Today, we’re excited to announce the availability of the Genuino Starter Kits in both German and Spanish–now on our online store (outside of the US)! What’s more, you can take advantage of our ongoing promotion and save 10% on your kit throughout the entire month of July using the code below!

Each box consists of an Uno board, 150 components, and a Projects Book which provides step-by-step instructions for 15 different creations. Most of these projects also come with cardboard cutouts to make your projects even more fun.

The kit will help you control the physical world with sensor and actuators, as you make your way from the basics of electronics to more complex gadgets. Projects include musical instruments, a temperature-sensing Love-O-Meter, a spaceship interface panel, a motorized pinwheel, and a magic crystal ball that answers all your questions.

Get your Starter Kit in German >>
Get your Starter Kit in Spanish >>

For the first month, the German version of the Starter Kit is also exclusively on Watterott store, our board manufacturer!

As part of an electrical and electronic engineering course at Singapore Polytechnic, a group of students were challenged to build an aquatic vehicle that could collect samples from one and two meters underwater. After three months of hard work, the Imp Bot was brought to life!

Imp Bot is controlled by a mobile application made using the MIT App Inventor. Communication is achieved via a Bluetooth module hooked up to an Arduino Mega, while an onboard GPS sensor is used to log sampling locations in the app. Power is provided by a LiPo battery, which supplies high current to the two DC motors responsible for moving the 11-pound vessel around.

The sampler is actually a simplified Van Dorn Water Sampler, an ingenious method of water collection based upon elasticity and a quick-release mechanism. The main body of the vessel was initially made using laser-cut acrylic pieces assembled with PVC pipes, but the structure was too weak so they decided to use aluminium L-brackets instead.

Want to learn more? Check out the team’s video below, as well as read the story on one of the student’s blogs here. The code is also available on GitHub.

Project-based lessons are a great way to introduce students to the world of electronics. Clearly Jenna Debois agrees, as she has built a DIY classroom clock based on an Arduino Nano. What’s even cooler is that it’s optimized for teachers! 

The device is made using laser-cut wood pieces, NeoPixels, a real-time clock module, and packs plenty of customizable features like:

• An additional digit that keeps track of the block or period- an especially useful feature for rotating block schedules
• The ability to program holidays into the code to prevent the block from advancing on days when school is not in session
• LED digits that fade from green to red as the end of the period or block approaches so that a single glance can convey the remaining class time
• A countdown timer triggered 6 minutes before the period ends that flashes between the time and the remaining time- a useful feature for signaling cleanup time
• Other light effects that can be triggered during lunch, free periods, after school, or other special occasions

Debois not only created a step-by-step guide, but also shared all the documentation on GitHub and a detailed video of the build process.

As the cost of almost every technology comes falling down, from electronics to batteries to even tools like 3D printers, the cost to build things formerly out of reach of most of us becomes suddenly very affordable. At least, that’s what [John Choi] has found by building a completely DIY general purpose robot for around $2000.

OK, so $2000 isn’t exactly “cheap” but considering that something comparable (like Baxter) costs north of what a new car would cost means that [John] has dropped the price for a general-purpose robot by an order of magnitude. And this robot doesn’t skimp on features, either. It has a platform that allows it to navigate rooms, two manipulating limbs with plenty of servos, a laptop “head” that allows for easy interface, testing, and programming, and an Arduino Mega that allows it to interface with any sensors or other hardware with ease. It’s also modular so it can be repaired and transported easily, and it uses open source software and open hardware so it’s easy to build on.

This robot is an impressive piece of work that should help bring this technology to more than just high-end factories and research labs. They’ve already demonstrated the robot watering plants, playing the piano, picking things up, and many other tasks. We’d say that they’re well on their way to their goal of increasing the number of students and hobbyists who have access to this technology. If the $2k price tag is still too steep, though, there are other ways of getting into robotics without diving headfirst into a Baxter-like robot.

Enigma machines are fascinating devices, especially for young Makers looking to explore the world of electronics. Awhile back we featured a similar project from Italy, and we’re once again amazed by the work of 14-year-old Andy Eggebraaten, who built a retro-modern gadget of his own. The project, which was for his high school’s science fair, took nine months to complete.

These electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines were developed  in the early 20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic and military communication, used especially by German military intelligence during World War II.

In the video below, Andy opens the machine to show its inner workings: the unit runs on Arduino Mega along with 1,800 other parts and 500 color-coded wires. We can see that he evolved the rotors into electronic modules that plug into D-Sub sockets, and the interface is made using a 16-segment display showing the rotor position as well as an LCD screen to read the plain- and the encoded text.

William Gerrey and Dr. Joshua Miele made the Blind Arduino Project to help those in the blind community expand their STEM and Maker education.

Read more on MAKE

The post Blind Arduino Project Proves You Don’t Need to See to Build Electronics appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

Are you (or your kid) curious about the world around you? Google wants to help. It just launched Science Journal, an Android app that helps you perform (and comment on) simple science experiments. The app can record light, motion and sound levels using only your phone's sensors, letting you study everything from a light bulb's brightness to the acceleration in a jump. It's easy to kick things up a notch, though. You can connect Arduino-powered sensors, and Google is partnering with Exploratorium to offer starter kits to help budding scientists. Science Journal is free, so there's no harm in giving it a try -- even if you're a full-fledged adult, you might learn something.

Are you (or your kid) curious about the world around you? Google wants to help. It just launched Science Journal, an Android app that helps you perform (and comment on) simple science experiments. The app can record light, motion and sound levels using only your phone's sensors, letting you study everything from a light bulb's brightness to the acceleration in a jump. It's easy to kick things up a notch, though. You can connect Arduino-powered sensors, and Google is partnering with Exploratorium to offer starter kits to help budding scientists. Science Journal is free, so there's no harm in giving it a try -- even if you're a full-fledged adult, you might learn something.

Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play, Google for Education

Are you (or your kid) curious about the world around you? Google wants to help. It just launched Science Journal, an Android app that helps you perform (and comment on) simple science experiments. The app can record light, motion and sound levels using only your phone's sensors, letting you study everything from a light bulb's brightness to the acceleration in a jump. It's easy to kick things up a notch, though. You can connect Arduino-powered sensors, and Google is partnering with Exploratorium to offer starter kits to help budding scientists. Science Journal is free, so there's no harm in giving it a try -- even if you're a full-fledged adult, you might learn something.

Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play, Google for Education

Arduino and Genuino Education is a worldwide-leading school initiative bringing technology into the hands of teachers and students to create a more inventive learning experience. It offers multiple platforms, including research-based projects like PELARS and in-class programs such as Creative Technologies in the Classroom (CTC), all of which are present at this year’s Maker Faire Bay Area.

With CTC, students are able to learn basic programming, electronics, and mechanics concepts in an approachable, playful way through a series of coding projects and easy-to-assemble experiments.

Arduino’s one-of-a-kind STEM program has been implemented in nearly 500 schools throughout the globe, resulting in an overwhelming satisfaction rate among both students and teachers alike. 95% of instructors continue to use the curriculum in their classrooms year after year, while more than 13,000 students have already participated.

CTC 101 — running on Arduino 101 — is divided into four distinct stages:

1. Teacher training (one week)
2. Themed modules (five modules, 10 weeks)
3. Student projects (nine weeks)
4. Technology fair (one day)

Each program comes with a CTC 101 Toolbox consisting of:

• Sets of electronics components and pre-cut mechanical parts
• 25+ hands-on projects
• Live training for teachers
• Free online documentation and course materials
• Support forums for teachers and students

Interested? Be sure to come visit us at Maker Faire Bay Area to learn more and fill out this form so we can get in touch!