sustainable smart project with the Arduino Cloud, an all-in-one IoT solution to visualize your sensor data with stunning dashboards. Follow these three steps to give it a try:

    1. Visit Arduino Cloud plans and choose the Monthly Maker plan.

    2. Enter code EARTHDAY during checkout, valid between April 19th and April 30th, 2024.

    3. Unlock access to all advanced features, including over-the-air updates, unlimited shareable dashboards, data retention, real-time alerts and much more. 

    Whether you’re passionate about conservation or simply curious about the possibilities, now is your chance to join the community and make a difference. This offer is exclusively for new users not currently on any paid plan. You will have the flexibility to cancel at any time.

    Don’t miss out — embrace innovation while honoring our planet.

    The post How to make energy saving really work appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Old school meets new energy in Project Hub’s latest highlights!

    Old school meets new energy in Project Hub’s latest highlights!

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    It’s back to school! Whether you are a student or not, Arduino’s Project Hub is a great place to never stop learning, thanks to the wealth of knowledge, experiments, and plain cool ideas our community so generously shares. The three highlights we’ve selected among the projects uploaded in June indeed all have something to teach us… with one valuable lesson in common: the past has a lot to offer, if we take the time to recharge, rediscover or revamp it just a little!

    3. Give batteries new life

    This tutorial is so clear it can make anyone feel capable of building their own charger – with additional functionalities such as determining battery wear. Batteries always have to be handled with care, but if you have the skills to customize code and solder a circuit according to the schematic provided, more power to you! All you need are an Arduino Nano and a few other common components.

    2. Rediscover old-school wireless transmission

    This is not just a project, but a wonderful deep-dive on wireless communication where you’ll learn about the ISM band, ASK modulation, and synchronous and asynchronous demodulation. More importantly, you might rediscover the “simpler and older radio frequency devices and schemes” that are perfect to save resources on smaller projects. In this case, they will be all you need to implement wireless communication interfacing a Nano with a 433 MHz RF module.

    1. Ask more of your clock 

    Time and date, timer and alarm, but also detailed temperature data and even the weather forecast: you can have it all in one clock! With this project, Project Hub user dzh121 improved upon a previous version of theirs by adding a touchscreen and displaying more information. An impressive device that makes great use of Arduino IoT Cloud-based dashboards. 

    For your chance to be selected for a $100, $300 or even $500 gift card to spend on the Arduino Store, submit your best project on the Project Hub! We will be awarding three new entries every month, as detailed in the complete terms and conditions. Good luck! 

    The post Old school meets new energy in Project Hub’s latest highlights! appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Meet the next top three Project Hub entries — anything is possible!

    Meet the next top three Project Hub entries — anything is possible!

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    This is the third time that we’ve selected three outstanding projects in the Arduino Project of the Month competition, highlighting the wide range of our users’ contributions to our growing Project Hub. For April we go from tanks to tunes – because why not? Anything is possible with just a few components, a lot of curiosity, and an amazing community like ours. 

    3. Conquer 3D printing with an RC tank

    If you’re on a mission to build a remote-controlled tank, this is the project for you! Complete with downloadable code, electronics diagram and 3D models, it even provides easy instructions in video format. Use an Arduino Nano, four DC motors, a motor driver, and Bluetooth® module to fight the good fight of making!

    2. Mix vintage and modern with a vinyl frame MP3 player

    Thanks to this project, you can display your favorite record and listen to it too! Add small hidden speakers and a touch-sensitive button to your vinyl frame, and play MP3 tracks off a DFPlayer SD card. With an Arduino Nano, the Arduino IDE, and clear and simple instructions, you can recreate or customize this project without skipping a beat.

    1. Master digital music with your own MIDI controller

    DIYing your own MIDI controller is cheaper than buying one off the shelf and, of course, is hugely satisfying for any music-oriented maker. With this Arduino Due project, it might even be easier than you think! Check out this entry’s in-depth tutorial to make a USB MIDI controller for all the basic parameters of a digital audio workstation (DAW) — volume, pan, mute, solo, rec, play, stop and more — without assigning anything manually. 

    For your chance to be selected for a $100, $300 or even $500 gift card to spend on the Arduino Store, submit your best project on the Project Hub! We will be awarding three new entries every month, as detailed in the complete terms and conditions. Good luck! 

    The post Meet the next top three Project Hub entries — anything is possible! appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • The weird and wonderful history of chess-playing robots

    The weird and wonderful history of chess-playing robots

    Reading Time: 4 minutes
    The Weird and Wonderful History of Chess-Playing Robots

    Who said robots had to be all work and no play? For many years, people have been designing and building robots not just to help with chores, but to help us win games. Possibly the most famous examples of this are the robots that play chess.

    In this article, we’ll take a look at the history of chess-playing robots, how they’ve evolved over time, and share three famous examples.

    And do not forget that with the right inspiration, Arduino, and the Arduino Cloud, creating a robot is not a dream anymore!

    The history of robots in chess — Three famous robotic chess prodigies

    Chess is an old game. Humans have been playing it for 1,400 years, and for the vast majority of that time, their only opponents were other humans.

    As time went on and technology became more advanced, people started to turn their thoughts to ways of using tech to win at chess. One of the first (somewhat clumsy) attempts came in the 18th century.

    The Turk

    The Mechanical Turk, developed in 1770 by Wolfgang von Kempelen, stunned audiences by repeatedly holding its own against human opponents. The world had changed forever — were machines finally beginning to outsmart their makers!?

    Well… not exactly. The Turk actually turned out to be a case of fraud — and featured a human chess player hiding inside the machine and controlling its movements. False alarm.

    The Mechanical Turk was destroyed by fire in 1854, after a perplexingly long career.

    Boris Handroid

    Throughout the 20th century, people worked furiously to build machines that could beat humans at chess. Progress slowly chugged along, and in 1980 the first commercially available chess robot came into being.

    It was based on a chess computer called Boris and was extremely rare and limited, to the point where many people doubted it even existed. Due to its incredibly exclusive nature, it’s no surprise that the Handroid never became a household name.

    The Milton Bradley Computers

    Although the Handroid was not exactly a success story, it did show the world that there was at least an appetite for chess-playing robots, if they could be made effectively and at scale.

    In the early 1980s, American board game giant Milton Bradley decided to take on the challenge. Working with computer scientists, they began to develop a robotic chess game that would move the pieces reliably enough to be sold at a mass scale.

    The result was actually three different models: the Grandmaster that hit the US market, the Milton which was sold in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and the Phantom which was built for the British market — although all three devices were extremely similar.

    The Milton Bradley chessboard was able to detect where pieces were and used magnets attached to motor-driven belts to pull the pieces around the board. Unlike most of its predecessors, the Milton Bradley chess robot was a success and sold many copies in the US and Europe. 

    For chess aficionados, an important moment had arrived — you could now play chess at home without the need for a human opponent.

    Deep Blue

    Although it’s more of a computer program than a robot per se, no article about chess-playing robots would be complete without a mention of Deep Blue. Built on an IBM supercomputer, Deep Blue was the culmination of many years of grueling research and programming — a computer that could finally challenge a human chess champion.

    In a series of games over the course of 1996 and 1997 — 10 years after development began on the project at Carnegie Mellon University — Deep Blue beat chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

    It was a groundbreaking moment not just for chess, but for humanity as a whole — a reminder that, as advanced and intelligent as we are, the machines might just be catching us up.

    Build your own chess robots

    Today, you don’t need to rely on astronomically expensive novelty gadgets to experience the wonders of chess-playing robots — you can easily make your own at home. With tools like Arduino, amateur tech enthusiasts can assemble chess-playing machines for relatively low cost and without the need for a highly specialized skillset.

    The Arduino Project Hub is home to a ton of chess-related projects, including some robots. YouTuber RobotAvatar built this machine that uses 64 reed switches to direct an Arduino Uno where each chess piece is.

    Meanwhile, a computer running a Python program takes care of the “thinking” and sends signals to the device to move pieces. It’s a pretty straightforward device that literally adds an extra dimension to the game of computerized chess — allowing you to play games against machines in a much more tangible way.

    Another amazing project, created by Greg06 on Instructables, is the automated chessboard that can not only tell where specific pieces are moved but also play against an actual opponent while moving its own pieces.

    Chess isn’t the only thing Arduino is capable of. Check out our homepage to learn more about how it all works, the kinds of projects you can build, and how you can get started.

    Browse all projects

    The post The weird and wonderful history of chess-playing robots appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • A history of robotic pets (and how to make your own)

    A history of robotic pets (and how to make your own)

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Humans have domesticated animals since the dawn of time. Dogs (our oldest furry friends) were owned by humans as far back as 30,000 years ago, and since then we’ve formed bonds with all kinds of different creatures.

    It was only in the last century, though, that we started to actually build our own pets. The history of robot pets is a short but fascinating one, going from barely recognisable gadgets to incredibly sophisticated devices in just a few decades.

    In this article, we’ll look at some of the biggest milestones in the evolution of robotic pets, and show you a few neat examples from the Arduino Project Hub.

    A history of robot pets

    The Phony Pony

    Built in 1968 at the University of Southern California, the Phony Pony marked the beginning of a new era. As the first ever autonomous quadrupedal robot, it is the common ancestor to which all of today’s robot dogs and cats can be traced back (despite being named after a different species).

    By today’s standards, the Pony wasn’t all that sophisticated. It featured four legs, each with its own hip and knee joint, attached to a frame. But, it worked — the Pony was able to walk around at various slow speeds. It wasn’t wireless but, come on, it was the ‘60s.

    The Tamagotchi

    Here’s one for the ‘90s kids. The Tamagotchi, released in 1996 in Japan by Bandai, soon made its way to the rest of the world. This simple, handheld device containing an animated pet which needed to be fed, watered, and cared for like any living animal soon became a smash hit — selling over 80 million units to date.

    Anyone who has been through the traumatizing experience of losing their Tamagotchi will testify that these bundles of pixels can inspire surprising amounts of love and devotion from their owners.

    The Furby

    Another ‘90s classic here — the robotic, furry Furbies were popular throughout the world and sold more than 40 million units. While they weren’t the pinnacle of sophistication in terms of what they could actually do, it’s clear that people enjoyed the novelty of a robotic pet that was, in some small way, kind of alive.

    BigDog

    Released in 2005, the BigDog was the debut project of the now-famous robotics company Boston Dynamics. The BigDog was designed to be used in the military, and is equipped to do tasks like move easily over challenging terrain and carry up to 154 kg of weight.

    Unfortunately, in spite of its physical prowess, the BigDog never quite made the cut, as its engine was deemed to be too noisy to be effectively used in combat situations. However, since then Boston Dynamics have been refining and optimizing their robot war dogs, and the latest iterations look very fearsome indeed.

    Pleo the Dinosaur

    UGOBE, based in California, set out to build a robotic creature that was also imbued with its own operating system, giving it an uncanny resemblance to a living thing. The result was Pleo — a pet dinosaur that uses cutting-edge research in fields like robotics, sociology, and even philosophy to appear very life-like indeed.

    ANYmal Robotic Dog

    Developed by Swiss robotics company ANYbotics, the ANYmal Robotic Dog was designed to safely inspect unsafe industrial environments. It comes equipped with an arsenal of tools like laser inspection sensors and the ability to autonomously navigate through different environments, collecting and sharing an impressive amount of data.

    Make your own

    Inspired by the idea of building your very own robotic pet? The Arduino Project Hub has a number of examples from people who have tried their hands at just that. Let’s take a look at a few.

    The Nerd

    Built in the same mold as the Tamagotchi, The Nerd is an electronic pet that lives in your pocket (or wherever you put it down) and survives by eating WiFi SSIDs (it also needs rest and sunlight).

    To properly care for your Nerd, you need to make sure it has just the right balance of offline and online mode, along with sufficient levels of light and darkness. If it’s disconnected from that tasty WiFi for too long, The Nerd will emit a desperate plea in Morse code, 

    You can build your own Nerd using the Arduino MKR IoT Bundle, a few other components like an RGB LED, phototransistor, and buzzer, and some code. Just make sure it doesn’t go too hungry — The Nerd makes a lot of noise when it dies.
    And you can now create your own Nerd with just one click with the ready-to-use The Nerd Arduino Cloud template. Read the full tutorial to learn more about how to use it.

    Roger Bot

    Arduino user hannu_hell built the Roger Bot in their very own home using an Arduino and a few other components. The Roger Bot features a robotic arm and the ability to move around on flat surfaces. It also contains built-in sensors that collect sensory data and display them on an LCD screen.

    While it isn’t well-equipped to handle uneven or challenging terrain just now, this is something hannu_hell is working on for the future. 

    Build your own with Arduino

    With an Arduino, a few simple components, and a free subscription to the Arduino Cloud, you too can create your very own robotic pet. Add to the ranks of historical robotic companions and gain a faithful and useful friend. And who knows… with the way AI is developing, maybe a truly autonomous robot pet is only just around the corner.

    Check out the Arduino Cloud homepage to learn more and find your inspiration.

    Browse all projects!

    The post A history of robotic pets (and how to make your own) appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Vineyard pest monitoring with Arduino Pro

    Vineyard pest monitoring with Arduino Pro

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    The challenge

    Pest monitoring is essential for the proper management of any vineyard as it allows for the early detection and management of any potential pest infestations. By regularly monitoring the vineyard, growers can identify pests at early stages and take action to prevent further damage. Monitoring can also provide valuable data on pest behaviour, seasonality, and population size. This information can be used to adjust management strategies and protect the quality of grapes harvested from the vineyard.

    One of the most effective ways to monitor pests is with pheromone traps. Pheromone traps use synthetic hormone-like compounds to attract specific insects and correctly estimate their overall presence based on their number, preventing major damage and disease to the plants. Using pheromone traps can help protect vines from serious infestations, reduce pesticide use, and ensure a healthy crop. Additionally, these traps can be used to track the activity of a particular species over time which is useful for predicting when pest populations are likely to peak or decline. By knowing when insect pressure is high or low, winemakers can better plan for treatments and cultivate their land accordingly. 

    The value of conservation and pest control initiatives is immeasurable as the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and species invasions become more evident. Traps are widely used for population detection, tracking progress on projects, determining management solutions; in addition to assessing treatment performance.

    Popillia japonica

    Vineyard Pest Monitoring is the practice of monitoring and controlling vineyard pests, such as Popillia japonica. Popillia japonica is a species of scarab beetle native to Japan that feeds on grapevine leaves and can cause significant damage in vineyards. Traditional pest management techniques involve manual monitoring with traps or pheromone traps. These methods are labor-intensive and may not provide accurate and timely monitoring or pest control.

    Our solution

    We propose a solution for estimating Popillia japonica populations in vineyards using pheromone traps and Computer Vision.  

    This system utilizes LoRa® technology to enable remote monitoring of Popillia japonica in vineyards. Arduino Pro allows farmers to monitor Popillia japonica activity with pheromone traps and collect the data remotely. This makes it easier for farmers to detect infestations early and take action, leading to improved efficiency and higher yields. The IoT technology also helps reduce labor costs associated with manual monitoring.

    By using Computer Vision in combination with LoRa® technology, real-time data of pest activity can be collected. This information allows growers to better understand the dynamics of Vineyard pests such as Popillia japonica, helping them to make more informed decisions and reduce their environmental impact. With the right monitoring tools, vineyards can now be better prepared to face the increased risk of Japanese beetle outbreaks posed by climate change.  With IoT devices, there is no longer any excuse not to employ pest monitoring in vineyards. The use of IoT-based pest monitoring is not only cost-effective, but also helps to reduce the environmental impact of pesticide applications. This makes it an important tool for vineyard managers looking to protect their crops in an ever-changing environment. The future of vineyard management lies in the hands of innovative technologies like this one, enabling farmers to ensure their crops are healthy and safe.  By taking advantage of the latest technologies, vineyard managers can make sure their crops are protected from infestations and ensure a successful harvest season year after year.

    To address the challenge we will devise a pest monitoring system based on sensor nodes that monitor areas in the vineyard and send the collected data to a LoRa® gateway that can either display it locally or push it toward a cloud solution where further computation can be done. Either at the gateway level or in the cloud, alerts can be set based on certain thresholds considered relevant. 

    Bug counting

    For monitoring the number of Popillia Japonica in each section of the vineyard we have chosen the Arduino Nicla Vision which is ideal for this project because of its advanced image processing capabilities. It combines a powerful Dual ARM® Cortex® M7/M4 IC processor with a 2MP color camera that supports TinyML in a compact format. The full datasheet is available here. For training the object detection model, we have chosen the Edge Impulse platform where we can easily train and deploy a model that will allow us to detect the number of bugs in the view of the camera. After the deployment, no further need of internet connectivity is needed for the camera and only the number of bugs will be relayed to the Arduino MKR WAN 1310 through UART.

    Connectivity

    The Arduino MKR WAN 1310 is a powerful and versatile IoT development board based on the ARM Cortex®-M0+ 32-bit processor, perfect for building connected projects. It supports the LoRa® communication protocol, making it suitable for long-range applications such as vineyard pest monitoring. Moreover, it also supports the UART, I2C, and SPI communication protocols so it can easily be interfaced with other devices. Additionally, the MKR WAN 1310 features an integrated LiPo battery charger to keep your project running 24/7. With its compact size and low energy consumption, this board can be used in a wide range of projects where connectivity is required without sacrificing power efficiency.

    Thanks to its radio connectivity via LoRa® radio transceivers, the data can be sent directly to the nearest LoRa® gateway which forwards it to the Arduino IoT Cloud. The gateway, Arduino Pro WisGate Edge Pro powered by RAKwireless™ ensures secure and reliable connectivity for a wide range of professional applications and is suitable for medium-sized to wide area coverage in industrial environments and remote regions. Its high transmission power and 2x fiberglass antennas with 5dBi gain provide extensive coverage in open environments, making it the perfect fit for IoT commercial outdoor deployment – required for example for parking sensors, remote fleet management, livestock tracking and geofencing, and soil monitoring solutions that maximize crops’ yield.

    Solving it with Arduino Pro

    Now let’s explore how we could put all of this together and what we would need for deployment both in terms of hardware and software stack. The Arduino Pro ecosystem is the latest generation of Arduino solutions bringing users the simplicity of integration and scalable, secure, professionally supported services.

    Hardware requirements

    Software requirements

    The Nicla Vision has been programmed in MicroPython since the Edge Impulse model was created/tested using the OpenMV IDE and thus we have also sent the number of detected bugs to the Arduino MKR WAN 1310 via UART.

    The Arduino MKR WAN 1310 has been programmed in C/C++ using the Arduino IDE and the Arduino IoT Cloud and registered on the The Things Stack (TTS) platform. The Arduino MKR WAN 1310 acts as an end device programmed to receive the number of detected Popilia Japonica bugs from the Nicla Vision through UART and forward it to the Arduino IoT Cloud through the nearest LoRa® gateway connected to the TTS service.

    Here is a screenshot from a dashboard created directly in the Arduino IoT Cloud showcasing data received from the sensor nodes:

    Here is an overview of the software stack and how a minimum deployment with one of each hardware module communicates to fulfill the proposed solution:

    Conclusion

    By combining Computer Vision with LoRa® technology, farmers can create a reliable vineyard pest monitoring system that is capable of estimating the population of Popillia japonica quickly and accurately. With this IoT-based op-solution, farmers can monitor Popillia japonica activity in their vineyard and take action before Popillia japonica causes significant damage. This helps protect the vineyard from Popillia japonica infestations and ensures higher yields for the farmer.  With Vineyard Pest Monitoring with Arduino Pro, farmers no longer need to rely on labor-intensive manual methods for Popillia japonica monitoring. Instead, they can use IoT technology to create an efficient and cost-effective pest monitoring system that provides accurate data about Popillia japonica activity in their vineyards. 

    In summary, pheromone traps are an important tool for protecting vineyards from pests and ensuring a healthy harvest season and great wines. Salute! 

    The post Vineyard pest monitoring with Arduino Pro appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Get More Out of Your Smartphone with Arduino

    Get More Out of Your Smartphone with Arduino

    Reading Time: 5 minutes
    Get More Out of Your Smartphone with Arduino

    Our smartphones go pretty much everywhere with us, and we use them for more things than we even realize. From literally the very moment we’re startled into life in the morning, until the one final doom scroll through social media before bed, our phones are with us.

    It makes sense, then, to think about ways to connect your smartphone to your Arduino projects, adding another layer of user-friendliness and convenience. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best tips and hacks for bringing your phone and your home automation projects closer together, and we’ll share some examples from the Arduino community.
    Arduino Cloud is the perfect companion for building automated projects, and the IoT Cloud Remote mobile app makes things a lot easier. In this article we’ll see some companion apps and you can check out more compatible projects in our Home Automation website.

    Use the iRobbie app

    The iRobbie app is designed specifically to connect your smartphone to your Arduino projects. It’s actually a fairly simple concept, using Bluetooth to connect your phone to the Arduino board. Once connected, you can access a ton of features like object recognition and tracking, all via the phone’s camera. iRobbie allows your Arduino projects to recognise and track over 60 objects.

    Other features include:

    You can learn more about iRobbie and how to get started with it here.

    Notification IoT Using NeoPixel and Smartphone

    If there’s one thing phones are good for, it’s receiving updates. But what about when you miss important updates? What about when your phone is on the other side of the room, or the TV is playing loud, or you just missed that vibration?

    Speaking of vibrations, wouldn’t it be cool if there were a slightly less annoying way to get notifications from your phone?

    Well, step forward Arduino user notiduin, who used NeoPixel and Arduino to find a solution. This project allows you to get notifications in the form of LED lights of different colours. By combining HC-06 Bluetooth, Arduino Uno, Neo Pixel and an Android App, it’s possible to have all your phone’s notifications sent to an Arduino where they can turn on different colours of LED.

    You can even assign a certain colour to each type of notification. For example, a Facebook notification can light up the blue LED, an SMS message can trigger the yellow light, and a new email can cause the red light to flash — it’s entirely up to you. The project works with any of the apps on your smartphone.

    Check out the full project description here.

    More user projects

    3D printed smartphone camera slider

    Getting the perfect smartphone photo can be a tougher task than it first appears. Stores across the world now have their shelves lined with tripods, stands, and other gadgets to make snapping that perfect shot more manageable than ever… but sometimes you just need to take matters into your own hands.

    That’s what Reddit user u/careyi4 did. He 3D-printed his very own smartphone camera slider, powered by an Arduino, to make it easier than ever to line up pro-level smartphone photoshoots. Check out the video for more information.

    Make any Arduino smartphone-controlled with just a few lines of code

    You don’t need to be a programming genius to make your own Arduino projects smartphone-controlled. Reddit user u/TylerTimoj used just a few lines of simple code to make their projects easily controlled from their smartphone, and anyone can emulate it.

    You can check out the full project here, along with a video where u/TylerTimoj shows you how it’s done.

    Did you know that your phone is an IoT device?

    The Arduino IoT Remote app (available for Android and iOS) was created to enable you to remotely manage and monitor your devices through the Arduino Cloud dashboards, offering complete control at your fingertips from anywhere you are. Arduino has gone a BIG step further and enabled you to use the app as an IoT device, utilizing some of the sensors in your mobile phone such as accelerometer, GPS, microphone, compass or barometer to collect data and transmit it to the Arduino Cloud. This feature automatically creates in the Arduino Cloud everything needed to monitor the sensors (the Device, the Thing and a dashboard) and share the data with other devices.

    Starting to play with real hardware can be tricky for non-experienced users, so this feature enables users to get familiar with the Arduino Cloud device management environment using their own phone. Easy, right?

    But you can also use the data from your phone sensors in your projects. Imagine the endless possibilities using that information. For instance, you can use virtual geographic boundaries for geofencing to initiate actions based on your location. You can also automate home-based tasks such as turning off lights when you depart and turning them on when you return, securing doors, and adjusting home climate control. Moreover, you can track your loved ones with geofencing and receive immediate notifications if they leave a designated area. The accelerometer in your phone can also be utilized to detect accidents or falls, and you can even use your phone as a remote control for games or robots.

    Only your imagination sets the boundaries of what you can do with this new feature.

    If you want to learn more about the “Phone as Device” feature, don’t miss this article on the documentation.

    Unlock a whole new side to your smartphone

    With Arduino, a few basic components, and a bit of knowledge, anyone can bring entirely new capabilities to their smartphone and start doing a whole range of new tasks with it. I mean, if it’s going to be with you all day, you might as well get as much out of it as possible, right?

    Check out the Arduino Home Automation page to learn more and get started with your own projects.

    Browse all projects!

    The post Get More Out of Your Smartphone with Arduino appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Arduino Project Hub: Share and compete in Project of the Month!

    Arduino Project Hub: Share and compete in Project of the Month!

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    After the successful launch of the new Project Hub at the end of last year, we are ready for a new challenge and the opportunity for you to be rewarded for your awesome work.

    Starting February 1st, we are launching a new ‘Arduino Project of the Month’ competition for everyone in our community.

    Simply share your best project on the new Project Hub.

    Every month, our team will then select up to three projects and their creators will receive fabulous gifts!

    • First selected will receive a gift card worth $500.
    • Second selected will receive a gift card worth $300
    • Third selected will receive a gift card worth $100.

    (Gift cards can only be redeemed on the Arduino Store.)

    We will officially start considering projects uploaded after February 1, 2023.

    Please keep in mind the general rules to enter the competition:

    • All the participants must be 18+ years of age.
    • All projects accepted for Project Hub will be evaluated by the Arduino Team. If your project is shortlisted you will be contacted with further instructions.
    • Please make sure that you are uploading your project using your Arduino account. Projects submitted using Hackster.io accounts will not be accepted.
    • The Arduino team will evaluate the projects based on the quality of the project itself, not on the number of projects a user updates. But obviously the more projects you add, the more you increase your chances of  being selected.
    • Projects submitted by companies won’t be considered part of this competition.
    • The Arduino Team is solely responsible for monthly selection(s). Each selection is final and will not be amended.
    • Projects can only be submitted to the challenge once. It is not permitted to delete a project and then re-submit it again in the following month(s).
    • Complete Terms and Conditions can be found here.

    So, what are you waiting for? Upload your project on the new Arduino Project Hub for a chance to receive a $500 gift card to help make your next project even more amazing!

    Submit your project today!

    The post Arduino Project Hub: Share and compete in Project of the Month! appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Update your ESP32 boards over-the-air (OTA) with Arduino Cloud

    Update your ESP32 boards over-the-air (OTA) with Arduino Cloud

    Reading Time: 3 minutes
    Update your ESP32 devices wirelessly using the Arduino Cloud. After the first programming via USB, you won't need cables any more.

    The Arduino Cloud is Arduino’s integrated platform to develop, deploy, monitor, and control IoT devices with minimal effort. It enables makers, IoT enthusiasts, and professionals to build easily connected projects based on a wide range of hardware including not only Arduino boards, but also ESP32 and ESP8266 boards. Arduino is committed to making all the Arduino Cloud features available to all the supported hardware and as a result of this effort, ESP32 family of chipsets now support over-the-air (OTA) updates.

    The Cloud for Makers

    Due to their low price, integration and high performance, ESP32-based devices are among the most widely used ones for hobbyists and developers who want to create their small home appliances. 

    One of the facts that have contributed to this popularity is the ability to use the Arduino IDE to code and program the devices. You can find tons of resources describing how to get started. There are thousands of projects that will inspire you and help you create and develop your own ideas. You can reuse the code and sketches even if they have been originally developed for other ESP32 or Arduino boards. It is so easy to get started!

    But what if you want to go a step further and interact with your devices remotely? That’s what Arduino Cloud was designed for. It is an online platform that enables you:

    • to develop your software online with the zero-touch Web Editor, keep your sketches in the cloud and share them with other users.
    • to deploy and manage your devices with the IoT Cloud and your custom dashboards that can be accessible remotely from your browser or the mobile app Arduino IoT Remote.

    All that with just an integrated unique platform and taking benefit from the rich collection of Arduino’s libraries, examples and tutorials that help developers get at speed with minimum effort.

    No cables any more: Update over-the-air

    But programming the devices is still tedious work. You need to have the device at hand and connect a USB cable. This is acceptable for the first time you program the device, but it is really annoying when your device is already installed in a place with difficult accessibility. In those situations, you either have to remove the device from its place or bring your laptop as close as possible to its location.

    That’s where over-the-air (OTA) is a game-changer. This feature enables you to upload programs wirelessly to your boards. This way, as soon as you have a compatible board connected to a WiFi network and configured to work with OTA, you won’t need to physically connect the board to the computer in order to upload new sketches to it. Instead, everything will work over-the-air.

    Over-the-air update is available through both the Arduino IoT Cloud and the Arduino Web Editor for the sketches bound to your IoT Cloud things.

    OTA for ESP32 now available

    Over-the-air updates have been traditionally constrained only to Arduino boards and this feature has been widely adopted by users. Now, this support is extended to ESP32 boards. This unifies the experience across the most popular platforms.

    There are plenty of ESP32 platforms available with different processors and memory sizes. This is an experimental feature that has been tested on the most popular ones, but there could be some limitations on some of the untested ones. We would be delighted to get your feedback.

    Get started now

    Getting started with over-the-air updates is as simple as following the steps in the Uploading sketches Over-The-Air (OTA) tutorial. You can also find some useful tips and tricks in the cheat sheet. Give it a try, and share your experience with the community.

    The post Update your ESP32 boards over-the-air (OTA) with Arduino Cloud appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Get kids creating webpages with HTML and CSS

    Get kids creating webpages with HTML and CSS

    Reading Time: 8 minutes

    With our new free ‘Introduction to web development’ path, young people are able to learn HTML and create their own webpages on topics that matter to them. The path is made up of six projects that show children and teenagers how to structure pages using HTML, and style them using CSS.

    At Coolest Projects, a young person explores a coding project.

    With all the website tools available today, why learn HTML? 

    Webpage creation has come a long way since the 1990s, but HTML is still the markup language that is used to display almost every page on the World Wide Web. By knowing how it works, you can deepen your understanding of the technology you use every day.

    If you want to build your own website today, there are many tools to get you quickly up and running. These tools often involve dragging and dropping predefined elements and choosing from a wide collection of themed looks. Learning HTML and CSS skills is important for web designers, developers, and content creators who want to build unique webpage designs that make their content stand out.

    Six webpages, each with a unique design and based on a topic important to the creator.
    The path helps young people express themselves through their own webpages

    With our new ‘Introduction to web development’ path, we want creators (the young people who use our projects) to be able to quickly make fantastic-looking websites that follow modern best practices, while they also learn how HTML and CSS work together to create a webpage. Creators write their own HTML to develop the content and structure of their webpages. And they customise our pre-built CSS style sheets to get their webpages to look like they imagine.

    This really is a fun and unique approach to learning HTML and building a webpage, and we think young people will quickly engage with it. They start by finding out how to structure pages using HTML before applying CSS styles that bring their pages to life. Through the six projects, they build all the skills and independence they need to make webpages that matter to them.

    Accessibility first

    We believe that young people should find out about website accessibility right from the start of their learning journey. That’s why the path for learning HTML shows creators how they can make their websites accessible to all their users regardless of the users’ needs or digital devices.

    That’s why our new path uses semantic HTML. Older HTML tutorials might show you how to structure a webpage using tags like <div> and <span>. In contrast, the meaning and purpose of tags in semantic HTML is very clear. For example:

    • <main> is used to tag the main content for the webpage
    • <footer> is used for content to be displayed in the footer
    • <blockquote> contains a quote and typically the author of the quote
    • <section> contains a portion of content that usually sits within the main part of the webpage

    Semantic HTML supports accessibility because it allows people who use a screen reader to more easily navigate a webpage and read it in a logical way.

    Another element of accessible design that the path introduces is the colour combinations used on webpages. It is really important that contrasting colours are used for the background and the text. High contrast makes the text more readable, which means the webpage is more suitable for visually impaired users.

    Good and bad examples of colour contrasting on webpages.
    It’s very important to use contrasting colours on a webpage

    The path also shows creators the importance of adding meaningful alternative text for images. Good alternative text helps visually impaired users, and users who have a very low bandwidth and therefore turn images off in their web browser.

    With the path, young people will learn how to design webpages that respond to the device of the user

    Finally, our path for learning HTML introduces creators to the concept of responsive web design. Responsive design is helpful because websites can be viewed on thousands of different devices. Some people view pages on large, high-resolution monitors, and others view them on a mobile phone screen. We show learners how they can use HTML and CSS to make their pages responsive so they display in the way that works best for the specific screen on which a user is viewing them.

    Key questions answered

    Who is the ‘Intro to web development’ path for?

    We have written the projects in this path with young people of around the age from 9 to 17 in mind.

    HTML and CSS are text-based markup languages. This means a young person who wants to start learning HTML needs to be familiar with typing on a keyboard. It would also be helpful to have experience of using the copy and paste function, which is useful when changing the layout of a page or copying similar pieces of code.

    Young people attending a Dojo.

    If a young person is unsure whether they have the right skills to get started with the path, they can first try out a short ‘Discover’ project. With this Discover project, young people can choose between the themes ‘space’, ‘sunsets’, ‘forests’, or ‘animals’ to see how they can create their first webpage in just five steps. (We’re still working on the ‘Discover’ project type, so if you have any feedback about it, let us know.)

    An example step from the Discover project, forest theme.
    Young people can experiment with our Discover project to build their own webpage in just a few steps

    What will young people learn with the path?

    Creators will learn how to use HTML and CSS to build webpages that have:

    • Images
    • Lists
    • Quotes
    • Links
    • Animations
    • Imported fonts

    They will also learn about how to make their webpages accessible to all through use of:

    • Semantic HTML
    • Alternative text for images
    • Colour contrast checking
    • Responsive design (means the webpage adapts to the device on which it is viewed)

    How long does the path take to complete?

    We’ve designed the path so young people can complete it in six one-hour sessions, with one hour for each project. Since the project instructions encourage creators to upgrade their projects, they may wish to go further and spend a little more time getting their projects exactly as they imagine them.

    A CoderDojo coding session for young people.

    What software is needed to create the projects in the path?

    Young people only need a standard web browser to follow the project instructions and use an online code editor to create their webpages.

    What can young people do next?

    Explore our other projects for learning HTML

    There are 28 other step-by-step projects for creators to choose from on our website. They can browse through these to see what cool things they’d like to make and what new skills they want to learn.

    Build a webpage for Coolest Projects 

    If your kid is proud of the webpage they create with the final ‘Invent’ project in the path, they can share it with a worldwide community of young creators in our free Coolest Projects tech showcase. Project registration will open again in spring 2023. You can sign up to hear news about the showcase on the Coolest Projects homepage.

    Two teenage girls participating in Coolest Projects shows off their tech project.
    Details about the projects in ‘Intro to web development’

    The ‘Intro to web development’ path is structured according to our Digital Making Framework, with three Explore projects, two Design projects, and a final Invent project. You can also check out our learning graph to to see the progression of young people’s skills and knowledge throughout the path.

    Explore project 1: Anime expressions

    In the ‘Anime expressions’ project, creators build and style a webpage for an anime drawing tutorial. They learn how to use HTML tags to structure a webpage; use CSS to apply layout, colours, and fonts; and add images and text content to their page.

    Explore project 2: Top 5 emojis

    With the ‘Top 5 emojis’ project, young people create a webpage displaying their top 5 list of emojis. They learn how to add emojis, create a list, use a block quote, and animate elements of the page.

    Explore project 3: Flip treat webcards

    With the ‘Flip treat webcards’ project, creators make a webpage showing a flip card with a treat from around the world. They use CSS to make the card flip over when a user interacts with it. Creators also learn how to apply gradients and import fonts from Google Fonts.

    Design project 1: Mood board

    This Design project gives creators the chance to develop the skills that they have learned in the three ‘Explore’ projects. With the ‘Mood board’ project, young people create a webpage to display a mood board for a real or imaginary project. The mood board could, for example, show ideas for a party, a fashion item, a redesign of their bedroom, or a website; or it could show reminders of all the things that make them happy.

    Design project 2: Sell me something

    The ‘Sell me something’ project is another chance for creators to practise the skills that they have gained in the ‘Explore’ projects. They create a webpage to ‘sell something’ to the webpages visitors. It could be anything they like, from an object they love, to a game they like to play.

    Invent project: Build a webpage

    The ‘Build a webpage’ project is the final project in the path and allows young people to independently build a webpage on any topic they’re interested in. This Invent project offers info cards to remind creators of the key skills they’ve learned with the path, and a light structure to support them through the process of making their webpage. Young people are encouraged to showcase their final webpages in the path gallery to inspire other creators.

    Website: LINK

  • Arduino and iconic outdoor brand K-Way, with the support of Edge Impulse, launch a call for developers

    Arduino and iconic outdoor brand K-Way, with the support of Edge Impulse, launch a call for developers

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Following the announcement of our K-Way collaboration during Maker Faire Rome, today officially opens the competition for developers based on the Nicla Sense ME, with the support of Edge Impulse.

    Imagine what could happen if you could put your hands on the most iconic rain jacket, paired with a Nicla Sense, and redefine the idea of sensing the surroundings.

    Whether you are a professional developer or a beginner, this is your opportunity to stand out. Simply send us your pitch and we’ll select the best ideas to be brought to life with the support of Arduino and Edge Impulse.

    Humidity, acceleration, pressure, temperature, CO2 levels, and air quality are just some of the ingredients that you can use to build your personalized Arduino x K-Way experience. 

    In addition, we can’t wait to see how you will decide to leverage these sensors in combination with the Edge Impulse ML development platform to add AI directly to the jacket.

    So, are you up for this challenge?

    To participate and receive the tools: share your idea through a video or a PDF and be part of this incredible project. The best ideas will receive the Nicla Sense ME and a K-Way jacket to create the project,, starting the competition on November 24th. The full terms & conditions can be found here. 

    Curious about what we did?

    Attached to the zipper of the K-Way jacket, the Nicla Sense ME recognizes in real-time whenever the air you’re breathing is polluted, can indicate changing weather conditions, and it communicates with you through a LED on the board or even a smartphone app. 

    Now is your turn: if your proposal is accepted, we’ll provide the jacket and the  technology (over $200 in value),  you write the next story. Go have fun!

    Apply now!
    Categories:ArduinoFeaturedNiclaNicla Sense MEProjects

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    Website: LINK

  • Transform the way you organize your home with Arduino

    Transform the way you organize your home with Arduino

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    One of the wonderful things about living in the modern world is having full cupboards, pantries, and wardrobes. But this privilege also comes with downsides — managing all the various items we own can be a headache and can lead to confusion and stress.

    The good news is that storage doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, with the right tech solutions, we can make our storage spaces much smarter, so they actually help us stay more organized and even give us guidance on how to use our space better. Many of these solutions can be built at home with just a few tools.

    In this article, we’ll explore the concept of smart storage, and why it’s so useful, and we’ll share a few examples from the Arduino community from people who have built their own smart storage projects.

    What is smart storage?

    Smart storage is when we use tech to make your cupboards, wardrobes, and pantries more intelligent and useful. The right solutions can give you alerts and updates when certain items are running low, suggest things to use or throw away, and even fill out a shopping list for you.

    Smart storage can help us manage our spaces better, use what we own more efficiently, save money, and get inspired. Now let’s take a look at some examples of smart storage projects from our Arduino community members.

    Smart pantry

    With just a handful of materials, Arduino member Md. Khairul Alam designed this smart pantry to keep track of the items in his kitchen and ensure he never runs out of what he needs.

    The challenge

    Unless you have the pantry of a Michelin Star restaurant, it’s pretty unlikely that you have all the ingredients you need in stock all the time. When you decide to cook a certain recipe, it’s fairly common to find that one or two items are running low in your pantry.

    A quick trip to the grocery store can fix this, but of course, it’s all too easy to forget a certain item, buy the wrong thing instead, or fail to get enough of what you need. Can smart storage save us?

    The smart storage solution

    Khairul decided to fix the problem by building his very own smart pantry, designed to keep track of ingredients and make sure nothing ever runs out. The project works by monitoring every item in the pantry, and if something is running low, it automatically orders a replacement using Amazon DRS.

    This project is a great way to remove human error from the process of keeping our cupboards stocked. The best part is it’s easy to do yourself at home with just a few simple components and tools. Check out the full project and instructions here.

    Smart wardrobe

    An overflowing wardrobe is a good thing — it allows you to mix up your outfits and dress well whatever the occasion. However, packed wardrobes can also be tricky to manage, and it’s easy to lose track of clothes or end up filling space with items we no longer wear.

    Arduino user Tan See Youu decided to fix this problem by building his own smart wardrobe.

    The challenge

    People today own more clothes than ever before. However, you probably won’t wear all of them. Over time, certain outfits tend to get forgotten and fall back into the murky depths of the wardrobe, never to see the light of day again.

    In areas with high humidity and warm climates like Singapore, clothes that are left for a long time in the wardrobe can even become moldy.

    The smart storage solution

    Tan See Youu’s smart wardrobe helps you manage your clothes and keep track of where everything is, displaying this information on a smart screen. The wardrobe can also push this data into the cloud and share it with your phone via a mobile application.

    The app can even provide suggestions on what to wear today based on the events in your calendar and the current weather forecast, and it comes with a dashboard showing which clothes you wear most frequently and which outfits you have neglected.

    If you haven’t worn a certain item in a while, the app can offer suggestions for second-hand platforms or charity organizations so you can send it to a better home if you choose.

    Tan See Youu didn’t invent smart wardrobes — they have existed for a while — but his project shows that it’s possible to build your own with relatively few resources and at a low cost. Learn more about the project here.

    How Arduino makes smart storage easier

    Arduino’s IoT Cloud makes it possible to create your own home automation projects just like the ones we looked at in this article. You can build useful devices with relatively little materials needed to start, making your life easier and your home more efficient.
    Find out more about the IoT Cloud and how the Home Automation initiative can give you many ideas to improve your daily life.

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    Website: LINK

  • 40+ Ideas For Your Next Home Automation Project with Arduino Cloud

    40+ Ideas For Your Next Home Automation Project with Arduino Cloud

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Arduino Team — September 2nd, 2022

    Home automation has increasingly become a need in our lives. Without even noticing it we have been adding connected elements to our homes and buildings to make our lives easier and nowadays we are surrounded by electronic devices that monitor our environment, control our lighting systems and appliances, and even give us peace of mind by home security systems. Our expectations go even further as we interact with devices remotely using our mobile handsets or locally with voice activated smart speakers.

    Although the commercial ecosystem of products that we can find is huge, it is also a fact that most of the solutions are still very expensive to solve simple problems. Furthermore, there are still many uncovered solutions that could be easily developed integrating existing elements. And that’s a point where Makers find a bit of frustration, and your frustration becomes an opportunity to dream up creative and ingenious solutions in the quest to make our lives easier. Many of you have told us through a survey that you would commence a Home Automation project as the very first move into the IoT world. That’s the reason why we decided to build a catalogue with a bunch of ideas that can easily and effectively make a difference to your environment.

    A new portal to Arduino home automation projects

    The new Home Automation page can be navigated as a single page to find inspiration, or if you are very into a sub-topic you can navigate the single sections classified into the following categories:

    • Lifestyle
    • Smart home
    • Security
    • Entertainment
    • Gardening & agriculture

    Every concept page contains a description, a bill of materials (BOM) and a list of features.

    Unleash the potential of the Arduino IoT Cloud

    Adding intelligence to our homes is worthless if we don’t have a way to interact with our connected devices.

    With Arduino IoT Cloud, you can choose from a catalogue of dozens of configurable widgets for control and data visualisation to set up beautiful and custom dashboards. You can access these dashboards remotely either from your Arduino IoT Cloud portal or the IoT Cloud Remote app.

    Arduino Cloud provides seamless integration with Amazon’s Alexa, allowing you to control your projects with voice. Setting up voice control takes only a few minutes, and requires no code.

    Your feedback is really important to us

    You can browse the catalogue to get the full list of ideas and categories. 

    Access your dashboards on the go from anywhere at any time, with the ability to interact with your home automation projects using the free IoT Cloud Remote app available on Google Play and App Store or your IoT Cloud portal.
    Any feedback is more than welcome, so please let us know on the forum if we are missing a Home Automation project that you’d like to see included.

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    Website: LINK

  • Say “aye” to Code Club in Scotland

    Say “aye” to Code Club in Scotland

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Since joining the Raspberry Pi Foundation as a Code Club Community Manager for Scotland earlier this year, I have seen first-hand the passion, dedication, and commitment of the Scottish community to support the digital, personal, and social skills of young people.

    A group of smiling children hold up large cardboard Code Club logos.

    Code Club launched in schools in 2012 to give opportunities to children to share and develop their love of coding through free after-school clubs. Now we have clubs across the world connecting learners in having fun with digital technologies. 

    Meeting Scotland’s inspiring Code Club community

    One of my first visits was to St. Mark’s Primary School in East Renfrewshire, where I met an amazing Code Club leader called Ashley Guy. Ashley only got involved in Code Club this year, but has already launched three clubs at her school!

    St Mark's Primary celebrate Code Club's tenth birthday.

    I went to visit her Primary 2 and 3’s club, where the children were working on creating animations in Scratch to celebrate Code Club’s tenth birthday. It was a real joy to see the young children so engaged with our projects. The young coders worked both independently and together to create their own animations.

    One of the girls I spoke to made a small error while coding her project, but she smiled and said, “I made a mistake, but that’s okay because that’s how we learn!” She showed just the kind of positive, problem-solving mindset that Code Club helps to cultivate.

    Another school doing something incredible at their Code Club, led by Primary 7 teacher Fiona Lindsay, is Hillside School in Aberdeenshire. I love seeing the fun things they get up to, including celebrating Code Club’s 10th birthday in style with an impressive Code Club cake.

    Hillside School's cake to celebrate ten years of Code Club.

    Fiona and her club are using the Code Club projects and resources to create their own exciting and challenging games. They’ve taken part in several of our online codealongs, and they also held an event at the school to showcase their great work — which even got the children’s parents coding! 

    Some of the young people who attend Code Club at Hillside School sent us videos about their experiences, why they come to Code Club, and what it means to them. Young coder Abisola describes Code Club in one word:

    Video transcript

    Young coder Crystal said, “We can experiment with what we know and make actual projects… At Code Club we learn about new blocks in Scratch and what blocks and patterns go together to make something.” Here is Crystal sharing her favourite part of Code Club:

    Video transcript

    Obuma also attends the Code Club at Hillside School. She shared what she gains from attending the sessions and why she thinks other young people should join a Code Club too: 

    “At Code Club we improve our teamwork skills, because there’s a lot of people in Code Club and most of the time you work together to create different things… Join [Code Club] 100%. It is so fun. It might not be something everyone would want to try, but if you did try it, then you would enjoy it.”

    Obuma, young coder at Hillside School’s Code Club

    Two young people at a Code Club.
    Crystal and Abisola celebrate ten years of Code Club

    Coding with the community 

    One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as part of the Code Club team has been running an UK-wide online codealong to celebrate STEM Clubs Week. The theme was outer space, so our ‘Lost in space’ project in Scratch was the ideal fit.

    Young people from St Philip Evans Primary School participating in Code Club's 'Lost in space' codealong.

    During this practical coding session, classes across Scotland, England, and Wales had great fun coding the project together to animate rockets that move around space. We were thrilled by the feedback from teachers.

    “The children really enjoyed the session. They are very proud of their animations and some children went on to extend their programs. All [the] children said they would love to do more codealongs!”

    Teacher who took part in an online Code Club codealong

    Young people from Oaklands Primary School participating in Code Club's 'Lost in space' codealong.

    Thank you to everyone who got involved in the codealong. See you again at the next one.

    What Scotland — and everyone in the community — can look forward to in the new term

    To help you start your Code Club year with ease and fun, we will be launching new free resources for you and your club members. There’ll be a special pack filled with step-by-step instructions and engaging activities to kickstart your first session back, and a fun sticker chart to help young coders mark their progress. 

    We would love to see you at our practical and interactive online workshop ‘Ten reasons why coding is fun for everyone’ on Thursday 15 September at 16:00–17:00 BST, which will get you ready for National Coding Week (19–23 September). Come along to the workshop to get useful guidance and tips on how to engage everyone with coding.

    The Code Club team.

    We will also be holding lots of other exciting activities and sessions throughout the upcoming school term, including for World Space Week (4–10 October), the Moonhack coding challenge in October, and World Hello Day in November. So keep an eye on our Twitter @CodeClubUK for live updates. 

    Whether you’re interested in learning more about Code Club in Scotland, you have a specific question, or you just want to say hi, I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at scotland@codeclub.org, or @CodeClubSco on Twitter. I’ll also be attending the Scottish Education Expo on 21 and 22 September along with other Code Club team members, so come along and say hello.

    Get involved in Code Club today

    With the new school term approaching, now is a great time to register and start a Code Club at your school. You can find out more on our website, codeclub.org, or contact us directly at support@codeclub.org 

    Website: LINK

  • Say “aye” to Code Club in Scotland

    Say “aye” to Code Club in Scotland

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Since joining the Raspberry Pi Foundation as a Code Club Community Manager for Scotland earlier this year, I have seen first-hand the passion, dedication, and commitment of the Scottish community to support the digital, personal, and social skills of young people.

    A group of smiling children hold up large cardboard Code Club logos.

    Code Club launched in schools in 2012 to give opportunities to children to share and develop their love of coding through free after-school clubs. Now we have clubs across the world connecting learners in having fun with digital technologies. 

    Meeting Scotland’s inspiring Code Club community

    One of my first visits was to St. Mark’s Primary School in East Renfrewshire, where I met an amazing Code Club leader called Ashley Guy. Ashley only got involved in Code Club this year, but has already launched three clubs at her school!

    St Mark's Primary celebrate Code Club's tenth birthday.

    I went to visit her Primary 2 and 3’s club, where the children were working on creating animations in Scratch to celebrate Code Club’s tenth birthday. It was a real joy to see the young children so engaged with our projects. The young coders worked both independently and together to create their own animations.

    One of the girls I spoke to made a small error while coding her project, but she smiled and said, “I made a mistake, but that’s okay because that’s how we learn!” She showed just the kind of positive, problem-solving mindset that Code Club helps to cultivate.

    Another school doing something incredible at their Code Club, led by Primary 7 teacher Fiona Lindsay, is Hillside School in Aberdeenshire. I love seeing the fun things they get up to, including celebrating Code Club’s 10th birthday in style with an impressive Code Club cake.

    Hillside School's cake to celebrate ten years of Code Club.

    Fiona and her club are using the Code Club projects and resources to create their own exciting and challenging games. They’ve taken part in several of our online codealongs, and they also held an event at the school to showcase their great work — which even got the children’s parents coding! 

    Some of the young people who attend Code Club at Hillside School sent us videos about their experiences, why they come to Code Club, and what it means to them. Young coder Abisola describes Code Club in one word:

    Video transcript

    Young coder Crystal said, “We can experiment with what we know and make actual projects… At Code Club we learn about new blocks in Scratch and what blocks and patterns go together to make something.” Here is Crystal sharing her favourite part of Code Club:

    Video transcript

    Obuma also attends the Code Club at Hillside School. She shared what she gains from attending the sessions and why she thinks other young people should join a Code Club too: 

    “At Code Club we improve our teamwork skills, because there’s a lot of people in Code Club and most of the time you work together to create different things… Join [Code Club] 100%. It is so fun. It might not be something everyone would want to try, but if you did try it, then you would enjoy it.”

    Obuma, young coder at Hillside School’s Code Club

    Two young people at a Code Club.
    Crystal and Abisola celebrate ten years of Code Club

    Coding with the community 

    One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as part of the Code Club team has been running an UK-wide online codealong to celebrate STEM Clubs Week. The theme was outer space, so our ‘Lost in space’ project in Scratch was the ideal fit.

    Young people from St Philip Evans Primary School participating in Code Club's 'Lost in space' codealong.

    During this practical coding session, classes across Scotland, England, and Wales had great fun coding the project together to animate rockets that move around space. We were thrilled by the feedback from teachers.

    “The children really enjoyed the session. They are very proud of their animations and some children went on to extend their programs. All [the] children said they would love to do more codealongs!”

    Teacher who took part in an online Code Club codealong

    Young people from Oaklands Primary School participating in Code Club's 'Lost in space' codealong.

    Thank you to everyone who got involved in the codealong. See you again at the next one.

    What Scotland — and everyone in the community — can look forward to in the new term

    To help you start your Code Club year with ease and fun, we will be launching new free resources for you and your club members. There’ll be a special pack filled with step-by-step instructions and engaging activities to kickstart your first session back, and a fun sticker chart to help young coders mark their progress. 

    We would love to see you at our practical and interactive online workshop ‘Ten reasons why coding is fun for everyone’ on Thursday 15 September at 16:00–17:00 BST, which will get you ready for National Coding Week (19–23 September). Come along to the workshop to get useful guidance and tips on how to engage everyone with coding.

    The Code Club team.

    We will also be holding lots of other exciting activities and sessions throughout the upcoming school term, including for World Space Week (4–10 October), the Moonhack coding challenge in October, and World Hello Day in November. So keep an eye on our Twitter @CodeClubUK for live updates. 

    Whether you’re interested in learning more about Code Club in Scotland, you have a specific question, or you just want to say hi, I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at scotland@codeclub.org, or @CodeClubSco on Twitter. I’ll also be attending the Scottish Education Expo on 21 and 22 September along with other Code Club team members, so come along and say hello.

    Get involved in Code Club today

    With the new school term approaching, now is a great time to register and start a Code Club at your school. You can find out more on our website, codeclub.org, or contact us directly at support@codeclub.org 

    Website: LINK

  • Top 10 Arduino blog posts of 2021

    Top 10 Arduino blog posts of 2021

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Arduino Team — December 31st, 2021

    To say it’s been another challenging year would be an understatement, but it’s reassuring to see that the top 10 Arduino blog posts of 2021 show us that makers have persevered, undaunted.

    As we sprint headlong into 2022 with hope for a return to normality (whatever that might actually look like!) we wanted to cast an eye back over the Arduino blog. These are the top posts from 2021, which prove that you can’t keep good maker down.

    The Arduino community has been creating some of the best projects we’ve ever seen. It’s also exciting to note that it’s been another year when newcomers have taken up the electronics hobby. The presence of Arduino software posts in our top 10 Arduino blog posts of ‘21 suggests lots of people have been getting into the Arduino scene.

    Learn how to build your own massive 3D-printed CNC router

    If you want an affordable option, this guide shows you how to build Ivan Miranda’s 3D-printed CNC machine design.

    Announcing the Arduino IDE 2.0 (beta)

    It was a great day when the famous Arduino IDE reached version 2.0 in March of 2021.

    Hacking a USB battery bank to gather telemetry

    Keenan Johnson needed more info for a new project and so he hacked a USB battery bank to gather telemetry.

    The new Arduino CLI 0.19.0 is out and better than ever!

    This release delivered tons of great enhancements, exciting new features and heaps of bug fixes.

    Arduino MKR IoT Carrier: Control what you want, how you want to!

    By popular demand, we were pleased to announce in early 2021 that it’s possible to buy the Arduino MKR IoT Carrier.

    Cascading LED stair lights prevent late night tumbles

    Stephen Gidge and his roommate could have installed a new hall light, but they were both experienced with Arduino and so they created these cascading LED star lights instead.

    One board to rule them all: History of the Arduino UNO

    With the UNO Mini Limited Edition flying off the shelves, we took a heartfelt look at the history of its inspiration, the ubiquitous UNO.

    The Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect is here

    The first Arduino board to include Raspberry Pi silicon arrived in 2021, to much fanfare.

    Arduino Cloud now supports ESP32 devices

    Support for ESP32 devices (on top of existing support for ESP8266) became available on the Arduino IoT Cloud in May, 2021. A huge step forward in bringing IoT devices of all kinds together.

    Introducing the Arduino UNO Mini Limited Edition: Pre-orders now open

    Even though it only launched a couple of weeks ago, the Arduino UNO Mini Limited Edition announcement is one of the most viewed pages this year.

    Happy New Year from all of us at Arduino!

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    Website: LINK

  • This Arduino project is counting to a billion

    This Arduino project is counting to a billion

    Reading Time: 3 minutes
    Counting to a Billion is probably the longest running Arduino project ever.

    Good design counts for everything

    Designer Che-Wei Wang built a simple Arduino project that’s counting to a billion, and has been doing so for over 10 years. Could this be the longest continually running Arduino project in the world?

    Che-Wei has a background in art, architecture and industrial design. He now runs a boutique design studio with is wife Taylor, called CW&T. But it was during his time at university that he first discovered his love for Arduino.

    “I first started using Arduino when I went to [the Interactive Telecommunications Program] at NYU in 2007,” he explains. “I got hooked the moment I got an LED to blink and went on to build a fuzzy GPS robot that guides you to places around the city.”

    Even now there’s a clear technological slant to his design work. As you look through the products CW&T has created, more than a few have embedded electronics at their core. He also has a rare eye for the beauty of minimalism, both in terms of design and function. Which is probably why one of his first Arduino projects is both simple, and stunning.

    “As a kid, I would challenge myself to count to as high of a number as possible,” he laughs. “I don’t remember how high I got. Probably not past a few hundred. So I built this device as a way to fulfil my childhood dream of counting to an insanely high number!”

    The Counting to a Billion project

    Back in 2009, Che-Wei created his next project to help him achieve that childhood objective. Counting to a Billion has an Arduino board with a text-to-speech converter and a speaker that continually reads out the next number. When it gets to billion, it’ll stop.

    “It lives in our basement, so every time you go downstairs, there’s a voice just counting away.”

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTz8fBWwls?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Che-Wei clearly gave this a lot of thought in his initial designs. Like a lot of minimalist product designs, there’s a lot of work needed to make them look so simple. Counting at one number per second, continually, you’re looking at over 31 years to get to a billion. That means this apparently simple project needs to be incredibly robust.

    Counting to a Billion is encased in a machined aluminium housing for safety. It writes the last number to EEPROM, in case of catastrophic power failure. And there’s a rechargeable backup battery so it keeps counting whenever the devices needs to be moved or unplugged.

    It was activated at 9AM on May, 9th, 2009 and is still happily running, without interruption. It’s hard to imagine there are many other Arduino projects that have been running continuously for this long. If there are, we definitely want you to tell us all about them!

    Down for the count

    “I still use Arduino all the time,” Che-Wei continues, “for work, for home projects, and gifts.”

    The Counting to a Billion project has actually provided inspiration for CW&T’s current products. In their shop is a strangely attractive device, called Nothing Lasts Forever. This sealed glass capsule has an e-ink display that counts up ever time you press the button on the machined aluminium cap. If and when it reaches 999,999, the device will stop functioning. Although the electronics are custom, it still uses the EEPROM method developed for Counting to a Billion to keep track of the number.

    So, you’re probably wondering what number Che-Wei’s project is currently at? To recap, at the exact moment of writing, it’s now been running continuously for 12 years, one month and five days, or:

    • 145 months
    • 631 weeks
    • 4419 days
    • 106,046 hours
    • 6,362,764 minutes
    • 381,765,878 seconds

    “As of right now, on June 8th, 2021, 10:42AM,” Che-Wei concludes, when we spoke about his project, “the count is at 47,684,610.”

    Have you built a project that’s been running for a long time? We want to hear all about it! Share it on the Arduino Project Hub, in the comments, on social media, or over on the forum.

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    Website: LINK

  • Share your Arduino projects on EDUvision

    Share your Arduino projects on EDUvision

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Arduino Team — May 6th, 2021

    We’re on the lookout for the most creative and innovative Arduino projects made by you – our EDUvision viewers!

    Each week, we’ll feature the projects we think should be put in the spotlight. If your project is featured, we’ll send you a selection of some super cool Arduino merchandise, such as:

    • Lanyards
    • Water bottles
    • Notebook
    • Hats
    • Beanies
    • Stickers
    • Stationary
    Featured Arduino Projects for EDUvision

    How to share your Arduino project

    All you need to do is shoot a short video (maximum of one minute) of your project, explaining what it’s all about, what it does, and how it works. Because we’re featuring these on the show, and on the Arduino channels, we want you to make your video looks as great as possible.

    Here are some tips:

    • Make sure you shoot in landscape (horizontal)
    • You can send in .mp4 or .mov video files
    • A voice over is effective, to help explain your project
    • Make sure the lighting is good
    • Reduce background noise as much as possible

    Video files can only be submitted if they’re less than 10MB in size. If yours is bigger, you can upload it to a file sharing service like Dropbox, Google Drive or WeTransfer and put the link into your application form instead. Even then, please keep them to one minute.

    You’ll also need a project name and a short written description. Submissions to EDUvision’s featured Arduino projects are open until 24th June, 2021.

    The necessary bit: First we need you to read and accept these terms and conditions.

    If you’re under 18, you’ll also need to provide permission from a parent or guardian to share your Arduino projects. You can take care of that in the application form.

    Finally, you’ll need to be a registered Arduino user to be able to send your project in. It’s totally free to sign up if you aren’t already, and comes with lots of great benefits including being able to participate in the forum and get Arduino news as it happens.

    Make sure you join us each week on the EDUvision livestream to see which projects have been featured!

    We can’t wait to see what you’ve been building!

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    Website: LINK

  • The DIY force is strong with these 10 Arduino Star Wars projects

    The DIY force is strong with these 10 Arduino Star Wars projects

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Hokey religions and ancient weapons might not be a match for a good blaster, but Arduino Star Wars projects certainly are. To celebrate May the 4th (also known as Star Wars Day), we’ve put together a list of inspired builds from a galaxy far, far away that you can make yourself.

    Arduino Star Wars Projects

    So I Fixed a Broken Hasbro Lightsaber

    It’s a rite of passage for every Jedi to build their own lightsaber. That goes for Arduino Jedi, too.

    Alan Wang expertly upcycled a broken lightsaber toy by adding a Nano, an MP3 player module and a NeoPixel ring. The result is a Jedi weapon that’s far superior to the original toy.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLhhTN5iMk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Star Wars Mouse Droid with Hidden Payload

    One of the first droids we meet in Star Wars is a mouse droid. The quirky little bots that zoom about the floor of the Death Star, getting under Stormtrooper’s feet.

    They never actually appear to do all that much. But this zippy little droid by PotentPrintables has a hidden LED matrix that lets it deliver messages. And lots of terrible Star Wars puns, of course.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtk_i17hqKA?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Imperial March on a Toaster

    If you’re looking for sci-fi toasters, Red Dwarf is usually the first choice. But this hilarious video from Device Orchestra brings the dark side to your devices.

    An Arduino controls the electromagnet in this toaster to turn it into a tuneful buzzer. Accompanied by toothbrushes and a typewriter, we get the immortal Imperial March played by droids.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHOiwcvmucg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Mini Arduino Star Wars Shoot ‘Em Up

    A game that’s as simple as it is small and cute (like R2!), all run on a Nano on a breadboard.

    And just consider how its graphics are comparable to those of the Death Star’s display as it moves into range of Yavin. Talk about human-cyborg relations!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOz_GuME63E?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Build a Life-Size BB8 Droid (Phone Controlled)

    It was a pretty big deal when it turned out Lucasfilm built an actual droid for Star Wars Episode VII. It would have been easier to make BB8 in CGI. But we’re glad they went the practical route, as the cool ball droid has inspired a lot of makers.

    Not least of them being Angelo, who built his very own amazing life-size BB8 using Arduino.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QbFvDIyy1k?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Recreating the Death Star Trench Run Scene with LEGO

    As much as Wani Kim’s recreation of the iconic trench run is an incredible feat of LEGO engineering, it wouldn’t be complete without Arduino. The whole diorama is embedded with a galaxy-full of LEDs, bringing the scene to life.

    That’s no moon. It’s an Arduino project!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6acrH5IR0o?start=497&feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Laser Shooting Game (Star Wars)

    As Han told us, there’s no match for having a good blaster at your side. Ismail took that quite literally, and built a Star Wars laser shooting range that lets you take out those pesky Stormtroopers with a homemade blaster.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opGzv5zDeGw?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Arduino-Based Lightsaber with Light and Sound Effects

    A great lightsaber build isn’t just about the colorful blade. It’s about the audio combinations, and the lighting effects when the blade makes contact. Bring all these things together, like Mad Gyver did, and you have an elegant weapon, of a more civilized age.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__gp2RfTMnk?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Prank Your Friends with Talking Darth Vader

    Perfect for Halloween, as well as Star Wars Day, this motion activated Darth Vader head is just as creepy as its inspiration. It can be programmed with as many voice clips as you like, and wouldn’t it make a great option for a dark side Alexa?

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuscg6gHJZw?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Droid Build D-O

    To be honest, D-O didn’t get nearly as much screen time or plot involvement as he deserved. But the latest addition to the growing line-up of Star Wars droids has been lovingly recreated by Matt Denton using a MKR WiFi 1010. No bad motivators here!

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zplirkxl6iM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    We want to hear about your Arduino Star Wars projects, so tell us all about them in the comments. May the force be with you!

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