Autonomous vehicles, and self-driving cars in particular, are probably one of the most enticing technologies of the 21st century. But despite a great deal of R&D and even more speculation, we have yet to see a self-driving car that can actually operate on real public roads without any human oversight at all. If, however, we remove that “real public roads” constraint, the challenge becomes a lot more approachable. All you need is a few Arduino boards and a webcam, as proven by Austin Blake’s self-driving go-kart.
Blake previously attempted a miniature self-driving Tesla project, which was supposed to drive around a park walking path. That was only a partial success, because the vehicle struggled to put its “behavioral cloning” machine learning algorithms into practice. Blake took those lessons and applied them here, with much better results.
Behavioral cloning, in this context, means that the machine learning algorithm watches what Blake does as he drives around the track, then attempts to replicate that while driving on its own. During training, it looks ahead of the kart through a webcam while monitoring the steering angle. Then, while driving on its own, it looks through the webcam at the track and tries to match the steering angle to what it saw during training.
The machine learning model runs on a laptop, but Blake needed a way for it to control the kart’s steering and throttle. He used three Arduino Nano boards to pull that off. The first just listens to the machine learning model’s serial output for a PWM signal representing the steering angle. It then sends that to the second, which uses that information and the real-time steering angle to control a Cytron motor driver for the steering. The third controls the throttle using an RC car-style circuit.
This proved to work quite well and the go-kart can navigate around a small track in Blake’s workshop. In theory, it could also handle new tracks — so long as they have similar clearly marked edges.
Materials, when exposed to light, will reflect or absorb certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that can give valuable information about their chemical or physical compositions. Traditional setups use a single lamp to emit white light before it is split apart into a spectrum of colors via a system of prisms, mirrors, and lenses. After hitting the substance being tested, a sensor will gather this spectral color data for analysis. YouTuber Marb’s Lab realized that by leveraging several discrete. LEDs, he could recreate this array of light without the need for the more expensive/complicated optics.
His project uses the AS7431 10-channel spectrometer sensor breakout board from Adafruit due to its adequate accuracy and compact footprint. Once it was attached to the clear sample chamber and wired to a connector, Marb got to work on the electromechanical portion of the system. Here, a stepper motor rotates a ring of six LEDs that are driven by a series of N-channel MOSFETs and a decade counter. Each component was then wired into a custom-designed control board, which acts as a shield when attached to the Arduino Mega 2560 below.
The sketch running on the Mega allows for the user to select between photometer (single wavelength) and spectrometer (multiple wavelengths) modes when sampling the substance. Once the data is captured, the user can then choose one of three interpolation modes to get a smooth curve, as seen here when measuring this chlorophyl.
Managing shared spaces, especially meeting rooms, can be a headache in busy offices. At Arduino, we’ve experienced it firsthand in our flexible and dynamic offices around the world – where colleagues could often be seen wandering around with their laptops, trying to find a quiet place for videocalls or brainstorming sessions.
We started with a simple shared Google Calendar, but as we often do, we took it a step further by creating an innovative solution – using Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi and GIGA Display Shield.
Open the door to better room booking
Our engineers developed a physical device that can be conveniently installed next to every meeting room door, using the Arduino GIGA and GIGA Display Shield. The device connects seamlessly with Google Calendar APIs, allowing users to check room availability and book a space directly from the touchscreen. The APIs are managed by a custom Python® application that processes Google Calendar data and updates the corresponding IoT Thing in Arduino Cloud.
No more knocking on doors or interrupting meetings to check if the room is free! It’s all displayed in real-time, and booking is just a tap away. And, of course, everything is built with data privacy in mind.
To power the user-friendly interface we used LVGL, the “light and versatile visual library” perfect for building custom GUIs. We also leveraged Squareline Studio – because sometimes coding just feels like too much work – to easily design the display’s look and feel.
But why stop at meeting room booking? With this phygital system, you can integrate sensors to collect additional data like room temperature, humidity and lighting, automating systems to improve comfort and energy efficiency.
Get started today
Built on two of Arduino’s most advanced products, the Arduino GIGA and GIGA Display Shield, this solution opens endless possibilities for automation and customization in your office.
Lab equipment is — traditionally at least — tremendously expensive. While there are understandable reasons for those costs, they are prohibitive to anyone operating outside of a university or corporate lab. But as the “citizen science” movement has grown, we’ve seen more and more open-source and affordable designs for lab equipment hitting the internet. The latest will be interesting to anyone who wants to do work with DNA or RNA: the DIYNAFLUOR.
DINYAFLUOR stands for “DIY Nucleic Acid Fluorometer,” which describes this device’s function. A fluorometer is a piece of equipment the measures the amount of light emitted by anything that fluoresces. In this context, that would be a reagent that increases in fluorescence when it comes into contact with the nucleic acid in DNA or RNA. The more light the fluorometer detects, the more nucleic acid is present in the sample. Sensitivity is important, which is part of the reason that fluorometers are expensive (usually several thousand dollars for basic models).
The DIYNAFLUOR, on the other hand, only costs about $40 to build. It works with both custom and commercially made fluorescent DNA quantification kits and can measure DNA on the scale of nano-micrograms.
This is affordable because its designers built it around off-the-shelf components that are easy to source and a 3D-printable enclosure. The primary component is an Arduino UNO Rev3 board, which looks at the sample through a TSL2591-based light sensor. An LED puts out 470nm light to excite the reagent and optical filters remove the unwanted wavelengths. User-friendly software with a simple GUI lets citizen scientists take measurements and record data directly to their computers.
This may be a specialized device with narrow appeal. But for those who want to work with DNA or RNA outside of a “real” lab, the cost and performance of DIYNAFLUOR is unbeatable.
Alvik is cute, it’s smart, it’s fun… so what can it actually do?
To answer this question, we decided to have fun and put the robot to the test with some of the most creative people we know – our own team! A dozen Arduino employees volunteered for a dedicated Make Tank session earlier this fall, and came up with a few great in-house projects for us to share – and you to try!
We were so happy with the creative and engaging ideas that we took them on the road for the Maker Faire Rome 2024: they were a hit and attracted many curious visitors to the Arduino booth.
Hello, Alvik!
This interactive project, created by Christian Sarnataro and Leonardo Cavagnis, brings to life Alvik’s friendly personality. By waving your hands in front of a Nicla Vision camera, you trigger a cheerful “big hands” gesture in response: it’s Alvik’s way of welcoming newcomers to robotics!
Why it’s great: The project highlights Alvik’s ease of use and intuitive interactivity, while demonstrating how advanced learners can tap into the robot’s AI capabilities to create meaningful, engaging robotic experiences.
Robo-Fight Club
Developed by Davide Neri and Alexander Entinger, this competitive game turns Alvik into a feisty battling robot. Participants control their Alvik to push opponents out of the arena, while trying special moves like “yellow-banana” for spins, “green-slime” to reverse controls, and “blue-ice” to freeze competitors for five seconds. Any robot stepping out of the arena automatically loses the match.
Why it’s great: Robo-Fight Club demonstrates how Alvik can be used for multiplayer, interactive gaming experiences while teaching users about programming logic and control systems.
Alvik Mini City
In this project by Giovanni Bruno, Julián Caro Linares, and Livia Luo, Alvik works tirelessly in a mini city, moving balls from one floor to another. The project showcases how robotics can assist in repetitive and potentially hazardous tasks, inspiring us to imagine practical applications for robotics in their daily lives.
Why it’s great: This project emphasizes how Alvik is more than just an educational robot – it’s a tool for exploring real-world use cases in automation and problem-solving.
Your turn!
Alvik is the perfect companion to learn coding and robotics because it’s easy to get started with, but powerful enough to support complex projects. With the option to program using block-based coding, in MicroPython or the Arduino language, everyone from beginners to advanced users can choose the environment that suits their needs best!
Inspired by these projects? Check out all of Alvik’s features and specs on this page, or go ahead and start your journey today! Don’t forget to share your creations with us: upload your projects to Project Hub or email creators@arduino.cc – we can’t wait to see what you build!
The Arduino UNO is legendary among makers, and with the release of the UNO R4 in 2023, the family gained a powerful new member. But with two incredible options, which UNO should you pick for your project? Here’s a breakdown of what makes each board shine, depending on your needs, skills, and goals.
Why the UNO Rev3 is still a go-to classic
The UNO Rev3 has been around for over a decade, earning its reputation as a solid, reliable board perfect for beginners. Simple, robust, and versatile, it’s the “base camp” of the Arduino ecosystem. Its 8-bit architecture makes it straightforward to understand exactly what’s happening in your code.
Applications and ideal uses
The UNO Rev3 is fantastic for projects like controlling LEDs, motors, and simple sensors – as well as any of the 15 projects included in our best-selling Arduino Starter Kit.
Its ability to handle a higher current directly from each pin makes it ideal for connecting power-hungry sensors or motors without needing extra components. It’s also compatible with an enormous number of sketches and libraries that have been built around it over the years.
One key advantage? The microcontroller on the UNO Rev3 can be removed, allowing you to use it independently – a feature that many seasoned users love.
The UNO R4 builds on everything makers love about the Rev3, adding features that bring it up to speed with the needs of today’s tech. Its 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 guarantees significantly faster processing power and can handle more advanced projects. It comes in two versions: the UNO R4 Minima for essential functionality and the UNO R4 WiFi for Internet-connected projects.
The latter is the brains of the Plug and Make Kit: the easiest way to go from zero to tech hero, with step-by-step tutorials to create a custom weather station, a video game controller, a smart timer and so much more!
Advanced features for new possibilities
The UNO R4 packs in features that are groundbreaking for the UNO family:
12-bit DAC: Enables analog output for audio waveforms or other analog components without external circuitry.
CAN bus: Ideal for connecting multiple devices in robotics or automotive projects.
Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® on the R4 WiFi model: Easily build IoT projects and connect to the Arduino Cloud to control your devices remotely.
Enhanced Diagnostics: The R4 WiFi includes an error-capturing mechanism that helps beginners by identifying issues in the code, a fantastic learning tool.
Applications and ideal uses
With increased memory and processing power, the UNO R4 is perfect for projects that require complex calculations or manage multiple processes. Think IoT, data sensing, automation systems, creative installations or scientific equipment where precise measurements and real-time adjustments are key.
What’s more, the UNO R4 has the capability to leverage AI – and our community has jumped at the chance of exploring whole new realms. One user built a gesture recognition system made of cardboard, another added smart detection to a pet door to always know if their cat was home or not, and another yet came up with a great tool to always know what song is playing. Not to mention the possibilities for advanced animationslike this one – inspired by Bad Apple – developed thanks to the LED matrix right on the UNO R4.
Is a 32-bit MCU always better than an 8-bit?
The short answer is, no. We believe the best solution is always determined by the requirements of the project at hand: bigger, faster, more powerful or more expensive is not always better.
8-bit microcontrollers process data in 8-bit chunks, which limits the size of numbers they can handle directly to values between 0 and 255 (or -127 and 128). This limitation makes them best suited for applications with minimal data processing needs, such as basic tasks like toggling LEDs or controlling simple sensors. However, they also tend to be more affordable and to consume less power, making hardware design less expensive, and have a simpler architecture, which translates to easier programming. So, if you are still learning the basics and need the most straightforward tool, or you are tackling a project with minimal requirements, an 8-bit MCU is not only all you need, but probably your best option.
On the other hand, if you need to work on much larger numbers and perform data-heavy calculations, 32-bit microcontrollers can handle advanced applications like image processing and real-time analytics. The difference is not just 4-fold going from 8 to 32: it’s a huge jump from 255 to 4,294,967,295! Almost by definition, any solution that requires this kind of performance will be more complex to design and program, require more memory, and consume more power, often affecting battery life. The upside, of course, is the incredible potential of what you can achieve!
Compatibility and transitioning from UNO Rev3 to UNO R4
If you already have experience with the UNO Rev3 and are considering the R4, but have concerns about compatibility, rest assured: they have the same form factor, pinout, and 5V operating voltage. This makes it easy to transfer accessories such as shields from one to the other.
On the software side, tutorials and projects are often compatible. We have even created a GitHub repository where you can check compatibility for libraries with the new R4 (and even help us update information or add new R4-friendly versions). This is part of the effort we share with our community to make sure that transitioning to the UNO R4 – if you choose to do so – is as seamless as possible.
Which Arduino UNO should I choose?
UNO Rev3
UNO R4
• Best for beginners or those working on foundational projects.
• Great for educational settings, where understanding core programming concepts and hardware interactions are the focus.
• Ideal if you need a reliable, budget-friendly, no-frills board with vast project resources available online.
• Perfect for advanced users or beginners looking to push boundaries with more complex projects.
• Best for IoT, data-intensive, or networked applications that require more processing power.
• A smart choice if you’re experimenting with new peripherals like CAN bus, DAC, or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity.
Choose your UNO and start creating!
Whether you choose the classic UNO Rev3 or the more recent UNO R4, you’re joining a global community of makers, educators, and inventors who love to create. Both boards offer incredible opportunities, each tailored to different stages and styles of making. Ready to dive into a new project? Buy your next UNO and discover limitless possibilities!
Mark your calendars… Arduino Education is coming to Bett UK 2025! Taking place for three days from January 22nd-24th at the ExCeL exhibition center in London, Bett is the ultimate global event for educational innovation.
We are attending the stand with our partner CreativeHut again this year. Join us at our booth (Stand NF10) where we’ll bring the future of education to life. Get hands-on with our latest solutions, meet our passionate team of experts, and discover how you can use Arduino Education kits in the classroom to boost STEAM skills and improve learning outcomes.
Explore the latest EdTech solutions for K-12 teachers
If you’ve been keeping up with our social media posts, you’ll know that we recently launched block-based coding for the Alvik robot. Now’s your chance to see it in action. Perfect for younger learners, block-based coding with Alvik enables students as young as seven to engage with robotics through hands-on, cross-disciplinary projects and lessons. And don’t miss our live demos showcasing just how simple it is to program Alvik using MicroPython too.
But that’s not all. You’ll also have the chance to get hands-on with the Plug and Make Kit – a powerful tool that allows educators and students to explore the world of IoT (Internet of Things). Designed for hands-on learning, the kit includes seven engaging projects that provide a structured starting point. And with seamless integration into Arduino Cloud, collaboration and innovation have never been easier.
Are you an HE educator? We’ve got you covered too!
If you’re teaching at the higher education level, we’ve got something special for you too. Stop by our stand to explore the cutting-edge PLC Starter Kit, an incredible resource for teaching industrial automation. Designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice, this kit prepares students for real-world challenges and helps them grasp complex concepts with ease.
And here’s the really exciting part – we’ll be showcasing a brand-new kit specifically designed for higher education in industry automation. Be among the first to experience this innovative solution, designed to take advanced learning to the next level. You heard it here first!
Get involved with interactive demos and more
At our booth, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in interactive demonstrations and explore a comprehensive content platform catering to K-12 and higher education. This includes resources on coding, robotics, DIY smart IoT projects, PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers), and computer vision solutions, all aimed at enriching the educational journey.
Will we be award winners?
We’re beyond excited to share that Arduino Education has been shortlisted for the Bett Awards 2025 in the category of AV, VR/AR, Robotics, or Digital Devices – and it’s all thanks to our incredible Alvik robot! Watch this space to find out if we win!
We can’t wait to see you at Bett 2025. For more information and to book your ticket, visit the Bett website.
Each component you add to your Arduino project increases its complexity and the opportunity for mistakes. But most projects require some “auxiliary” hardware — components that you use to interact with the Arduino or to help it do the job you’re asking of it. Buttons and displays are great examples. But as Doctor Volt demonstrates in his most recent video, you can replace both of those with the high-quality touchscreen on your old Android smartphone using the RemoteXY app.
You likely learned early in your Arduino journey that the serial connection between the Arduino development board and a PC is very handy. It lets the Arduino output information and also lets you input commands. But an entire computer (even a laptop) is pretty bulky and requires a lot of power. The RemoteXY app, available for Android devices, lets you use your smartphone to do the same job.
Even better, you can use the RemoteXY app with an Arduino library to get an interface much more sophisticated than a normal serial terminal. The app still communicates with the Arduino via serial behind the scenes, but it uses that data to enable nice touchscreen-friendly GUI controls, graphs, and more.
For that to work, you need a way for your Android smartphone to establish a serial connection with your Arduino board. That is easy to do using an OTG cable with a USB-to-Serial adapter. Together, those let your smartphone talk to your Arduino just like your PC does. Doctor Volt’s video walks you through setting up and using the RemoteXY Arduino library and how to configure the app.
In a short amount of time, you’ll get a user-friendly interface for your project on the smartphone’s high-resolution touchscreen.
We all need ways to calm down and relax, and few things are as effective as nature itself. Taking inspiration from organic patterns and smooth, flowing waves, dzeng on Instructables has built an LED wall light that responds to the sounds within a room in real-time.
The project started out as a 2D vector graphic that featured several overlapping, organic leaf patterns arranged within a circle. This pattern was then etched onto a piece of clear acrylic via a laser cutter before being attached to a blue-painted base. For the lighting effects, dzeng added an LED strip between the two layers before connecting it to an Arduino Nano ESP32.
The reactive lighting effects are provided by the Nano ESP32’s sketch, which maintains two variables: brightness and delay. Every loop, the current sound levels are read from a microphone and averaged before being mapped onto the aforementioned values. Finally, the currently-illuminated LED is shifted by one position on the strip and the calculated brightness is applied.
At Arduino, we know how precious your time is when you’re building your next big project or experimenting with new ideas. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce a game-changing update to the Cloud Editor Builder — the engine behind compiling your sketches in Arduino Cloud.
This update is all about you: making your development faster, smoother, and more secure, so you can focus on what truly matters — creating.
Here’s what’s new:
Faster compilations: Up to 50% faster!
No more waiting around! With the new builder, sketch compilations are now up to 50% faster, enabling you to focus more on creating and testing your projects, and less on waiting. Two years ago, we significantly improved the Cloud Editor Builder, setting a new standard for performance.
And now, whether you’re working on a quick prototype or a complex IoT solution, we provide you with faster compilation times, which means you can iterate and innovate more efficiently.
See compilation progress at a glance
One of the standout features of the new builder is the introduction of a dedicated compilation progress bar. Now, you can see exactly how far along the compilation process is, with clear visibility into its completeness percentage. No more guesswork — just a smoother and more transparent experience.
Your IoT projects, more secure
We’ve also made improvements under the hood, adding an extra layer of security and reliability to the Cloud Editor Builder. Your data and projects are safer than ever, giving you peace of mind while you create.
IDE vs. Cloud Editor: Which one fits your workflow?
We understand that every Arduino user has unique needs, which is why we offer both the Arduino IDE and the Cloud Editor. Wondering which option suits your workflow best? We’ve prepared a clear comparison table showcasing the key differences between the two tools. From compilation speeds to storage options, see how the Cloud Editor stacks up against the IDE.
The new Cloud Editor Builder will be live in the coming days, and we can’t wait for you to try it! Stay tuned for updates, and get ready to enjoy faster compilations, improved usability, and enhanced security.
We’re excited to see how this update will elevate your projects. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback. Please share your thoughts, questions, and experiences with us on social media or Arduino Forum.
Let’s build something amazing together!
Ready to elevate your projects? Discover the full potential of the Arduino Cloud Editor and explore all its powerful features here. Need guidance? Dive into our comprehensive documentation.
For obvious reasons, video game console controls provide input commands directly to the console. Modern consoles may do so wirelessly, but the effect is the same: direct input. But what if you connected a “controller” to the internet? Then you could play from anywhere and that is exactly what Redditor Lovelyroyalette achieved with this Arduino Due-based N64 controller.
The N64 controller communication protocol has been well-documented for decades now and is pretty easy to replicate using an Arduino. In fact, there is even a handy library available (called N64Controller) that makes that simple to achieve. Connect a few wires and it will send commands to the N64 like they’re coming from a real controller.
Normally, people use that functionality to build their own custom N64 controllers. But Lovelyroyalette chose to do something a little different and connected the Arduino Due to their laptop, which runs a server hosting a web interface where visitors can input controller commands. Push “A” on that interface and the laptop will tell the Due to send the “A” command to the N64, causing Mario to jump.
Not only is that neat from a technical standpoint, but it has some practical uses. The most obvious is to allow remote play — including remote multiplayer sessions in Goldeneye. With a video capture card, the web interface can display the game for remote players to see. This also has interesting applications for streamers, who could, for instance, let the chat send controller commands for some added interactivity.
We’re excited to share that Pervasive Displays has just launched the E-Paper Development Kit for Matter! This groundbreaking, self-contained kit is designed to revolutionize how smart home devices use e-paper displays, enhancing user experience while driving down energy consumption. Created in collaboration with us and our long-time partner Silicon Labs, this kit marks a significant milestone in the integration of Matter protocol and e-paper technology
What is e-paper?
E-paper technology is a display technology that mimics the appearance of ink on paper, using minimal power and providing excellent visibility in various lighting conditions, making it ideal for energy-efficient and highly readable digital displays.
Discover the new kit!
The E-Paper DevelopmentDisplay Kit for Matter (or “EPDK–Matter”) includes everything you need to explore the possibilities of e-paper technology in smart homes, building automation, and industrial IoT applications.
It includes an EXT4 Expansion Board, a state-of-the-art 2.90” e-paper screen, and an adapter board for easy connectivity (all designed and manufactured by Pervasive Displays) – and it bundles with an Arduino Nano Matter, which we developed based on the MGM240S SoC from Silicon Labs. The open-source libraries include Matter examples and leverage the Arduino SDK, together with extensive documentation.
Peripherals include a 3-axis accelerometer and temperature/humidity sensors, a button, an RGB LED, and a passive NFC antenna. The Matter protocol ensures seamless communication between devices, further improving connectivity and interoperability in smart home environments.
Perfect for both beginners and advanced developers, the kit provides ready-to-use examples for Arduino IDE, alongside a GitHub repository for deeper customization. It’s even compatible with other boards from the Nano family.
All in all, it’s the full package for prototyping and developing your own ultra-low power, high-performance projects with e-paper displays: the possibilities are endless!
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit is all about unleashing creativity while simplifying the process of turning ideas into reality. It enables everyone to focus on the fun of creating with the power of the UNO R4 WiFi and a user-friendly, modular design – bypassing the complexities of traditional circuit building.
Case in point: the kit’s intuitive features inspired Loris Bottello to create a project that combines his passion for music with playful interaction. A project he kindly shared with us – and all of you! – with this great step-by-step guide on Project Hub.
Meet Loris Bottello, Plug and Make Kit Star
Bottello worked for years at Arduino as a Senior Product Designer, focusing on Arduino Cloud and Project Hub. An expert at creating user-friendly tools and platforms that empower makers, he was excited to participate in our role-reversing Make Tank – where colleagues from different teams joined efforts to put the Plug and Make Kit to the test.
It was during one of these in-house sessions that some experimentation with Modulino nodes led to Sync a Song. The concept of syncing music and lights came naturally to Bottello, who is also a singer and guitarist in a rock band.
Sync a Song
Sync a Song is a game for one or two players, reminiscent of vintage reel-to-reel tape recorders: the challenge is to spin two reels at the same speed. When in perfect sync, you’ll see LEDs light up green and hear a song as your reward. Want a new tune? Simply press the buttons on Modulino Buttons to switch tracks!
While you’ll need two Plug and Make Kits to complete this project, assembly is straightforward: just use two Modulino bases connected by Qwiic cables – you can even top them with 3D-printed reels for an authentic retro look.
And have fun customizing your own version! It’s easy to add a favorite song or tweak the visuals to create your own interactive, creative experience, mixing playful nostalgia and modern tech.
Less (complexity) is more (fun)
For Bottello, the Plug and Make Kit’s biggest strength lies in its simplicity and flexibility. “In the past, I spent a lot of time figuring out circuits and debugging hardware. With the kit, I can dive straight into coding and focus on building an interesting experience,” he explains. By eliminating the need for breadboards, wires, and resistors, the kit allows creators to dedicate more time to refining their ideas and exploring new possibilities.
“The Plug and Make Kit is perfect for experimenting and learning by creating a variety of projects without overthinking the technical setup. It’s a true enabler of creativity.”
Have you ever walked through your front door after a long day of work and realized that your home just isn’t as inviting as it seems like it should be? While it may not work miracles, some nice and welcoming lighting can make a big difference. That’s why Lauren Palazzi made this unique wall sconce called Acceptus that automatically turns on when it detects your arrival.
Smart features aside, this is an intriguing design with a shape that generates interest all on its own. The wood base, carved in two pieces with a CNC router, has a profile that feels organic. Even before the light comes on, it projects warmth. The LED lighting on the internal perimeter enhances that effect with a soothing glow. Laser-cut acrylic “cover” panels on the front give the sconce a modern art vibe that is sure to appeal to many.
The key smart feature of Acceptus is the presence detection, which lets it turn on the LED lighting when it senses your arrival. That works using an Arduino Nano ESP32 board that monitors an area, such as the entry way by the front door, through a PIR (passive infrared) motion sensor. That’s the same kind of sensor used for security floodlights and the technology is very reliable. When the Arduino “sees” movement through that PIR sensor, it uses a transistor to connect power to the LED strip.
Palazzi recommends mounting Acceptus next to the door frame, opposite the hinges. That way, the movement of the door will activate the light. If you want to build your own Acceptus, Palazzi was kind enough to upload all of the necessary files to Instructables.
The human face is remarkably complex, with 43 different muscles contorting the skin in all kinds of ways. Some of that is utilitarian — your jaw muscles are good for chewing, after all. But a lot of it seems to be the result of evolution giving us fantastic non-verbal communication abilities. That isn’t an easy thing to replicate by artificial means, but Will Cogley managed to make this silicone-skinned animatronic head that is frighteningly realistic.
Most people, when seeing this animatronic head, will feel something between unease and outright disgust or terror. Cogley purposefully exaggerated the movements and proportions to give the head a more cartoonish appearance in an attempt to navigate around the uncanny valley, but it still looks a bit too human to be comfortable.
That is largely the result of the realistic silicone skin that Cogley molded and then attached onto the internal skeleton (skull?) frame using magnets. That attachment method is pretty similar to the way our own people skin attaches to our muscles and tendons, and it produces expressions that are quite human.
The internal skeleton was 3D-printed and actuated by a plethora of small servo motors. Cogley designed a custom shield PCB for an Arduino Mega 2560 to control the servos. He hasn’t yet programmed it beyond a handful of basic movements and facial expressions, but he’s set it up so that there is a great deal of potential for future programmatic upgrades.
Going forward, Cogley wants to experiment with some other molding techniques and so we may see an even more realistic version soon.
Looking for a fun and creative way to brighten up the holiday season? With the Arduino Plug and Make Kit, you can build an interactive LED light installationthat reacts when someone walks by – perfect for spreading cheer and adding a high-tech twist to your decorations.
This project is easy to make, super fun to use, and fully customizable. The component includes the UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Distance, and Modulino Buttons as well as all the cables and accessories you need to bring your decorations to life. All you have to add is a 5V LED strip (like this one, for example).
Your step-by-step guide to LED magic
Anyone can recreate and personalize this project for festive lights: with the Plug and Make Kit’s snap-together design and Arduino Cloud integration, creating something amazing has never been easier. Just follow this step-by-step tutorial on Project Hub, complete with code templates and wiring instructions.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Arduino Plug and Make Kit, which already includes UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Distance, Modulino Buttons, and Qwiic cables
A 5V LED strip
Some jumper wires
A power bank (optional)
The project starts similarly to our recent jack-o’-lantern project, with the Modulino Distance sensor detecting movement and triggering an action. But in this case, instead of a scary cackle you’ll recreate whimsical light animations on the LED strip. These are pre-configured, and can be easily controlled either with Modulino Buttons or remotely, via the Arduino Cloud dashboard: you can adjust the color of the LEDs, select your favorite animation, and even set the lights to react only when someone is near – perfect for adding a playful surprise.
Why stop at festive lights?
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit makes it easy to expand your project. With its versatility, you can modify the interactive lights to fit any creative idea. Add more sensors for different triggers, or use other Modulino nodes to include audio effects, track data, or create patterns based on the weather – your imagination is the limit!Ready to spread some light and joy? Build your own interactive light project and share it with us! Upload your designs to Project Hub or email creators@arduino.cc to get in touch. We can’t wait to see how you make the season bright with Arduino!
ZephyrOS is an open-source, real-time operating system (RTOS) designed for low-power, resource-constrained devices. We are transitioning Arduino cores to ZephyrOS to ensure continued support and innovation for developers. This change follows ARM’s deprecation of MbedOS, which has historically powered some of our cores. By adopting ZephyrOS, we are introducing a more modern, scalable, and feature-rich RTOS that aligns with the evolving needs of the embedded development community. This ensures that Arduino users have access to a robust, actively maintained platform for creating advanced applications.
With this brand new beta program, we invite our community to explore, test, and contribute to this significant new development in Arduino’s evolution – one that will allow old and new Arduino users all around the world to continue using the language and libraries they know and love for many years to come.
What is ZephyrOS?
ZephyrOS is a state-of-the-art RTOS designed to enable advanced embedded systems. It is modular, scalable, and supports multiple hardware architectures, making it an excellent choice for the next generation of Arduino projects.
Flexibility: Customize and scale the system to your specific needs.
Extensibility: Benefit from a rich ecosystem of libraries and subsystems.
Community-driven innovation: Collaborate with a vibrant open-source community.
What’s new in this core?
The Arduino core for ZephyrOS brings significant changes to how Arduino sketches are built and executed. However, the integration between Arduino core and ZephyrOS operates seamlessly under the hood, providing advanced RTOS capabilities like real-time scheduling and multitasking, while keeping the development process as straightforward as ever. This means you can enjoy the best of both worlds: the ease of Arduino and the power of a modern, robust RTOS.
Dynamic sketch loading: Sketches are compiled as ELF files and dynamically loaded by a precompiled Zephyr-based firmware.
Zephyr subsystems: Leverage features like threading, inter-process communication, and real-time scheduling.
Fast compiling: Since only a thin layer of user code and libraries are compiled, while the rest of the ZephyrOS is already binary, compilation is faster and resulting binary files are smaller.
How to get started
Ready to dive into the future of Arduino development with ZephyrOS? Head over to our repository for comprehensive installation instructions, troubleshooting tips, and detailed technical documentation.
Contribute to the beta!
This is your opportunity to shape the future of Arduino development! We welcome feedback, bug reports, and contributions to the core. Visit the GitHub Issues page to report bugs or suggest features. Your feedback will play a critical role in refining this integration and unlocking new possibilities for embedded systems.
Visit theArduinoCore-Zephyr GitHub repository today and start exploring this exciting new platform! Thank you for being a part of the Arduino community.
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit is all about turning creative sparks into reality in mere minutes. With its intuitive, snap-together design, even the wildest ideas become achievable – fast, fun, and frustration-free. That’s exactly what Julián Caro Linares, Arduino’s Product Experience team leader, discovered when he built his latest project for our in-house Make Tank: Button Clash, an arcade-inspired game for two players.
Button Clash was a popular attraction among the interactive demos we had at the Arduino booth at this year’s Maker Faire Rome! By connecting it via Arduino Cloud, we were able to collect stats in real time (fun fact: the left side won 54% of the matches!).
Meet Julián Caro Linares, Plug and Make Kit Star
Julián brings together technical expertise and passion for robotics, making, and human-centered design to create documentation, tutorials, and more for the Arduino Pro ecosystem. “Our team gets to truly transform prototypes into products,” he says. “It’s exciting to figure out the best way to explain to users how awesome these tools are, and to help them truly learn to create what they want or need.”
When it came to Button Clash, Julián drew inspiration from his love of physical interfaces and the pure satisfaction of smashing arcade buttons: “This game puts players into ‘inner childhood’ mode, where all you want to do is beat your opponent!”
Button Clash
Button Clash is a two-player game that challenges you to press an arcade button faster than your opponent. The rules are few and intuitive:
Once both players press their buttons simultaneously, the game begins with a simple melody played by the Modulino Buzzer node.
Smash your button as fast as possible, to fill your side of the LED matrix on the Arduino UNO R4 provided in the Plug and Make Kit.
The first player to take over half the matrix wins!
Building this game is a breeze thanks to the Modulino nodes and Qwiic cables in the kit. The arcade buttons require just a bit of soldering, but add a unique retro charm: well worth the extra step, in our opinion! The result is a highly engaging, customizable game that’s perfect for parties, family nights, or just unleashing your competitive spirit.
Creativity made easy
For Julián, the best part of the Plug and Make Kit is how it simplifies the process of turning out-of-the-box ideas into real projects. “Like the name says, you can just plug the different Modulino together and make your project: no matter how unconventional it is,” he says. Explore the full tutorial to replicate Button Clash on Arduino’s Project Hub and get inspired to create your own fun and interactive games! With the Plug and Make Kit, you can start your creative adventure today.
Everyone loves looking at exotic animals and most of us only get to do that at zoos. But, of course, there is a lot to be said about the morality of keeping those animals in captivity. So, good zoos put a lot of effort into keeping their animals healthy and happy. For more intelligent animals, like elephants, enrichment through intellectual stimulation is a solid strategy. With that in mind, a team of Georgia Tech students worked with Zoo Atlanta to give elephants a musical toy to enrich their lives.
Like the toys you get for your dog, this device’s purpose is to give the elephants some mental stimulation. It provides them with an activity that they can enjoy, thus improving their lives. It works by playing specific tones (known to please elephant ears) when the elephants stick their trunks in holes in a wall. In essence, it is similar to an electronic toy piano for kids — just optimized for elephant physiology.
An Arduino Mega 2560 board plays the tones through a DY-SV5W media player module, which outputs an audio signal to an outdoor speaker system. Each hole in the wall has a VL53L0X ToF (Time of Flight) sensor to detect trunks. Those sensors were paired with ATtiny85 microcontrollers that tell the Arduino when a trunk is present.
The researchers also added a real-time clock and an SD card reader to log activity, giving the team the ability to evaluate the response from the elephants. In the same way that you can tell your dog loves his new toy by how much he plays with it, the team was able to determine that the elephants enjoyed their musical device over the course of about a week.
We all know that the future of manufacturing lies in IoT — yet the path to adoption can sometimes feel daunting. But what if you could simplify the process and start seeing results quickly? That’s exactly what we’re going to explore in our upcoming Arduino Cloud Café webinar on December 10 at 5PM CET / 11AM EST.
This session is a unique opportunity to hear from experts at Arduino, AWS, and Atlas Machine as they dive into how industrial IoT is transforming manufacturing operations. Whether you’re just starting to explore IoT or looking for ways to optimize your existing systems, this webinar is for you.
What to expect
In this session, we’ll be sharing actionable tips and insights to help you easily integrate IoT into your operations:
Learn how to collect data quickly — without months of delays.
Understand how to retrofit your legacy equipment and get real-time visibility into your operations.
Discover how to integrate the data from Arduino devices with the rest of your business systems on AWS for smarter decision-making.
We’ll also be sharing real-world success stories, including how Atlas Machine & Supply leveraged Arduino (Opta and Arduino Cloud) and AWS solutions for predictive maintenanceand remote monitoring across their global fleet of industrial equipment.
And don’t forget, we’ll have a live Q&A session at the end, where you can ask our experts anything. Feel free to submit your questions throughout the webinar, and we’ll do our best to address as many as possible.
Meet the speakers
We’re excited to be joined by a fantastic lineup of speakers who are experts in their fields:
Richie Gimmel, CEO at Atlas Machine & Supply
Danny Kent, IoT Development Director at Atlas Machine & Supply
Andrea Richetta, Principal Product Evangelist at Arduino
Gabriel Verreault, Senior Manufacturing Partner Solutions Architect at AWS
Why you should join
If you’ve been looking for a way to simplify IoT adoption in your manufacturing operations, this is your chance to learn from industry leaders who are making it happen. Whether you’re trying to modernize old equipment or integrate IoT into your larger business strategy, you’ll walk away with valuable insights and tips you can start using right away.
Save your spot today! Don’t miss out on this chance to hear from the experts and get your questions answered. We can’t wait to see you there!
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