GPIO pins on most microcontrollers operate at low voltages, typically between 3.3V and 5V, and are unable to deliver much current — oftentimes stopping at 20-40mA. This is why, when setting up an LED, series resistors are used to limit the amount of current draw and prevent damage to the pin. Mirko Pavleski created a workbench device that helps figure out the size of this resistor and allows for an LED to be connected for live testing.
Built around an Arduino Nano, the system presents the user with a display for selecting the desired maximum current draw and LED voltage input. The panel of buttons on the left can increment or decrement the ideal voltage/current levels that, in turn, are then used to calculate the value of the series resistor. This value appears on the bottom alongside the part number for ordering the resistor from a distributor.
The values at the top of the LCD indicate how the connected LED currently behaves given a known voltage. By wiring the LED to a couple of sense resistors and an analog input pin, its forward voltage along with its current draw can be determined.
As Jallson Suryo discusses in his project, adding voice controls to our appliances typically involves an internet connection and a smart assistant device such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. This means extra latency, security concerns, and increased expenses due to the additional hardware and bandwidth requirements. This is why he created a prototype based on an Arduino Nicla Voice that can provide power for up to four outlets using just a voice command.
Suryo gathered a dataset by repeating the words “one,” “two,” “three,” “four,” “on,” and “off” into his phone and then uploaded the recordings to an Edge Impulse project. From here, he split the files into individual words before rebalancing his dataset to ensure each label was equally represented. The classifier model was trained for keyword spotting and used Syntiant NDP120-optimal settings for voice to yield an accuracy of around 80%.
Apart from the Nicla Voice, Suryo incorporated a Pro Micro board to handle switching the bank of relays on or off. When the Nicla Voice detects the relay number, such as “one” or “three”, it then waits until the follow-up “on” or “off” keyword is detected. With both the number and state now known, it sends an I2C transmission to the accompanying Pro Micro which decodes the command and switches the correct relay.
The launch of the Arduino UNO R4 marks a huge leap forward for our community. For us, it’s also the chance to celebrate the people who bring our ecosystem to life with their bright ideas, radiant enthusiasm, and shining insight.
That is how the UNO R4 Stars blog post series began: to highlight makers who have not only created amazing projects with Arduino, but who are giving back to the community by sharing as they go and helping others make anything they wish.
We invite you to discover each profile, hoping you might find a North Star to navigate around an expanding galaxy or venture into completely new universes.
Daniel Jansson first came into contact with Arduino in 2011, while at Umeå Institute of Design for his master’s degree in interaction design. The experience was empowering to the point of being weird: “It was like, now I can create things which only engineers and developers could make before. It felt like I was doing things that I should just not be able to do.”
Curious by nature, he instantly realized that – while the technology could have helped him in his studies – it was a lot more fun to create quirky interactive objects that made people smile. So he kept going, experimenting with various Arduino boards to create big and small devices with connectivity, sound, lights and interactivity.
“There are few things I enjoy more than taking disparate subjects and joining them into new creations, oftentimes with Arduino acting as the glue to help things sense the world around them, or interact in new and unusual ways,” he says.
A great example of this is his favorite maker project: the YouTube Subscriber Levelometer, which repurposes a device once used to measure the level of liquid in tanks using pressure. Adding his signature blend of “physical interaction, programming, sound, connectivity and a healthy dose of humor,” Jansson built a phygital system that keeps track of his key influencer stats. He integrated speech synthesis by combining an Arduino Nano with the Talkie library, which was based on work done by Texas Instruments in the 1980s, and programmed everything via the Arduino IDE.
As a long-time Arduino user, Jansson was excited to try the UNO R4: “It extends the potential for new projects to places where I did not imagine the UNO platform could go. It really feels like a leap forward, without compromising on the vast library of projects created over the last 11 years since the launch of the UNO R3.”
We asked Jansson, “What’s your favorite part of the UNO R4?”
The 12-bit DAC to generate higher fidelity sound, opening up huge possibilities for musical projects – even building entirely new instruments.
The native HID capabilities, which make creating native USB-MIDI super easy.
Compatibility with the UNO R3, allowing users to revisit and update old projects.
Beyond any specific product, it’s the global community that makes Arduino unique: “It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, you can always find someone who has run into the same challenges as you have, and find help to overcome them to make your projects come true. The wealth of knowledge makes Arduino a democratic hardware platform in ways we have never seen before.”
The value of shared knowledge and experiences clearly resonates with Jansson, who hopes to encourage others to learn, enjoy, and broaden their mind with his projects. To keep up with his many fun and interesting ideas – bound to bring a smile to your face – follow his Instagram account or subscribe to his “Switch & Lever” YouTube channel.
Everything you need to have fun with Raspberry Pi in 2024. We’ve got official accessories, third-party kits, cases, projects, circuits, robots and 3D printing projects. There’s enough here to keep any Raspberry Pi fan quiet for a while.
Heating and cooling Raspberry Pi 5
Raspberry Pi 5 runs fast! And with speed comes thermal heating. Keep your cool with our guide to heating and cooling your new Raspberry Pi computer. We’ve got graphs and charts to back up our advice.
Overclock Raspberry Pi 5
Let’s take Raspberry Pi 5 up a notch. We’ve got a guide and code for taking your Raspberry Pi 5’s speedy CPU up to 3.0GHz and boosting the GPU to 900MHz. The increased performance makes gaming better, compiling faster and your Raspberry Pi 5 look cooler. So put go-faster stripes on your Raspberry Pi 5 today.
Cloud gaming with Raspberry Pi 5
Did you know that Raspberry Pi can play just about anything thanks to the power of cloud gaming? You can stream Xbox games, Nvidia games and play many of the latest hits. Cloud gaming is fantastic on Raspberry Pi 5 and our guide can help you save hundreds of pounds on buying the latest consoles.
Retro Pi World Radio
We’ve got lots of projects in this month’s edition of The MagPi. This retro radio that plays stations from around the world is a great example of upcycling. The original dial has been replaced with a screen displaying a map of the globe. This and many more projects can be found in this month’s edition of The MagPi magazine.
Save 35% off the cover price with a subscription to The MagPi magazine. UK subscribers get three issues for just £10 and a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico W, then pay £30 every six issues. You’ll save money and get a regular supply of in-depth reviews, features, guides and other Raspberry Pi enthusiast goodness delivered directly to your door every month.
We are proud to announce that Arduino Education has been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories for the Bett Awards 2024:
COMPANY OF THE YEAR (MORE THAN £3M)
COLLABORATION WITH A SCHOOL for the Medellin Challenge with Colegio San Jose de Las Vegas in Colombia
Bett INNOVATION AWARD for innovation on the Internet of Things in education with the Arduino Cloud for Schools, the Explore IoT Kit, and the Greenhouse Kit
The Bett Awards are a celebration of the inspiring creativity and innovation that can be found throughout technology for education. These awards recognize Arduino Education’s efforts to nurture future talent by bringing easy to use, affordable, and skill-oriented solutions for students at school and university.
Let’s take a look at each of the award categories we’ve been nominated for in turn…
Innovation Award
Why have we been shortlisted? At Arduino Education, we epitomize the fusion of cutting-edge technology with purposeful learning. Our revamped Arduino Cloud for Schools revolutionizes STEAM education by merging coding, IoT, and accessibility into a comprehensive ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the renewed Explore IoT Kit R2 is not just technologically advanced; it also aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, promoting practical solutions to global challenges. The kit empowers students to delve deep into data communication, management, and societal problem-solving.
Our innovative Greenhouse Kit addresses urban farming issues, turning students into active participants in sustainability endeavors.
Across our products and solutions, Arduino Education’s commitment isn’t merely to educate; it’s to inspire, empower, and lead, paving the way for a brighter, informed, and sustainable future.
Our nomination for the Innovator of the Year award is a testament to this enduring commitment to innovation that truly matters.
Collaboration with a School
Arduino Education collaborated with the Colegio San Jose de Las Vegas for the Medellín Challenge 2023. Students participating in the challenge experienced a transformative arc during an intensive three months. From the early days of choosing their challenges to turning their innovative ideas into tangible prototypes, their journey was supported at every step by Arduino Education’s state-of-the-art technology resources, including the Explore IoT Kit and the Arduino Cloud.
An experienced Arduino Education trainer teamed up with the teachers and students during the prototyping stage to provide direct in-person technical support throughout the design phase, and provide ongoing feedback.
Just some of the sustainability solutions that the teams of students devised with Arduino included:
Building a smart farm and designing tutorials so children in the Medellín communities could learn how to grow their own food, and potentially create a way to make an income.
Creating a virtual platform linked to a solar-powered car that visits local communities to bring learning experiences, such as environmental, technological, and entrepreneurship education to children.
A device that makes use of the water lost from natural sources in different activities: washing clothes, watering gardens and fish tanks.
Building a smart farm and designing tutorials so children in the Medellín communities could learn how to grow their own food, and potentially create a way to make an income.
Creating a virtual platform linked to a solar-powered car that visits local communities to bring learning experiences, such as environmental, technological, and entrepreneurship education to children.
A device that makes use of the water lost from natural sources in different activities: washing clothes, watering gardens and fish tanks.
Company of the Year (more than £3m)
There’s a significant gap between education and the job market, where technology, methodology, and mindset for educating future talents are generally missing. Arduino Education strives to bring easy-to-use, affordable, and skill-oriented solutions to bridge this gap. We want to continuously redefine the horizons of STEAM education and push for innovation in the classroom.
Always looking forward, we pioneer educational tools that reflect real-world applications, like our collaboration on machine learning content with Harvard, and our Explore IoT Kit which ties to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We champion diversity, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. Efforts such as supporting ‘Jenga Labs‘ in Ghana and local manufacturing demonstrate our broader vision.
Arduino Education’s focus on customer service and a thriving teacher community are testaments to our commitment to the education sector.
Dan Hubacz, a U.S. high school teacher, sums up Arduino Education’s approach perfectly: “I want my students to be working on things that are real and matter to them, and that also potentially have an impact on the community.”
What’s next for Arduino Education
Further to receiving this recognition from the Bett Awards for our continuous focus on innovative solutions, we’d like to say thank you to all the students and educators who use Arduino Education kits and solutions in their classrooms. It’s your enthusiasm and desire for learning that makes this possible and worthwhile.
With the newly-released Science Kit R3 and even more exciting kits to come in 2024, we’ll keep striving to innovate, bridge the STEM skill gaps, and nurture future talent.
RGB LEDs are sooooo 2015 and the “it” thing today is kinetic art. If a blinking LED is the “hello world” of the microcontroller industry, then making something move is the equivalent of finally fingering out how pointers work. So Robert of the Ideal Idea YouTube channel had to learn a lot of new skills to design this PC case with interchangeable kinetic front panels.
Robert was inspired by CyberPower’s Kinetic Series case, which was on display at CES 2022, then CES 2023, and is now beginning to look like vaporware. Robert wanted to upgrade his PC setup and didn’t want to wait on CyberPower, so he built his own custom kinetic case.
Despite Robert’s claims to the contrary, he certainly appears to be a talented mechanical engineer. He created a pair of kinetic front panels and they’re both mechanical masterpieces. The first consists of three circular windows, each with two spinning wheels rotating in opposite directions. Light shines through from the PC to highlight the effect. The second is an intricate matrix of wood pillars that move in and out in an undulating pattern that entrances us.
Both kinetic panels operate using input from a single stepper motor controlled by an Arduino UNO Rev3 board. Robert constructed the panels’ complex mechanisms using a combination of 3D-printed plastic, laser-cut acrylic, and laser-cut wood. The two panels required hundreds of moving parts and a mastery of mechanical design, resulting in an amazing final product.
The best part is the modularity, as Robert can design and swap in a new kinetic panel whenever he wants.
With a bit of deductive reasoning, Peter figured out that the plant was blocking the joint, so the rainwater would just overflow. He didn’t want to hire expensive equipment to confirm this theory, though.
“I then had the bright idea of mounting a Raspberry Pi Camera on the end of a long pole to get a view of the plant itself,” Peter mentions. “The sticking-point here was how to connect the camera to Raspberry Pi whilst still being at the far end of the pole. At first, I considered having Raspberry Pi and camera both mounted at the far end, but this would have required much longer power and display cables than I had available; the obvious alternative was just to have the camera at the far end of the pole but, at the time, I only had to hand the short ribbon cable that came with the camera, and had no idea whether longer cables were even available. However, after discovering that cables up to 2 m in length existed – thank you, The Pi Hut! – I had at least solved the connectivity issue.”
Printed solution
Peter turned to Fusion 360 to design and then 3D-print a mount that would allow the Camera Module to slot inside a bike lamp bracket, which was then mounted to a pole. After taking a peek, Peter found the true culprit – a plant growing in a big clump of soil.
“I now had a much clearer idea of what exactly we were dealing with, but there was still the matter of how to get the offending plant out,” Peter continues. “It was unlikely any cherry-picker would be able to fit through either of our side gates to reach the rear of the house where this gutter was, so it would have to operate from the adjacent road, with all the safety and other implications that would entail. However, to go down the scaffolding route would be equally problematic, not least because it would have to bridge over the conservatory to get to the gutter in the corner, with no obvious way to support it.”
For one small plant, this was a bit overkill. However, he did have a pole that could reach the plant, so he began Phase 2 of the operation: attaching a trowel. He already had a WOLF-Garten system that he’d 3D-printed parts for, so he made a further extension to fit the trowel on.
Remote gardening
After digging up a bit of the soil, the plant was removed and the gutter stoppage fixed. It worked so well, it’s inspired him to do more.
“I would be the first to admit that I produce more things using my 3D printer than I do using a Raspberry Pi,” Peter says. “However, the success of this venture has opened my eyes (no pun intended!) to the potential for remote-viewing generally using Raspberry Pi / camera combination and, to this end, I have bought a second 2 m camera cable and connector, as well as a new Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3.”
Möbius strips are often used to symbolize infinity, because they are continuous loops with only a single surface. They can’t exist in real life, because every solid object in reality has thickness — even if it is very thin, like a piece of paper. But we can construct similar objects that loop and twist over on themselves. James Bruton demonstrated that concept by building an RC tank with Möbius strip tracks.
This project doesn’t seem to have any real purpose beyond curiosity. Bruton wanted to see how Möbius strip tracks would work and so he constructed this tank to find out. The treads and most of the rest of the tank were 3D-printed, with the tread links getting a special design that lets them pivot relative to each other. They pivot just enough that the each track was able to make a half-twist over the course of 8 or 9 links. That half-twist is what makes the tracks similar to a Möbiusstrip, because the “outer” surface continues endlessly and transitions to being the “inner” surface and then repeats forever.
As is the case for many of Bruton’s creations, this tank has an Arduino Mega 2560 for control. It receives commands from Bruton’s universal remote through an OrangeRX DSM2 radio receiver. A DC gear motor drives each track, providing plenty of torque.
In testing, this tank performed similarly to a standard RC tank—though there is, presumably, more friction to overcome. When the tracks are bare plastic, they slip on hard surfaces a lot. When Bruton added grippy pads, they didn’t slip quite enough. But interestingly, the unique geometry of the tracks means that one “side” can be grippy and the other slick. The track will then alternate between the two, even though that doesn’t seem to provide any real benefit.
At Arduino, we’ve always believed in the power of community. Our journey has been shaped by the incredible feedback and input we’ve received from our users, and today, we’re thrilled to introduce a renewed and improved Arduino Cloud based on your insights.
This renewal goes beyond just a fresh coat of paint. It impacts not only the new user interface (UI) but also many other aspects of the Cloud, as well as our IoT Remote app. These new features and improvements will be progressively introduced in the coming weeks, so be sure to stay tuned for the next wave of exciting announcements.
It’s better, with you
Arduino Cloud is the platform that Internet of Things (IoT) and do-it-yourself (DIY) enthusiasts use to develop, monitor, and control their creations. It is an increasingly popular platform that was born to democratize the access to IoT, to make it simple and accessible for everyone, pretty much in a similar fashion as Arduino has done with hardware and DIY. Our journey mirrors our core values: open-source, accessibility, and community-driven innovation.
And it’s your contributions that drive our progress. Through our thriving forum, direct feedback channels, and our shared community-driven values, we actively engage with your ideas, questions, and experiences to shape the future of the Arduino Cloud. Your input is invaluable in our quest to create a platform that truly meets your needs and aspirations.
We’ve listened, we’ve learned, and we’ve transformed. The result is a platform that’s more intuitive, powerful, and user-friendly than ever before. It’s better, with you!
New user interface
The first major feature we’re excited to unveil is the brand-new user interface (UI). The UI has been designed with your needs in mind, and we’re confident it will greatly enhance your interaction with the Arduino Cloud.
What’s new in the UI?
New navigation bar: Say hello to a new, sleek navigation bar in the Arduino Cloud. You can now seamlessly jump between your devices, sketches and your dashboards.
Cleaner design: We’ve revamped the design to make it more visually appealing and clutter-free. Your projects and data take center stage, ensuring a distraction-free development environment.
New sketchbook: Discover a new evolution of our sketch management features, turning your sketches into a digital, secure sketchbook. You’ll always be on top of things, whether you’re tinkering with IoT projects, working on standalone sketches, or both.
Quick access to templates: We’ve made it easier for users to find and select pre-built templates from the new navigation bar. Now, you can choose among thermostat control, ventilation, smart garden, and many more to get quickly started with an IoT project.
Shared Spaces home dashboard: We’re introducing a new dashboard view for Shared Spaces, where you can monitor usage of the Cloud instantly.
White labeling: With our new white labeling feature, you can add a custom logo to your dashboard and even customize the Arduino logo on the top left. Make it truly yours!
What’s on the horizon
But this is just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, we have a series of major announcements lined up. Without giving away all the surprises, we can promise you more exciting features and enhancements to make your development experience even easier and your IoT projects even more accessible. Keep an eye out for upcoming blog posts where we’ll reveal these exciting developments.
Try Arduino Cloud today
At Arduino, we’re committed to improving our products and services with your active participation. The renewal of the Arduino Cloud is a testament to the power of community-driven innovation.
We invite you to explore the new UI, experiment with the features, and share your thoughts with us. Your feedback is invaluable as we continue to enhance the Arduino Cloud. Share your feedback, ideas, and experiences with us on social media, forums, and other communication channels.
Thank you for being a part of the Arduino community and making Arduino Cloud better, with you.
While you could always just solder Pico’s castellations directly onto metal contact pads on the surface of another PCB, ClipZin has the advantage of being able to clip the board in and out at any point – ideal for when you’re prototyping a design or want to later replace a standard Pico board with a Pico W.
Clip in, clip out
In practice, we found it extremely easy to clip a Pico onto a sample PCB fitted with a pair of surface mounted, 20-way ClipZin connectors. Just push Pico down and it clicks securely into place, held by individual springy pins that maintain a good connection with each castellation. Small plastic retention clips on either end also help to keep it in place.
Removing Pico from the ClipZin connectors is as simple as gently pulling one of the retention clips and lifting the board out.
While a little more expensive than the alternative of using FlexyPins, ClipZin connectors benefit from being all-in-one (coming in 6-, 8-, 17-, and 20-way versions), making them far less fiddly to solder onto a PCB.
Verdict
8/10
Should prove handy for Pico-based PCB prototyping and could also be used in final products.
Most of us don’t use label stickers very often, so we can afford to spend several minutes fumbling around with corners to try and peel the labels from their backing paper. But if you’re handling many of them a day, like putting “fragile” stickers on shipping boxes, then that inefficient fumbling will be an issue. To make life easier for you, Mr Innovative built this simple machine that quickly dispenses labels.
Mr Innovative designed this machine for the kinds of label stickers that come on rolls of backing paper. It should work with a wide range of roll sizes and the dimensions are easy to modify if you need to accommodate even larger rolls. The best part is that it doesn’t require any configuration. The machine will pull the paper backing around a roller, releasing the sticker. That causes the sticker to cover an infrared sensor and the machine stops. After the user removes that sticker, the machine pulls the paper backing again until the next sticker is ready.
As with most of Mr Innovative’s projects, this utilizes a custom multipurpose control board that hosts an Arduino Nano board. That drives a single stepper motor, which rotates a spool to pull the backing paper from the roll of labels. The machine’s mechanical parts are all either 3D-printable, off-the-shelf hardware and fasteners, or standard 2020 T-slot aluminum extrusion.
There are a surprising number of marble-based machines out there. Marbles work well in machines because they roll easily, have substantial weight, and are very consistent in diameter. Ivan Miranda was able to take advantage of those characteristics to build this amazing marble clock.
This project uses hundreds of marbles to display the time in numeric digits. To do so, the machine needs to roll specific marbles down tracks — white marbles for “on pixels” and black marbles for “off pixels.” When the time rolls over to the next minute, the clock releases those marbles back into a big hopper where they wait for the next cycle.
The machine carries marbles to the top of the track using an elevator mechanism. It picks up an entire row of marbles at once from the hopper, but their colors are random as far as the machine knows. So Miranda programmed an Arduino board to look at each marble in the row on the elevator. It uses infrared sensors to determine if each marble is black or white. It then triggers solenoids to eject any marbles that are the wrong color.
It is an inefficient trial-and-error process, but the machine can repeat that “lift and check” cycle as many times as it needs to until it sends all the right marbles down the appropriate tracks. Miranda has a few tweaks to make to increase reliability, but the clock is already a marvel!
There’s a lot to love about the fall season, and when it comes to home automation there’s a ton of opportunity here for smart makers to start playing around with new ideas and creations.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some ways you can use home automation to enhance your autumn experience, and we’ll share a few inspiring ideas from the Arduino community.
Automated garden care
If you have a lawn — or any outdoor space — you probably know the never-ending struggle of keeping it in good condition.
On top of your regular tasks of cutting the grass and caring for its quality, you’ll also have to contend with the yearly influx of beautiful but dead leaves cascading down from the trees and forming a crisp blanket over your grass.
This can keep the autumnal gardener much busier than usual, but the good news is that home automation can make things much easier in this department. Let’s find out how!
Smart leaf blowers
Clearing the fallen leaves out of your yard can be a tedious task, but with the power of home automation it gets a lot easier.
Remote-controlled leaf blowers like this one can take care of the laborious work of getting rid of dead leaves while you relax on the porch with a nice cup of coffee. Right now this kind of tech is still mostly in the prototype DIY stage, but the future could see more commercially available models.
Robot lawn mowers
The Roomba revolutionized the world of home maintenance. No longer did you have to devote chunks of your day to walking around the house with a vacuum cleaner — now a neat little robot could take care of it all for you.
Robot lawn mowers are now bringing the same game-changing concept to the world of gardening, automatically whizzing around your lawn and getting it to just the right condition while you hang out and enjoy the cool autumn breeze.
If you’re feeling creative, why not build your own robot lawn mower?
Arduino user ReP_AL decided to do that with this project — an Arduino-controlled lawn mowing robot. Now you can sit inside with a pumpkin spice latte and watch in comfort as your robot leaves your lawn in perfect condition. You can check out a full guide for this project here.
Temperature control and energy efficiency
While it’s not quite winter yet, fall is the period where temperatures start to drop, and some days can get pretty chilly.
This is the perfect opportunity to get on top of your temperature control systems and get prepared for the colder months on the way. Once again, home automation can play a major role here, helping you maintain just the right conditions in your home without wasting any energy.
Smart thermostats
Until recently, controlling the heat in your home required you to actually be at home.
Today, thanks to smart thermostats, that’s no longer the case. These gadgets allow you to check the temperature of your house and make adjustments from wherever you are, by connecting your thermostat to a mobile app.
Smart thermostats can also automatically change the temperature based on when you enter or leave your home, the occupancy of a room at any given time, and your energy usage over time.
You can even make your own smart thermostat with Arduino. That’s exactly what Hwhardsoft did with this project, combining an Arduino MKR board with a wall mounting enclosure and color TFT touchscreen to create a professional-looking and easy-to-use thermostat for the chilly winter months.
Energy conservation
As the days get shorter and colder in the fall months, it’s tempting to crank up the heating and flood your house with light.
The downside to this is that it takes its toll on your energy bills, especially during a time when costs are high. Home automation can help mitigate this, with the use of monitors that track energy usage, show alerts, and even automatically switch off or turn down lighting, heat, and electrical appliances when they’re not needed.
Lighting and decorations for fall
Fall isn’t all about dark nights and frosty mornings. It’s also a time for celebration, with quite a few big holidays taking place around this time.
Halloween is the most famous, but even if you aren’t a big fan of spooky decorations, adding some light and color to your home can help warm things up as the days get colder.
Smart lighting is a great example here. On top of keeping your living areas cozy and ambient, smart lighting can also help create a more seasonal mood, and can even be used to set up lighting displays for parties and holiday celebrations.
It’s not just indoor lighting, either, you can also set up smart illumination displays on the outside of your home. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can even rig up entire lighting displays to celebrate an occasion of your choice.
Home security
One of the downsides of the darker months is an increase in certain types of crime — specifically burglary.
Criminals like to operate under cover of darkness, and home break-ins are easier to carry out when the world is plunged into night from the afternoon onwards. Fortunately, burglars are fairly easy to deter, and home automation can be a powerful tool here. For instance:
Motion sensors and smart camera systems that can detect any unusual activity and quickly report it to you, wherever you are, via a mobile app. This can also trigger alarms and even notify the police if needed.
Smart locks and security systems that can be controlled remotely from your devices. This way you can ensure your home is secure at all times, giving you peace of mind, and grant trusted people access from afar.
Automated lighting systems that make your home seem occupied even when nobody is around, deterring opportunistic criminals.
Entertainment
The fall season is home to a number of festivals and holidays. Halloween, the Day of the Dead, and Thanksgiving are just a few well-known examples.
Due to the chilly weather, most autumnal festivals tend to take place indoors, which is a great opportunity for you to tap into home automation to host a party nobody will ever forget.
Home automation can give you a ton of the tools to achieve this. With automated lighting to create the perfect ambience, smart speaker systems connected to voice assistants and shared apps, and unique, novel costumes and light displays, you can host the perfect party.
You don’t need to throw a huge celebration to make the most of smart entertainment, however. With the right combination of smart lighting, sound, and interactive entertainment systems you can have a great night in all by yourself.
Preparing for the holidays
On top of the fearful festivities of Halloween, fall also marks the beginning of a long holiday season.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year are all just around the corner, and major events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday take place around this time, too. This makes fall the perfect season to start laying the foundations for a busy few months of holidays.
Once again, home automation can make life easier and more productive here. For example:
Smart kitchen appliances — like trash cans that sound alerts when they’re full and cupboards that add to your shopping list when ingredients are running low — can make life much easier during big eating and guest-hosting holidays.
Automated travel planning — Tools such as Wonderplan make it easier than ever to create rough starting itineraries, book accommodation and transport ahead of time, and start making preparations for your coming trip.
Automated gift shopping — Tools like ChatGPT can help generate thoughtful ideas for gifts, and you can easily place orders using voice automation software and list-making apps that can handle the entire process of ordering and shipping.
If you’re interested in getting started on your own home automation journey this fall, Arduino is the perfect place to start.
Our Project Hub is full of inspiration, and we have products and guides to help anyone get started, no matter their experience level or comfort with tech. Everyone has to start somewhere, and before long you’ll be putting together some seriously impressive creations.
Using a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, a couple of Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ boards, and some Python code, along with the other required bits of hardware, Max has essentially created a camera within a camera here, as a digital camera is hidden within the body of the original shell. “When the camera’s button is pressed, it makes a hidden digital camera take a picture,” he explains. “This picture is sent to a server, for the display frame to show.”
Interestingly, Max decided that he wanted the picture to then be deleted from the camera itself and, once the frame has downloaded this picture to display it, it is deleted from its storage as well. “I really like the idea of having only one copy of the picture baked into the e-ink display. It makes the picture feel important, and it fits with the essence of Polaroid photos,” declares Max. When a new picture is taken, the old one disappears from the frame.
The e-paper display module was a key inspiration to Max to make the photo frame: “I really like the look of a display that doesn’t emit any light, so it’s more like an e-book instead of a screen. It’s really fun to see the individual dots on it; it looks just like a real print.” When he found a type of e-paper that could do colours, there was no stopping him. “The slow drawing speed of the e-paper module (~1 minute) fits with the idea of mimicking developing film, which was a happy accident,” he enthuses.
Max was determined that the camera should send pictures to a server, instead of directly to the other device, so that it works “even if both devices are on opposite sides of the planet.” Deciding against using a SIM card in the camera and frame, he instead opted for Wi-Fi, and the camera simply connects to Wi-Fi networks by taking a picture of a QR code.
Shooting the snags
Max found that the physical build was the hardest element of the project, and many hours of work went into the venture. “At first, I only made little steps at a time for a couple hours a week but, once it started taking shape, I dedicated a few days to it to make some real progress,” he reveals. Most of his time went into the physical photo frame and the camera body. “Breaking the camera open on the inside without breaking it on the outside was a bit of a tedious task. And the photo frame needed a wooden shape on the back to fit the computer and wires, so that became a little arts‑and-crafts-session.”
Max’s father was on hand to help him with the woodwork for the frame, but “I was scared I’d break the camera when drilling a hole through the top for an LED light,” he shares. Also, making the real camera’s button trigger a signal necessitated some good old-fashioned trial and error. “I ended up using a metal spring with aluminium foil on it, and the ends touch when the button is pressed to make a closed circuit.”
Finally, deciding on power options for the camera demanded some further head-scratching – “I ended up using a battery HAT that works for about an hour on this setup and can be recharged with USB-C.” The end-product was well worth the labour and troubleshooting required en route, however. As long as there is Wi-Fi available, “the photos you take with the camera appear instantly on the display frame, no matter where in the world each of them is.”
No negatives here
Understandably, many people have enjoyed reading about Max’s camerawork.“There were a lot of positive reactions online! I really loved reading them. All the individual steps to making this project are nothing new, but bringing them together into this simple idea is what people seemed to appreciate the most.”
Significantly, he has had messages from a number of people who are keen to replicate his endeavours using similar vintage cameras. Describing this as “super-cool”, Max is very keen that people make their own variations and, indeed, improvements to the project. “One possible variation someone told me about was to make multiple photo frames and connect them to the same camera, so you can update a whole group at once! That could be fun.”
At Arduino, we’re always on a mission to make development easier and more accessible. That’s why we’re excited to introduce two new libraries, Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage, designed to simplify how you handle data and storage in your Arduino projects. These libraries empower you to do that faster, and with less complexity.
Simplified data management with Arduino_POSIXStorage
Imagine having an easy way to manage data and files without the headache of low-level operations. Arduino_POSIXStorage is here to simplify that for you. Especially if you’re familiar with the POSIX standard for file operations you will feel right at home. If POSIX doesn’t ring a bell, it’s the standard used for file system functions in Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, or similar operating systems.
What can Arduino_POSIXStorage do for you?
Simplified storage access: No need to wrestle with complex storage operations. Arduino_POSIXStorage provides a straightforward way to manage SD cards, and USB storage.
Your choice of file systems: Whether you prefer FAT32 or LittleFS, you have the freedom to choose the file system that suits your project best.
Hotplug support: Detect and manage USB mass storage devices as you plug them in and out for added convenience.
User-friendly data management with Arduino_UnifiedStorage
Managing data and files shouldn’t be complicated. Arduino_UnifiedStorage takes the complexity out of the equation. Being based on Arduino_POSIXStorage, it offers the same functionality and adds some additional features. For those not familiar with the POSIX set of file functions, this library offers a user-friendly API in the usual Arduino style.
Which additional features does Arduino_UnifiedStorage offer?
Unified storage interface: Gain streamlined access to internal storage, SD cards, and USB storage with a user-friendly interface.
Effortless file handling: Easily move within files and check available data, making file navigation a breeze.
Robust file and folder actions: Rename, delete, copy, and paste files and folders with confidence.
Smooth cross-medium data transfer: Move data between different storage types while controlling how overwriting works.
Advanced file navigation: Navigate through folder structures with ease for straightforward file management.
Partition support: Work with multiple partitions on internal QSPI storage for expanded storage options. Easily re-partition the storage according to your needs.
Real-world use cases: Simplify your projects
Let’s explore how these libraries can simplify real-world scenarios:
Use case 1: Automated data backup for remote monitoring systems
Imagine you’re building a remote monitoring system for an agricultural field or a remote weather station. These systems collect valuable data over time, but they also face the risk of data loss due to unforeseen circumstances like power outages or equipment failures.
With the Arduino_UnifiedStorage library, you can easily set up automated data backup routines. As your system collects data, it can periodically back up that data to an SD card or USB storage device using the library’s intuitive file management features. In the event of an issue, your valuable data remains safe and accessible for analysis.
Use case 2: Rapid firmware updates for IoT devices
If you’re working on an Internet of Things (IoT) project, you may need to install new firmware before deploying devices in the field. Or you may find yourself in a situation that does not allow for Over-the-Air updates on the deployed devices. However, this is crucial for fixing bugs, adding new features, or enhancing security.
With the Arduino_POSIXStorage library, you can streamline the process of firmware updates. Store the updated firmware on an SD card or USB drive, and your IoT device can detect and apply the update automatically. This simplifies the update process and reduces the risk of errors, ensuring your devices always run the latest software.
Use case 3: Data collection and machine learning motel training
Imagine you’re working on a project that involves collecting sensor data from various sensors in a smart environment — maybe it’s a smart home, an industrial automation system, or an environmental monitoring setup. Your goal is to use this data to train a machine learning model for predictive analysis or automation.
The Arduino_UnifiedStorage library can simplify the process of collecting, storing, and managing this sensor data. Use it to efficiently log sensor data to an SD card or USB storage device. With a rich dataset at your disposal, you can now use the collected sensor data to train machine learning models. Whether you’re developing predictive maintenance algorithms, anomaly detection systems, or smart automation routines, having easy access to high-quality data is essential.
Examples and testing: A hassle-free experience
Both libraries come with practical examples that help you dive right in, covering real-life scenarios such as data logging and storage backup. We’ve also rigorously tested these libraries to ensure they work seamlessly on various devices, giving you confidence in their performance and robustness.
Compatibility
The currently supported products are as follows:
Arduino Portenta H7
Arduino Portenta C33
Arduino Opta
Arduino Portenta Machine Control
In the future, we plan to expand support for additional Arduino boards.
Get started today
Ready to simplify data management in your Arduino projects? Download the Arduino_POSIXStorage and Arduino_UnifiedStorage libraries, explore the documentation, and dive into the examples. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, these libraries are designed to streamline your workflow and help you unlock new possibilities.
Installation
You can conveniently download the libraries in the Arduino IDE using its library manager or download them directly from the following URLs:
Tip: You can find the API documentation of these libraries in the “docs” folder of the corresponding repository.
Join the conversation: Have questions or want to share your experiences with these libraries? Join the Arduino community on our forums and connect with fellow developers.
We can’t wait to see how these libraries empower your projects and help you take your Arduino development to the next level. Happy coding!
In a previous video about controlling household appliances and lighting fixtures from the Arduino Cloud, Sachin Soni of the techiesms YouTube channel designed a custom PCB that allows an Arduino Nano ESP32 to toggle a series of relays. But since then, he realized that his project needed a faster and more permanent method of getting to the controls, which led him to build a complete home automation dashboard using solely Arduino hardware.
Soni opted for the new Arduino GIGA Display Shield since it contains a 3.97” RGB touchscreen with support for up to five simultaneous touch points and an array of sensors if the functionality were to ever be expanded. On the back, an Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi was attached to act as the display’s controller and leverage its Wi-Fi capabilities to communicate with the system’s Arduino Cloud variables.
The final step in this project involved creating a software-defined graphical user interface (GUI) complete with toggleable buttons for the lights, dials to indicate temperature/humidity levels, and a way to select the fan’s speed from an array of values. Soni was able to finish most of the groundwork by utilizing the LVGL library and its highly customizable GUI components.
After laying out the buttons and dials, synchronizing Cloud variables, and connecting their event handlers to value updates, Soni had a functional tablet that could wirelessly manage his appliances from anywhere.
Designing the TouchCam gave Mukesh a chance to combine his skills as a maker and a computer science enthusiast. “My goal was to blend my love for creating things with my technical knowledge,” he enthuses of the versatile device “that can even work as a server for my test applications and database.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise that, as a computer engineer and developer, Mukesh works in a process of continuously improving successive designs. Mukesh says many of the design updates and improvements he made when moving on from the PiCam and developing TouchCam were directly influenced by the feedback he got from the design of the PiCam. It is also an apposite demonstration of how far his Fusion 360 computer-aided design skills have developed and was used to showcase his design prowess for his BSc.
With the TouchCam, Mukesh was keen to design a system that is compact and easy to carry and that would appeal to multitaskers who enjoy activities such as 3D printing, time-lapse photography, electronics, robotics, programming, and machine learning. He also thinks the TouchCam could be used for software development, low-cost personal servers, and similar uses.
Fine new features
The TouchCam builds on the PiCam by integrating a high-definition touchscreen display and has a touch sensor that is used for live view, to access the photo gallery, and to switch between still, time-lapse, and video capture modes. The HQ Camera remote server also gained more prominence. “I chose the Raspberry Pi because it’s affordable, powerful, and has an internet full of resources. I am using the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB variant.” The components were sourced online, with standard items such as the HQ Camera paired with a DFRobot Raspberry Pi Touchscreen, cooling from a 5 V fan, and open-source software libraries such as Imager, and Silvan Melchior’s Raspberry Pi Camera Web Interface.
Having already got the basics down pat with the PiCam, the case design and touchscreen integration were the real challenges for this build. Only three 3D-printed versions were needed, and even these were simply to fix minor fit issues to accommodate the screws. Overall, Mukesh was pleased with the way the TouchCam turned out: “Everything from the outer shell that feels good to hold, to the special mounts that hold the camera perfectly. Each piece came from my careful design work, making sure they look good and work just right.”
In July 2023, Samuel Alexander set out to reduce the amount of trash that gets thrown out due to poor sorting practices at the recycling bin. His original design relied on an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense to capture audio through its onboard microphone and then perform edge audio classification with an embedded ML model to automatically separate materials based on the sound they make when tossed inside. But in this latest iteration, Alexander added several large improvements to help the concept scale much further.
Perhaps the most substantial modification, the bin now uses an Arduino Pro Portenta C33 in combination with an external Nicla Voice or Nano 33 BLE Sense to not only perform inferences to sort trash, but also send real-time data to a cloud endpoint. By utilizing the Arduino Cloud through the Portanta C33, each AI-enabled recycling bin can now report its current capacity for each type of waste and then send an alert when collection must occur.
While not as practical for household use, this integration could be incredibly effective for municipalities looking to create a network of bins that can be deployed in a city park environment or another public space.
Thanks to these upgrades, Alexander was able to submit his prototype for consideration in the 2023 Hackaday Prize competition where he was awarded the Protolabs manufacturing grant. To see more about this innovative project, you can check out its write-up here and watch Alexander’s detailed explanation video below.
When the BattleBots TV show first hit the airwaves in 2000, it felt like we were finally living in the future. Engineers and enterprising hobbyists from around the world would compete to build the most destructive robots, which then entered into televised mortal combat within an arena. The original series had many notable robots, but two of those most iconic were DeathRoll and Hydra. Max Imagination replicated those on a small scale for mini living room battles.
BattleBots competitors could win their matches by either damaging their opponents to the point where they could no longer operate, or by making them unable to move. The most popular way to achieve that second goal was by flipping over the opposing robot and that is the tactic used by both DeathRoll and Hydra. DeathRoll did so with a spinning disc that catches on its opponents body, while Hydra used a hydraulic arm like a pancake spatula to flip opponents.
Max Imagination wanted to create faithful reproductions of both bots, but at a size small enough to be 3D-printed. Because hydraulics are difficult at this scale, Hydra’s flipping arm is spring-actuated and cocked with a motor-driven gear mechanism. Otherwise, both replicas work in the same way as their bigger ancestors.
Each robot takes advantage of the new Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board for control. Max Imagination programmed those with self-hosted web interfaces, so users can pilot the bots through smartphones. The bodies were designed in Autodesk Fusion 360 to be entirely 3D-printable and Max Imagination is even selling those models for anyone who wants to construct their own fighting robots.
There is a small price to pay for the nice screen with touch capabilities, and that is with resolution. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled by modern consumer electronics, but 1366 × 768 does not seem like a lot of pixels, especially on a screen this size in 2023. It’s definitely very functional and it’s not like you’re going to get a bad experience because of it, although that does largely depend on the kind of use case.
Kitchen computer or smart-home controller? Absolutely fine. As a screen to watch media or play video games? Not the very best solution.
Speaking of different use cases, the screen is also platform-agnostic. It displays anything that will connect to the HDMI port on the back, and works as a nice auxiliary monitor for a PC in certain situations. We like the suggestion of a little screen on your case full of Windows Media Player visualisations, although something to keep track of a chat, or social media, is also handy. You can even use it this way with a Raspberry Pi – Raspberry Pi 4 and 400 do have dual monitor out after all.
See it all
In actual use, the touch is nice and responsive, and that aspect just requires you to plug in a USB cable to Raspberry Pi one end, and into the micro USB port on the display. Setup is very straightforward – it is just a screen after all, and the touch uses standard drivers – and if you’re not great at changing audio out settings on Raspberry Pi, a handy 3.5 mm jack on the screen has you covered for hearing what’s going on. It even has a nice Realtek audio chip for the sound.
It’s good, it’s very practical, and it’s one of the rarer bigger screens for Raspberry Pi. We recommend.
Verdict
8/10
While not the highest pixel density, it’s a good-quality screen that is easy to set up and fills a bit of a niche.
Almost all modern video games require either a gamepad or a keyboard and mouse, which means that they’re inaccessible to many people with disabilities that affect manual dexterity. Bob Hammell’s voice-enabled controller lets some of those people experience the joy of video games.
This is a simplified video game controller with a minimal number of physical buttons, but with special voice-activated virtual buttons to make up the difference. The gamepad only has six physical buttons, plus an analog joystick. That makes it much easier to handle than a typical modern controller, which might have a dozen buttons and two joysticks. If the player has the ability, they can utilize the physical controls and then speak commands to activate the game functions not covered by those buttons.
The controller’s brain is an Arduino Micro board, which Hammell selected because it can be configured to show up as a standard USB HID gamepad or keyboard when connected to a PC. The physical controls are an Adafruit analog two-axis joystick and tactile switches. An Adafruit 1.3″ OLED screen displays information, including the status of the voice activation.
An Elechouse V3 Voice Recognition Module performs the voice recognition and it can understand up to 80 different commands. When it recognizes a command, like “menu,” it tells the Arduino to send the corresponding virtual button press to the connected computer. It takes time for a person to speak a command, so those are best suited to functions that players don’t use very often.
If you know someone that would benefit from a controller like this, Hammell posted a full tutorial and all of the necessary files to Hackster.io so you can build your own.
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