The Arduino Plug and Make Kit was designed to open up infinite possibilities, breaking down the idea that technology is a “black box” reserved for experts. With its snap-together system, this kit gives everyone – beginners and seasoned makers alike – the power to create and innovate without barriers. Forget being a passive user! With the Plug and Make Kit, technology is accessible and ready to bring your ideas to life.

Meet Giulio Pilotto, Plug and Make Kit Star

Giulio Pilotto is one of Arduino’s senior software engineers and works closely on Arduino Cloud projects. When we held a “Make Tank” workshop at our Turin office to showcase the potential of the Plug and Make Kit, he joined in with inspiration from a recent escape room experience. 

The result was Riddle Treasure, a puzzle-based game that allows you to recreate the excitement of an escape room anywhere you are.

At this year’s Maker Faire, Pilotto had the opportunity to present Riddle Treasure at the Arduino booth. While he had showcased his own creations at previous Maker Faire editions, this time felt special: “The Maker Faire is always a wonderful high-energy event,” he says. “I was happy to represent the Arduino team as we focus more than ever on the community: all our products were presented in the light of what people can do with them.” 

Riddle Treasure

To be honest, this is probably the most advanced project our in-house “Make Tank” came up with (so far!). After all, it has to be somewhat complicated to emulate intricate escape room puzzles! However, following Pilotto’s step-by-step instructions on Project Hub and leveraging the easy snap-together mechanism of Modulino nodes, anyone can recreate Riddle Treasure – or even invent a personal, unique variation.

The goal of the game is to unlock a safe. But to get there, you need to complete three steps in order. 

1. Combination Lock: First, you must rotate the encoder in Modulino Knob like a safe’s combination lock. When you hit the right position, one of the lights on Modulino Pixels turns from red to green. When you get all five LEDs to turn green, you can move on to the next step. 

2. Secret Sentence: Use the banana cables to connect the words in the panel. When you get them all in the right order to form the secret sentence, a password is revealed on the LED matrix of the UNO R4 included in the Plug and Make Kit. 

3. Final Unlock: Input the password via Modulino Buttons, and watch the safe unlock! 

We take care of the complexity, so you can simply plug into tech!

Arduino has done the hard work so you can play and have fun even with deliberately complex projects like this one. 

“Building this without having to solder, or even worry about settings or any electronics aspect at all, is a game changer. With Plug and Make Kit, Arduino has already selected and optimized the Modulino sensors: all you have to do is put them together to get started on your ideas,” Pilotto says. 

Search Project Hub for “Plug and Make” to find Riddle Treasure and many more ideas, and get inspired to create your own amazing projects with the Plug and Make Kit!

The post A riddle wrapped in an enigma… made easy, with Arduino Plug and Make Kit appeared first on Arduino Blog.

With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve got the perfect project to make your decorations more fun and interactive. All you have to do is take the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino nodes included in your Plug and Make Kit to create an awesome jack-o’-lantern that will light up and cackle with evil laughter when someone walks by! 

Connect it to Arduino Cloud and you’ll be able to check on it and even remotely trigger some spooky surprises. 

This is an easy project that anyone can do, and we’ll walk you through the steps to make it happen.

A step-by-step guide to make spooky super simple

This project is a great introduction to making interactive things. You won’t just be setting up some store-bought props, you’ll be creating technology and bringing your pumpkin to life!

To get started, you’ll need:

• Plug and Make Kit (including UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Pixels for the glowing eyes, and Modulino Distance to trigger the action when someone approaches)
• An MP3 module and a small speaker for the creepy sounds
• A microSD card to store your sounds (feel free to use the ones we provide, or record your own!)
• A powerbank to keep everything running
• A pumpkin (you can carve out a real one, or you can 3D print one like we did – using this model by Damien Dozias)

The Modulino Distance sensor detects when someone approaches your jack-o’-lantern, and that’s when the magic begins. The Modulino Pixels light up the eyes, syncing with the spooky sounds played from the MP3 module. Everything is controlled with an UNO R4, and thanks to Arduino Cloud, you can even control the pumpkin remotely, change the sounds, and keep track of how many people you’ve scared.

All the code and details are ready for you to download from Arduino’s Project Hub. We’ve also created a template that will help you set everything up quickly. This template automatically uploads the code to your UNO board and creates a custom dashboard so you can monitor and control your creation. Just follow the link to get started!

Unleash your creativity!

Sure to make a lasting impression on your trick-or-treating visitors, this project offers you the chance to have fun while actually learning a lot about electronics, coding, and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

Why just buy interactive objects when making your own is so rewarding? So grab your tools, start building, and give your Halloween the high-tech twist it deserves!

As always, we highly encourage you to customize the project with your own ideas: with the UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino nodes included in the Plug and Make Kit, you have all the tools you need.

For example, you could use Modulino Buttons to change scary sounds locally, or make your scary jack-o’-lantern even smarter. It can check the weather from an online forecast and change the LEDs’ color to let you know if it’s going to rain, help you use your smartphone to monitor the temperature outside in real time via Arduino Cloud… and much more! 

Be sure to share your scary creations with us: upload them to Project Hub or email creators@arduino.cc to get in touch. 

The post Make your scary Halloween pumpkin smart with the Plug and Make Kit! appeared first on Arduino Blog.