Schlagwort: robot

  • 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 phone: Integrate it with your Arduino Cloud projects

    Get more out of your phone: Integrate it with your Arduino Cloud projects

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Remote monitoring with a mobile app is a must for all the IoT device management platforms. In general, having a mobile app offers a more complete and convenient user experience for IoT device management platform users, which can improve their satisfaction and loyalty. So expanding the mobile app capabilities in order to help users interact better with the platform is one of the key goals. 

    The Arduino IoT Remote app (available for Android and iOS) was designed with the aim to control and monitor your devices using the Arduino Cloud dashboards and offer full control in your hands from anywhere in the world. Arduino has gone a BIG step further and enabled you to use the app as an IoT device, collecting information from the mobile phone sensors and sending them to the Arduino Cloud, where they can be monitored and recorded. This feature automatically creates in the Arduino Cloud everything needed to monitor the sensors (the Device, the Thing, and a dashboard).

    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?

    This feature was limited to having the app open at all times. But, what if you wanted to use your mobile phone’s sensors to be monitored continuously thereby enabling them to be used for real projects? For that, you’d need to run the app in background mode.

    Voilà… the new background mode!

    Now, you have the possibility to run the Arduino IoT Remote app in the background on demand. With this feature, your phone sensors are polled continuously and the data is sent to the Arduino Cloud in real-time. The polling periodicity and the thresholds have been smartly defined in order to optimize the battery consumption, and the feature can be enabled or disabled as desired.

    The key benefits of the original “use data from your phone” feature are still available, in that you can automatically see your phone as a usable device in the IoT Cloud, along with a number of variables automatically created and associated with it. Those variables are associated with some of the sensors in your phone such as accelerometer, GPS, microphone, compass, or barometer. Additionally, a dashboard is also automatically created so that all those variables can be monitored.

    Do you need some inspiration?

    Unleash your creativity with the new feature! With it, a whole new world of possibilities opens up. You can now develop applications that merge data from your phone with real-world actions. Here are some examples:

    • Geofencing: Use virtual geographic boundaries to trigger actions based on your location.
    • Home automation: Automate tasks at home based on your location. For example, turn lights off when you leave and on when you return, lock doors, and adjust home climate control.
    • Child/elder care: Keep track of loved ones with geofencing. Get instant notifications if they leave designated areas.
    • Accident detection: Use your phone’s accelerometer to detect sharp decelerations and detect accidents or falls.
    • Gaming: Use your phone as a remote control for a robot or a game. The sky’s the limit!

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

    Fall detection project

    Fall detection using your phone and Arduino Cloud

    Short of ideas? No worries! Check out this project out if you want to see a real use case and give it a try. This project demonstrates how to use your mobile phone as an IoT device using the phone device feature. By streaming data from your phone’s accelerometer to the Cloud and using an Arduino Nano RP240 Connect, a fall detection system is formed. If sudden acceleration is detected above a certain threshold, an LED on the board is switched on to alert anyone nearby.

    How do I get started?

    Working with the phone as a background device is a simple process. However, before you begin, ensure that you have the latest version of the app installed on your device. It’s worth noting that the app is compatible with both Android and iOS. platforms.

    Enable the “Phone as Device” feature

    To proceed, navigate to the “Phone as Device” option on the app’s navigation bar, then follow the instructions to grant the app access to your phone’s sensors.

    Enable the Phone as Device feature on the Arduino IoT Cloud remote app

    Enable the background mode

    Once you’ve completed the previous step, you’ll receive a prompt to enable the “background mode” feature. You can either activate it immediately or do so manually at a later time. You can also select how your device will stream data to the IoT Cloud:

    • Periodically: Data will be streamed to the cloud at regular intervals that you specify.
    • On change: Data will be streamed to the cloud whenever there is a change in the value being measured.
    Enable the background mode of the Phone as Device feature on the Arduino IoT Cloud remote app

    Start playing with your dashboards

    You now can go to your automatically created dashboard and check how your phone sensors are monitored according to the rules you have configured.

    Enable the background mode of the “Phone as Device” feature on the Arduino IoT Cloud remote app.

    Arduino IoT Cloud Remote dashboards

    Learn more

    If you want to learn more about the “Phone as Device” feature and the background mode, we recommend reviewing the article on the documentation. Kindly note that the background mode is a feature that comes with the Maker plan or higher. However, we strongly recommend it to anyone seeking anyone looking to enhance their projects using their phone data. Upgrading to a paid subscription is a straightforward process, and you’ll receive extra features to maximise our platform’s capabilities.

    To learn more about the Arduino IoT Cloud, please visit the official documentation and resources available on the Arduino Cloud website.

    The post Get more out of your phone: Integrate it with your Arduino Cloud projects appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Digital European roulette wheel takes advantage of charlieplexing

    Digital European roulette wheel takes advantage of charlieplexing

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Roulette is one of the classic casino games, along with poker, blackjack, baccarat, and craps. There are two popular versions of roulette: American and European. The American version features an additional zero (green) pocket and the numbered pockets in a different arrangement. Mirko Pavleski built a digital European roulette wheel and used charlieplexing to drive all 37 LEDs, speaker, and button with a single Arduino Nano.

    Multiplexing is a common technique for driving a grid of LEDs and it works by setting the rows and columns to either HIGH or LOW. An LED will only turn on if its row is HIGH and its column is LOW (or vice-versa, depending on the LED’s orientation). This means a microcontroller can control a number of LEDs equal to the number of column pins multiplied by the number of row pins. An 8×8 grid (16 pins) can therefore contain 64 LEDs.

    Charlieplexing is more complicated, but allows for far more LEDs. That number is equal to the number of pins (N) squared, minus the number of pins (N). So with 16 pins, a microcontroller could control 240 LEDs (16^2 – 16). This works because of a pair of pins can control two LEDs (one for each flow direction), and two pairs can control their two LEDs each plus another pair. That extends, resulting in a schematic that looks like a pyramid. Jeremy Cook has an in-depth explanation of charlieplexing here if you want to know more.

    Pavleski took advantage of charlieplexing to drive all the LEDs on their Roulette wheel, which needs one LED for each pocket. They used an Arduino Nano, which has 22 I/O pins. As we can see from the formula in the previous paragraph, 37 LEDs require only 7 I/O pins when charlieplexed. That left plenty of pins available for the button and the buzzer.

    The game operation is straightforward. When the player pushes the “spin” button, the LEDs illuminate in sequence before landing on a pseudo-random pocket—ideally the one where the player placed their bet.

    The post Digital European roulette wheel takes advantage of charlieplexing appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Infinity dodecahedron puts on a mesmerizing light show

    Infinity dodecahedron puts on a mesmerizing light show

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    If you’ve ever stood in an elevator with mirrored walls and saw your reflection bouncing back and forth endlessly, then you’ve experienced an “infinity mirror” from the inside. If you were standing outside of the elevator and one of the walls were a one-way mirror, you’d be able to peer inside as the interior lights reflect forever. That’s the infinity mirror concept, which ThomasJ152 implemented with his laser-cut infinity dodecahedron.

    This is an infinity mirror in the form of a dodecahedron, which is a regular polyhedron with 12 sides. Each face is a one-way mirror facing inwards, so light inside reflects while the user can see through the faces. The frame, which follows the edges between faces, contains inward-facing LEDs. The light from those LEDs bounces off the of them mirrors inside the dodecahedron, resulting in an interesting lighting effect. That effect is enhanced by the animations of the RGB LEDs.

    ThomasJ152 constructed the dodecahedron’s body using laser-cut acrylic sheet and plywood. One-way mirror film on the acrylic reflects the light. That light comes from strips of WS2812B individually addressable RGB LEDs. An Arduino Nano Every board controls those LEDs. At this time, the Arduino sketch is simple and cycles through different LED animation effects. That looks pretty cool, but it would also be possible to create custom animations that take advantage of the dodecahedron shape.

    The post Infinity dodecahedron puts on a mesmerizing light show appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • James Bruton’s robot centipede of many legs

    James Bruton’s robot centipede of many legs

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Strangely, no centipede has exactly 100 legs. They can have either more or fewer than 100 legs, but not exactly 100 because they always have an odd number of pairs. Sadly, that means that James Bruton’s centipede robot is anatomically incorrect — though cool nonetheless.

    Bruton built this centipede robot as a scaled-down prototype, as he plans to construct a ridable version sometime in the future. This robot, which is still quite large, let him test the unusual walking mechanisms. The robot has five segments, each of which contains two pairs of legs. The mathematicians among you will have deduced that that equals 20 individual legs. But the legs don’t operate independently. In fact, all 20 of those legs are connected mechanically. Each segment has a drive shaft that moves its legs through gears and linkages, and universal joints connect the drive shafts between segments.

    That mechanical setup means that the centipede can be driven by a single DC motor. An Arduino Mega 2560 board controls that and the two servo motors used for steering. Those servos pull on elastic cords connecting the first two segments. When one cord tightens, it forces the first segment to pivot to that side (relative to the second segment). The other segments then follow naturally, letting the robot turn. All of the mechanical parts were 3D-printed and Bruton can pilot the robot using his universal remote control.

    Unfortunately, this robot’s innovative leg mechanisms didn’t work very well. The feet had a tendency to slide backwards, causing huge efficiency losses. That means that Bruton will have to come up with another leg design before he can scale the robot up to a full-size ridable version.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt5njVXwxiY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    The post James Bruton’s robot centipede of many legs appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Smart bedside mat won’t let you snooze your alarm

    Smart bedside mat won’t let you snooze your alarm

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    There is one thing that we can agree on: more sleep is better. None of us want to wake up, which makes that snooze button oh so tempting. That leads to the inevitable cycle of pushing the snooze button over and over again until suddenly you find yourself let for work or your kid’s school drop-off time. Many people have tried to find solutions to this problem over the years, but we like Arpan Mondal’s Smart Wake-Up Mat.

    This is a small mat designed to sit by the user’s bed. When the alarm goes off in the morning, the user must get out of bed and stand on that mat for five to 10 seconds. Until they do so, the alarm will continue blaring. Snooze is not an option here and the simple act of getting out of bed and standing up should be enough for most people to shake the sleep off, ensuring that they won’t fall back asleep. Best of all, this is affordable and easy to build.

    The clock is an Arduino Uno board, which has onboard timekeeping accurate enough for an application like this — though it will drift eventually without the use of an RTC (real-time clock) module. The alarm sounds through a piezo buzzer. Instead of an expensive and finicky load cell, the Smart Wake-Up mat utilizes a custom sensor. It is essentially a big button made of aluminum foil sandwiched between sheets of cardboard. A mat of the user’s choice covers that. When the user steps on the mat, they push down the foil so it makes contact with a wire, completing the circuit.

    If you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, this is a great solution.

    The post Smart bedside mat won’t let you snooze your alarm appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Portenta C33: The high-performance, low-price oxymoron

    Portenta C33: The high-performance, low-price oxymoron

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    While democratizing professional solutions may seem like an oxymoron, that’s exactly what Arduino Pro is out to achieve. Our business-oriented unit stands at industrial clients’ side with a growing ecosystem of high-performance, reliable, secure products that aim to provide the right solution for every need big and small companies may have, in any field and at any stage of their growth. 

    Case in point: the Portenta C33. The module – which we are introducing at Embedded World 2023 – leverages the R&D carried out for previous Portenta modules, optimizing every aspect and streamlining features to offer a cost-effective option to users starting out with Industrial IoT or automation, or those who have more specific, targeted needs than the H7 or X8 cater to.

    Is the Portenta C33 right for you? Check out its main tech specs:

    • Arm® Cortex®-M33 microcontroller by Renesas
    • MicroPython and other high-level programming languages are supported
    • Onboard Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® Low Energy connectivity
    • Secure element for industrial-grade security at the hardware level
    • Secure OTA firmware updates (connecting to Arduino IoT Cloud or third-party services)
    • Compatible with Portenta, MKR, and Nicla components
    • Castellated pins
    • Wide variety of peripheral interfaces, including CAN, SAI, SPI, and I2C

    What’s more, the Portenta C33 is born into an extensive ecosystem that comes not only with a variety of components that easily combine, but also with ready-to-use software libraries and Arduino sketches shared and perfected by our incredible community. 

    If that sounds like everything you need to prototype and develop your next project – or perhaps your first project – for industrial or building automation, you can find more details on the Arduino Pro website and join the waiting list. 

    If you are attending Embedded World in Nuremberg, Germany from March 14th to 16th, come visit Arduino Pro inside the tinyML Pavilion at booth 2-238. We will be presenting the Portenta C33 at the show and our experts will be happy to introduce you to our newest product.

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    Website: LINK

  • This beautiful clock features circuit sculpture faux Nixie tubes

    This beautiful clock features circuit sculpture faux Nixie tubes

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Everyone loves a nice Nixie tube clock, but Nixie tubes are expensive and difficult to find. Even if you can source a working set, driving the vintage tubes is a complicated undertaking by modern standards. Nixie tubes require high voltage and multiplexing, which is a pain. To solve these problems while retaining the aesthetic, 4Dcircuitry built this clock that utilizes freeform circuit faux Nixie tubes.

    Each of the “Nixie tubes” used in this project is actually made entirely with 1206 SMD (surface-mount device) LEDs. But instead of soldering those onto PCBs, 4Dcircuitry attached them to formed 0.8mm brass rods to create tiny circuit sculptures. Those plug into custom PCBs which arrange the circuit sculptures, each a single segment, in a horizontal stack. Glass tubes cover each stack, making them look like Nixie tubes when viewed from the front.

    An Arduino Nano board controls the LEDs. It doesn’t have enough pins for every segment, so the circuit uses shift registers. A DS3231 RTC (real-time clock) module provides accurate timekeeping. The base of the unit is a piece of wood milled on a CNC router, adding to the minimalist retro aesthetic. While it isn’t a requirement, 3D-printed jigs help to form the brass rods into the proper shapes, which would be difficult to do well entirely by hand.

    The post This beautiful clock features circuit sculpture faux Nixie tubes appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Lamptopus: The most adorable desk lamp in the world

    Lamptopus: The most adorable desk lamp in the world

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    Sometimes the only motivation you need for a project is “because I want to.” That is especially true for cute and quirky decoration that doesn’t need to prioritize functionality. The perfect example of this is Ruby Zoom’s Lamptopus, which is the most adorable desk lamp in the world.

    Lamptopus is a small lamp designed to sit on a desktop and look as cute as possible. Its 3D-printed body was modeled after an octopus, with the light shining through its smiling, bulbous head (complete with top hat) and long articulated tentacles dangling down from there. Those tentacles really stand out because Lamptopus has a trick up its sleeve: it rotates. As it spins back and forth, the tentacles swing to and fro. It is just plain delightful.

    If you have access to a 3D printer, this is a fun project that should be fairly easy to tackle. The light comes from two Adafruit NeoPixel rings and two servo motors provide the rotation. An Arduino Uno board controls those, with the sketch starting the rotation at set intervals. All of the 3D files and the sketch are on GitHub if you want to build your own Lamptopus, and Ruby Zoom’s video provides thorough instructions.

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    Website: LINK

  • Learn how to drive flip-disc displays with your Arduino

    Learn how to drive flip-disc displays with your Arduino

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    Before digital display technology became affordable and practical, electromechanical flip-disc (AKA “flip-dot”) displays were a popular choice thanks to their high visibility and ability to scale to large sizes. For all practical purposes, flip-disc displays have been obsolete for decades. But we’re seeing a resurgence in demand for them, as they have an attractive and nostalgic appeal. If you’re interested in using them, Marcin Saj has a great tutorial explaining how to control a flip-disc display with an Arduino.

    Part of the reason that flip-disc displays are hard to find today is that they’re electromechanical devices that require dedicated manufacturing. Each “pixel” is a bistable device that will remain in its set position until the user actively resets the position. To flip the disc, the user must supply a pulse of electricity through an electromagnet coil in the correct polarity. One direction sets the disc to one side, and the reverse polarity sets the disc to the other side. Because the discs are bistable, the user only needs to flip the necessary discs to achieve the states they require — not the entire display. Flip-discs are relatively slow, so that is important for reducing overall refresh time.

    Saj’s tutorial goes into depth on these control techniques using a custom driver board with a 595D shift register and an H-bridge. The shift register reduces the number of Arduino I/O pins required for control by setting the states of the discs one after the other. The H-bridge is a set of interconnected switches that makes it easy to reverse the polarity of a portion of a circuit, which is the active disc in this case. By storing the states of the discs in memory, one can skip over the discs that are already in the proper state and save time.

    This tutorial is meant to work with Flipo.io’s own flip-disc displays and drivers, which were designed specifically for use with Arduino boards and that will be launching soon through Kickstarter. The tutorial focuses on a three-disc display, but it appears that Flipo.io intends for users to expand that into larger arrangements.

    The post Learn how to drive flip-disc displays with your Arduino appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Improve your data analysis with the Advanced Chart Widget for Arduino Cloud

    Improve your data analysis with the Advanced Chart Widget for Arduino Cloud

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    We’re excited to announce the release of our latest Arduino Cloud feature, the Advanced Chart Widget! This new and improved widget is a significant upgrade from our previous chart widget, offering more customization options and functionality that will make it easier than ever to visualize and analyze your device data. In this blog post, we’ll be exploring the benefits of the Advanced Chart Widget, how to use it, and how you can take advantage of this new feature.

    Your devices always monitored with the Arduino Cloud dashboards

    But, what is the Arduino Cloud? Arduino Cloud is an integrated platform that provides an easy and efficient way to develop, deploy and manage IoT devices. Supporting a broad list of hardware, including Arduino boards, ESP32 and ESP8266 based boards, the platform enables makers, IoT enthusiasts and professionals to build connected projects effortlessly. What sets Arduino Cloud apart is its user-friendly and intuitive interface that abstracts complex tasks, making it accessible to users who are not familiar with coding.

    Users can build dashboards from a rich palette of widgets, that include switches, buttons, colour selectors, status, gauges, maps and, of course, a chart widget where you can plot the temporal evolution of one variable of one device.

    Benefits of the Advanced Chart Widget

    The Advanced Chart Widget is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing device data. Its ability to display multiple variables in one chart allows for easy comparison of data points, making it particularly useful for tracking multiple data streams such as temperature and humidity in a greenhouse, or energy usage in a building.

    Moreover, the Advanced Chart Widget is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor it to your specific needs. You can adjust the colors and types of the charts, the labels on the axes and the legend to make the data easier to read and interpret.

    One limitation of the standard Chart widget is its inability to display data over custom time periods. It only offers four predefined time spans: real time, 1 hour, 1 day, and 15 days. However, the Advanced Chart Widget offers the ability to select an arbitrary period of time, giving users access to the full history of their device data, according to the retention period of their plan. This is a crucial advantage for users who need to track long-term trends and patterns, enabling them to make informed decisions based on their device’s complete data history.

    Arduino Cloud Advanced Chart widgets

    Real-world use cases

    The Advanced Chart Widget has a wide range of use cases, from monitoring environmental conditions to tracking energy consumption. For example, you could use the widget to monitor the temperature and humidity in a greenhouse to ensure optimal growing conditions for your plants. Alternatively, you could use it to track energy consumption in a building and identify areas where you can reduce your energy usage. With the ability to display multiple variables in one chart, the possibilities are endless!

    How to use the Advanced Chart Widget

    Using the Advanced Chart Widget is easy!

    Create your dashboard as usual, then click “Add Widget”. Select “Advanced Chart” from the list of available widgets.

    Arduino Cloud: Palette of widgets

    Customise your chart by selecting the variables you want to show, choosing the chart type and colour for each variable, and configuring the Y-axes with the labels you want to use. You can also choose whether to show a legend for your chart.

    Arduino Cloud Advanced Chart configuration

    Once you’ve customised your chart, you can adjust its size and location on your dashboard. Remember that you can customise separate dashboard views for browsers or the mobile app.

    Last but not least, an improved Percentage widget!

    Good things come in pairs and we’re excited to announce the release of our new and improved Percentage widget. This latest update allows you to customize the widget with a variety of icons, making it easier to identify the purpose of the widget at a glance. Choose from a range of predefined icons, including battery, temperature, storage, and more. Plus, with the ability to set a threshold, the widget’s color will change when the value goes above or below a certain value, providing instant visual feedback. Whether you’re tracking your device’s battery life or monitoring your storage capacity, the improved Percentage widget is the perfect tool for keeping an eye on important metrics.

    Learn more

    If you want to learn more about the Arduino IoT Cloud, you can check the official documentation and resources available on the Arduino Cloud website.

    You can learn more about the new Advanced Chart widget checking the documentation. Please note that the Advanced Chart widget is a feature available starting from the Maker plan, but we believe it is well worth the investment for anyone looking to get the most out of their device data. Upgrading to a paid subscription is easy, and you’ll gain access to additional features and support that will help you get the most out of our platform.

    With the Advanced Chart Widget, it’s easy to create great-looking charts that help you understand your data at a glance. So why not give it a try today?

    The post Improve your data analysis with the Advanced Chart Widget for Arduino Cloud appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • HEXA LEDs make Bluetooth-controlled accent lighting affordable

    HEXA LEDs make Bluetooth-controlled accent lighting affordable

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    LED accent lighting is very trendy right now, as it can add quite a lot of visual interest to a room without introducing clutter. But commercial products are often either very expensive or subpar in quality and capability. Fortunately for makers, this kind of project is perfect for a DIY weekend build. One great option is Nancy’s HEXA LEDs, which are gorgeous, affordable, and controllable via Bluetooth®.

    Nancy’s design work here is fantastic and HEXA LEDs look awesome. As the name suggests, they’re hexagonal arrangements of LEDs. They’re modular, which gives the builder the freedom to create whatever pattern they like. It is even possible to have HEXA LEDs flow from a wall onto the ceiling or around a corner to an adjacent wall. An Android app (sorry, no iOS app available) lets the user control the LED effects, animations, and colors.

    To create your own HEXA LEDs decor, you will first need to decide on the pattern you want. From there, you can 3D-print all the required parts. Those include the supports that mount to the wall, the diffusers that cover the LEDs, the electronics housing, and so on. The brain of the system is either an Arduino Nano or a Nano Every board. An HC-06 module allows for communication with the Android app. Illumination comes from strips of WS2812B individually addressable RGB LEDs. Proper power distribution is critical and becomes more complex as you add more LEDs, so be sure to follow Nancy’s instructions carefully.

    If you want LED wall art that will wow your visitors, then you don’t need to look any further.

    The post HEXA LEDs make Bluetooth-controlled accent lighting affordable appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Ping pong robot lets you dial-in the serves

    Ping pong robot lets you dial-in the serves

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Ping pong is one of the most popular sports in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it is easy to find people to practice with. Lone players are typically forced to practice by using return boards (or one half of the table flipped up), but that is overly predictable. To provide a better training experience, BINGOBRICKS designed this ping pong robot that serves balls according to user preferences.

    This is a bit like a tennis ball serving machine, but tailored to the particular quirks of ping pong. Through a control panel on the back of the robot, the user can set the serve parameters. Those include the direction of the serve and even the spin of the ball — anywhere from a full top spin to a full back spin. A quick launch tube swap lets the user switch between high ball releases or low ball releases. To keep the player on their toes, the machine can release balls in different directions throughout a session.

    Most of the robot’s body and mechanical parts are 3D-printable. An Arduino Nano board controls the motors according to the parameters set by the switches and dials. Potentiometers allow adjustment for the intervals between serves, speed, and spin, while three toggle switches control the directions in which the robot will serve balls. A servo motor controls the angle of the launch tube, a pair of DC motors spin the launch wheels (their relative speed sets the ball spin), and another DC motor rotates the hopper’s feed arm.

    The post Ping pong robot lets you dial-in the serves appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Portenta X8 in Arduino IoT Cloud

    Portenta X8 in Arduino IoT Cloud

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    You may have heard about Portenta X8 for its flexibility of usage of Linux combined with real-time applications through the Arduino environment.

    But now, a new set of features have been added to Portenta X8 thanks to its brand-new Arduino Python container. Update your board with the latest image (here is a tutorial showing how to do so) and start exploiting a wide range of unique functionalities:

    • Set up your Portenta X8 in just a couple of clicks with the full revised out-of-the-box experience
    • Self-provision your boards in the Arduino Cloud keeping security in mind
    • Gather real-time and historical data in one place and display them on widget-based dashboards
    • Manage and monitor your fleet of devices from anywhere together with all your team
    • Keep your X8 up-to-date with secure OTA updates with the Portenta X8 Board Manager add-on

    It is now time to learn more about the incredible number of projects Portenta X8 can help you build up.

    All Portenta X8 settings in one place

    Connect your Portenta X8 in the browser and start setting it up in no time through the dedicated out-of-the-box experience.

    Connect your X8 to the Wi-Fi® in just a couple of clicks and start leveraging all its multiple features:

    1. Shell. Communicate to your X8 through a dedicated Shell running in a Python-Alpine Container. Explore multiple examples and easily develop your Python applications.

    2. Arduino Cloud. Always thought about connecting your X8 to the Cloud? Wait no more. Create an Arduino Cloud account and enjoy this new feature. With the out-of-the-box experience, your Portenta X8 can be securely self-provisioned in the Arduino IoT Cloud, you just need to create API keys and the Python container running on X8 will do the rest. When provisioned, you can start directly interacting with an example Thing and Dashboard that will be automatically generated for you to guide you step-by-step in this new journey.

    3. Portenta X8 Manager. Securely monitor your fleets of Portenta X8 by purchasing the Portenta X8 Manager:

    • Securely maintain your Linux distribution
    • Deploy and update applications packaged into containers
    • Secure over-the-air updates to target Portenta X8 devices/fleets

    With the new out-of-the-box experience, the Portenta X8 now has a full suite of tools available for every kind of user.

    Create amazing dashboards with Portenta X8

    Making Portenta X8 compatible with the Arduino Cloud means opening a wide range of new applications.

    This compatibility is guaranteed by a brand-new Python container. Through Arduino Cloud APIs, the Python container ensures full interaction and simple porting of any Python-developed application in the Cloud.

    Thus, connect your Portenta X8 with external sensors or other peripheral devices and visualize their data in widget-based dashboards. Push button, Messenger, Scheduler, and Chart are just a few of the many widgets you can select to build your ultimate control center.

    Do you have multiple boards or sensors connected? It’s easy, the Arduino Cloud is able to manage data coming from different boards/things in just one dashboard.

    In addition, a preconfigured dashboard allows you to monitor the health and usage of your Portenta X8. The diagnostics of your fleets has never been easier.

    And remember, you can monitor your dashboards anywhere, anytime. Use your dashboards on the go, and control projects from your smartphone using the free IoT Remote app.

    Manage your Portenta X8 from anywhere

    You probably already know that you can use the Arduino Cloud to have full control over your fleets of compatible devices, including Arduino, ESP32, and ESP8266 boards.

    Filter and Group your devices according to multiple parameters, such as name, type, customizable tags, etc., and monitor their status whenever you like.

    Looking for the Portenta X8? Just search for it in the search bar and you will be able to check which Thing and dashboard are assigned to it.

    If you would like to be sure that your Portenta X8 is always up-to-date, start using it by subscribing to the dedicated tool called Portenta X8 Board Manager.

    This add-on enables any user to receive constant Linux OS updates from Arduino, not only for Linux image, but also for all the containers developed and updatable over time. So, if you would like to keep track of the status of your full Portenta X8 fleet and perform secure remote OTA updates, this is the perfect solution for you.

    Try it now!

    Update your Portenta X8 and get started with the Arduino Cloud and associated documentation.

    The post Portenta X8 in Arduino IoT Cloud appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Turn your lights on and off by staring at this little robotic switch

    Turn your lights on and off by staring at this little robotic switch

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Unlike every other hands-free light switch that relies on infrared motion detection or changes in ambient light values, Michael Rigsby’s “Look at Me Light Switch” instead requires a person to stare at it for six seconds.

    Based on an embedded machine learning model and a microcontroller, this device uses Person Sensor from Useful Sensors, which relies on a camera to gather images, processes them, and outputs the results over I2C. This information can include the total number of faces as well as individual bounding boxes for every detected face. From here, the information sent by the Person Sensor is read by an Arduino Uno and used to determine if someone is staring at the switch.

    When the face is initially found, a small red LED starts to blink at the top to indicate that the user has been seen. Then once they have been staring for over three seconds, a servo-actuated googly eye spins around to show the action was successful and a relay is toggled to turn the light on or off via a remote control.

    As Rigsby notes, “This is not a ‘clap on, clap off’ switch from years past; this is a ‘look on, look off’ switch for the present age.” The Clapper was popular in the 1990s, so who knows, maybe his tinyML solution could be the next big thing in lighting control? To see more about this fun project, you can watch Mike’s video below and read his write-up here on Instructables.

    The post Turn your lights on and off by staring at this little robotic switch appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Predicting when a fan fail by listening to it

    Predicting when a fan fail by listening to it

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Embedded audio classification is a very powerful tool when it comes to predictive maintenance, as a wide variety of sounds can be distinguished as either normal or harmful several times per second automatically and reliably. To demonstrate how this pattern recognition could be incorporated into a commercial setting, Kevin Richmond created the Listen Up project that aims to show the current status of a running fan based solely on its noise profile.

    Richmond started by collecting 15 minutes of data for each label, namely background noise, normal operation, soft failure, and severe failure. Once collected, the data was split into two-second samples and uploaded to the Edge Impulse Studio, after which an impulse was configured to use an MFE audio processing block and a Keras classification model. Once trained on the dataset, the model achieved an accuracy of almost 96% using real-world testing data.

    In order to utilize the classifier, Richmond deployed his Edge Impulse project as an Arduino library for use in an Arduino Portenta H7 sketch. In it, an accompanying Portenta Vision Shield’s microphone continuously gathers new audio data before passing it into the classification model to receive a result. The probability of each label is then used to set a corresponding LED color if the probability is greater than 80%, otherwise blue is shown to indicate a failed reading.

    To see the project in action, you can watch Richmond’s video below or read his write-up on Hackster.io.

    The post Predicting when a fan fail by listening to it 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

  • The Periodic Table Clock oozes nerdy charm

    The Periodic Table Clock oozes nerdy charm

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The periodic table is arguably the most popular symbol of nerd pride. Everyone knows what it is, but few people are familiar enough with it to make real use of it. There aren’t, for instance, many people that can tell you the atomic number of darmstadtium. If you’re one of the nerdy few who can, then Görkem Bozkurt’s Periodic Table Clock is perfect for you.

    This clock displays the time by illuminating different elements on a translucent periodic table. The color blue corresponds to hours, green corresponds to minutes, and red corresponds to seconds. So if you see Calcium lit in blue, Indium lit in green, and Lanthanum lit in red, then the military time is 20:49:57 (8:49:57 in the evening). If two must share the same element, like when the time is 3:10:10, then it will mix the two colors (yellow in this case). If three share the same element, like 2:02:02, then it should be obvious because only a single element will be lit.

    The frame and face plate are 3D-printable. There are various ink printing techniques to create the periodic table overlay, or the user can perform a filament-swap technique to 3D-print in two colors. Illumination comes from a strip of WS2812B individually addressable RGB LEDs controlled by an Arduino Nano board. It uses a DS1307 RTC module for accurate timekeeping. Three push buttons positioned on the frame let the user set the current time.

    The post The Periodic Table Clock oozes nerdy charm appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Makers, get ready to step up your game with the GIGA R1 WiFi

    Makers, get ready to step up your game with the GIGA R1 WiFi

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    A new board joins the Arduino family, and it’s the most powerful ever designed for makers, engineers and creators: today we’re announcing the GIGA R1 WiFi. Bridging you from great fun to amazing performance, it opens the door to infinite possibilities in robotics, IoT, music, computer vision, digital fabrication, and any kind of projects involving machines, interfaces, and real-time processing.

    Excited yet? Because we sure are. Springboarding off the R&D efforts that power the Arduino Pro products like Portenta H7, we have developed a new product for ambitious makers, offering all the power of the STM32H7 microcontroller in the same form factor as the popular Mega and Due boards – and at an accessible price point. It’s the perfect tool for artists, gamers, sound designers, researchers and more, to step up their game, level the playing field, and add power to their play.

    With GIGA R1 WiFi you can think bigger and be more creative than ever. It’s “two brains in one” thanks to the dual-core microcontroller (Cortex®-M7 core at 480 MHz and Cortex®-M4 at 240 MHz) which allows you to run two Arduino programs simultaneously – or, why not, an Arduino program and a MicroPython one. With this architecture, you can separate higher-level logic such as displays, interfaces, and networking from time-critical tasks such as motor control.

    The board can be powered at 24V and takes the pins count to the stellar and rather unique number of 76 (of which 12 analog, 13 PWM, 4 serial ports, 3 I2C, 2 SPI, 1 FDCAN, 1 SAI). But get this: it all fits in the same footprint as the Mega, because the layout is optimized with extra pins in the middle, so you can boost existing projects or bring to life new ideas with more bang and no bulk.

    And that’s not all. As the name suggests, your GIGA R1 WiFi provides Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® Low Energy connectivity via a high-quality Murata 1DX module supporting external antenna. The board features an USB-C® connector for power, programming and HID device capability (i.e. simulate a mouse or keyboard when connected to a PC), but in addition it also carries a USB-A connector that provides USB host functionality which means you can plug a USB stick or another mass storage unit, as well as an external mouse or keyboard. An input-output 3.5-mm audio jack will enable lots of audio and music projects, while the camera and display pins will do the rest whenever you want to create interfaces, control panels or other creative interactions. This single-handedly makes building your own synth or visual installation not only possible, but easier. Which we love because we believe technology should enable everyone to think, make and innovate.

    Last but not least, with the Arduino Cloud you can easily connect the board, create comprehensive dashboards and control your project from your smartphone using the native app.

    Ready to find out more? Check out all the tech specs on its Arduino Store page!

    Step up your game

    The post Makers, get ready to step up your game with the GIGA R1 WiFi appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • This illuminated chessboard displays possible moves

    This illuminated chessboard displays possible moves

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Chess is a tricky game to learn, even before you get into various strategies and tactics. The simple act of memorizing the different piece’s moves can be overwhelming to people new to the game. To make it easy to determine where pieces can go, Redditor Bakedbananas is building an illuminated chess board that displays a player’s possible moves.

    This is still a work in progress, but the short video does a great job of demonstrating the concept. The entire board is lit from underneath and normally shows the standard checkered pattern. But when a person lifts up a piece, the surrounding squares change color to indicate where the player can place that piece. The starting square is yellow, and squares the piece can move to are green. Red squares indicate positions that a piece would normally be able to go, but which are blocked by other pieces.

    Bakedbananas hasn’t posted many technical details yet, but some information is available. The pieces and board, including the translucent squares, are 3D-printed. An Arduino Mega 2560 board detects the presence of pieces on squares using Reed switches and magnets in the pieces’ bases. But the Arduino cannot identify each unique piece. For that reason, it must track every piece’s movement from its starting position in order to keep a running record of the type of piece located at each square.

    Made some progress on the Chessboard this week
    by u/Bakedbananas in arduino

    There is still a lot of work required to finish this project, but it is very promising and we can’t wait to see the final result in action!

    The post This illuminated chessboard displays possible moves appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Recreating a century-old Argentinian rainmaking machine

    Recreating a century-old Argentinian rainmaking machine

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    You’ve heard about the many different snake oil concoctions shilled by con men over the centuries, but did you know that inventors created a variety of machines for similar purposes? The most well-known example is probably the belt vibrator, which purported to induce weight loss. In Argentina during the 1930s, Juan Baigorri Velar claimed to have constructed a functioning rainmaking machine. To pay homage, Roni Bandini used an Arduino to create a replica of the legendary Argentinian rainmaking machine.

    Velar’s rainmaking machine almost certainly didn’t work and was either an outright hoax, or the result of misguided optimism masking coincidence. Velar supposedly demonstrated the machine and it was reported as successful at the time, but he never published details about the machine or its operating principles. It was never proven under scientific conditions and no modern experts believe that it could actually summon rainfall. Even today, weather manipulation is very controversial and difficult to perform.

    Because details about the original machine are so lacking, Bandini had a lot of freedom for his recreation. But he did try to keep it as accurate as possible, with the notable exception of the radioactive material — including that could be dangerous. The primary component here is an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense development board. Other components include a relay, a Peltier cooling cell, an electromagnet, and an analog meter.

    In reality, this rainmaking machine isn’t really doing anything except monitoring barometric pressure (through the Arduino’s onboard sensor) and cooling the surface of the Peltier cell. But it sure looks the part. Bandini did a fabulous job with the enclosure, controls, and overall design aesthetic, which looks like something cobbled together by a mad scientist in the 1930s.

    The post Recreating a century-old Argentinian rainmaking machine appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Self-guided circular saw automates woodworking

    Self-guided circular saw automates woodworking

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    A circular saw is a must-have tool for anyone who wants to do even basic woodworking. But getting clean, straight cuts is a skill that takes practice to develop. To automate the process in order to perform clean cuts every time with zero effort, Red Tie Projects created this self-guided circular saw.

    This is exactly what it sounds like: a circular saw that moves across the table on its own. It rides on hardened steel rods, ensuring repeatable cuts. It also moves at a nice, steady pace, resulting in clean edges. A projected laser line shows the user exactly where the cut will fall on the work piece. A small control panel lets the user turn the machine on, start a cut, stop a cut, turn the laser on, and move forward/backwards.

    On the mechanical side, this build is as simple as possible. The circular saw, which is just a handheld Makita corded model, mounts to a plate with four bearing blocks. Those bearings fit onto hardened steel rods running the length of the table. A spring-loading retraction mechanism pulls the power cord taut to keep it out of the way.

    An Arduino Uno board controls the single stepper motor through a driver board. That stepper pulls the saw carriage back and forth with a belt. A relay module controls power to going to the saw. Limit switches let the Arduino detect when the saw reaches the ends of the rails. The laser line projection comes from a standalone off-the-shelf unit. The machine’s controls are standard arcade buttons.

    While this saw is now only capable of doing one task, it can do it very well. For someone that performs similar cuts over and over again, it is a perfect tool.

    The post Self-guided circular saw automates woodworking appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK