Supercapacitors are intriguing power sources, and while they don’t hold as much total energy as a battery, they can store and release charges in an instant. To take advantage of this interesting properly, Mike Rigsby created the ‘Little Flash‘ rover.
This device uses a pair of continuous rotation-modded servos to move about for roughly 20 minutes. It’s controlled by an Arduino Uno, and employs over-current detection as well as a bump switch to keep it from getting stuck.
The coolest feature, however, is that it’s powered by a bank of three 350 farad supercaps in series. The capacitor setup allows it to charge in seconds, though with a current flow of nearly 50 amps, charging experimentation wisely took place with Rigsby some distance away!
A few months ago, maker Fabian Mazza created a CD ROM plotter for his daughters. While the three-year-old loves it, the eight-year-old thought it was too small. Rather than giving up—or building a CNC machine from scratch—he cleverly constructed a new plotter out of a Smith Corona electric typewriter.
Since this device is designed to control the X and Y positions of a writing implement using steppers, it gave him everything he needed for CNC use via an Arduino Uno and GRBL shield.
For better resolution, he added gear reduction to the carriage stepper salvaged from an old scanner. Z-axis movement is done using parts from a DVD-ROM to control whether the pen lowered onto the paper or retracted.
YouTuber Tom Stanton built a trebuchet about a year ago. Now, in order to figure out just how high it can toss something, he designed a custom altitude tracking device in the form of an oversize golf ball.
An Arduino Nano is squeezed inside this sphere, along with a battery, an altimeter, an accelerometer, and even a small servo. The altimeter is used for primary height measurement, while the accelerometer detects launches. A servo then deploys a parachute four seconds later to keep the electronics safe.
As it turns out, the trebuchet is able to fling the ball in the air 60 meters. While impressive, per Stanton’s discussion, it may not be as efficient as you might suspect! Be sure to check out the project in the video below!
The Arduino Certification Program (ACP) is an Arduino initiative to officially certify users at different levels and confirm their expertise in key areas. Certifications are offered at three tiers — enthusiasts, educators and professionals — which have been identified as the largest Arduino user groups through extensive feedback from the community.
And today, we are excited to announce the availability of the initial Arduino certification: Arduino Fundamentals, which is the first release of the ACP. Access to the exam leading to the certification can be purchased either in combination with the Arduino Starter Kit or as a standalone exam.
The Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam is a structured way to enhance and validate your Arduino skills, and receive official recognition as you progress. Anyone interested in engaging with Arduino through a process that involves study, practice, and project building is encouraged to pursue this official certificate.
Developed in consultation with leading technology curriculum, interaction design, and electronic engineering professionals, the Arduino Certification: Fundamentals Exam assesses skills based on exercises comprised of practical tasks from the Arduino Starter Kit.
The official assessment covers three main subjects: theory and introduction to Arduino, electronics, and coding. During the exam, you will be asked to answer 36 questions of varied format and difficulty in 75 minutes.
Questions will test your knowledge on the following topics:
Electricity
Reading circuits and schematics
Arduino IDE
Arduino boards
Frequency and duty cycle
Electronic components
Programming syntax and semantics
Programming logic
The certification is currently only available in the US, but will be opened in more countries during 2019. If you’d like to learn more about Arduino Fundamentals, download the user guide. Additional information can also be found here.
While most cameras use an array of sensors to quickly capture an image, Niklas Roy presents a different take on things with his Flying Pixel Portrait Camera.
This installation invites participants to place their head under a shroud for nearly a minute and a half, while a computer-controlled projector scans one’s face pixel by pixel. Reflected light levels are recorded with a single light-dependent resistor (LDR) via an Arduino flashed with Firmata, allowing it to interface with the Processing sketch that runs the device without any extra software.
The results are 50×50 black and white photos. It’s also possible to produce color images, which means triple the wait time—and a bit more noise.
The Flying Pixel Portrait Camera uses a video beamer, a single photo resistor, an Arduino and a PC for taking photos of people’s faces. The beamer ‘scans’ the image by projecting a small white square onto a person’s face inside an otherwise completely dark chamber. While the projected square slowly moves over the entire face, the photo resistor captures the reflected luminosities. This generates a proportional analog electric signal which is digitized by an Arduino and transmitted to the PC. As the PC also controls the position of the projected square, it can now construct an image based on the different brightness values that it receives, one pixel at a time.
The new Arduino SIM offers the simplest path to cellular IoT device development in an environment familiar to millions. The cellular service, provided byArm Pelion Connectivity Management, has a global roaming profile; meaning a single Arduino SIM can be used in over 100 countries worldwide with one simple data plan.
The Plan
Arduino SIM comes with 10 MB of data free for the first days 90 days,
One simple subscription at 5 MB for $1.50 USD per month*.
Global roaming profile – enjoy the same amount of data traffic for the same price wherever you are operating the device around the world.
Cellular connectivity to the Arduino IoT Cloud – monitor and control your devices anytime, anywhere.
Ideal for connected devices on the go or in areas without reliable WiFi.
*The monthly Arduino SIM plan is currently only available to U.S. residents
By partnering with Arm Pelion Connectivity Management, the cellular service has a solid foundation for users needing to scale form a single to large numbers of devices in the future.
At launch, the Arduino SIM will allow users to send data into the Arduino IoT Cloud, while later in the year they will also be able to use the Arduino SIM to connect to the Internet via a combination of webhooks and APIs.
Arduino SIM is initially rolling out with support for the Arduino MKR GSM 1400 (3G with 2G fallback) – a 32-bit Arduino board supporting TLS and X.509 certificate-based authentication through an on-board secure element and crypto-accelerator. Arduino IoT Cloud makes it possible for anyone to connect to these boards securely without any coding required, but they are still programmable using open-source libraries and the traditional Arduino IDE.
Creators keep coming up with new clock designs, and while you might think that every new possibility has been exhausted, Christine Thompson has proved this assumption wrong once again with her “VFD Trilateral Clock.“
This Arduino Uno-powered device employs a stepper motor to rotate a triangular prism shape with scales for hours and minutes on one side, temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit on the other, and humidity and pressure on the third surface.
The geometric scale travels in 120-degree steps, causing each face to line up with a pair of IN-13 Nixie tubes on either side. These linear tubes are then used to indicate time and environmental conditions in a beautiful bell jar display, as seen at around 3:30 in the video below.
While waiting for the delivery of parts for another project I decided to push ahead with this project. At its heart is two IN-13M Nixie tubes. These tubes are designed to provide a linear scale between maximum and minimum points using an illuminated column. The project uses two of these IN-13M, three wire Nixie tubes to show, time (Hours and Minutes), temperature (Celsius and Fahrenheit), Humidity (percentage), and Pressure (millibars).
At this point I would like to thank Dr. Scott M. Baker for his great web site, which provided me with all the information I needed to get these Nixie tubes to work. In particular the Current Regulator as displayed and detailed on his web site.
The project uses a BME280 sensor to determine the temperature, pressure and humidity and RTC clock to monitor time. As the system needs to display six different values it was necessary to construct a rotating central display which showed these values against six scales. In order to achieve this an equilateral triangle of wood was fashioned, each side showing two sets of values. A stepper motor was mounted under the top platform and this motor rotates through 120 degrees in time for the next set of values to be displayed on the two Nixie tubes.
It wouldn’t be a Maker Faire Bay Area without some exciting announcements!
A New Nano Family
Designed with makers in mind, the new Nano represents a small, powerful and affordable solution for everyday projects. Retaining Arduino’s quality and reliability, they make it easier than ever to turn your project ideas into reality. They are compatible with classic Arduino boards, have low energy consumption, and are equipped with more powerful processors.
Arduino Nano BLE Sense – small, low-power, and Bluetooth-connected with a wide range of on-board sensors. (Pre-order here with headers or here without headers)
“The new Nanos are for those millions of makers who love using the Arduino IDE for its simplicity and open source aspect, but just want a great value, small and powerful board they can trust for their compact projects,” commented Massimo Banzi. “With prices from as low as $9.90 for the Nano Every, this family fills that gap in the Arduino range, providing makers with the Arduino quality they deserve for those everyday projects.”
Connect the Arduino IoT Cloud to the world around you! 10MB free data for up to 90 days (5MB per month for $1.50 USD thereafter).
Arduino SIM is the new cellular connectivity service for the Arduino IoT Cloud. The SIM aims to offer the simplest path to cellular IoT device development in an environment familiar to millions. The cellular service, provided by Arm Pelion Connectivity Management, has a global roaming profile meaning a single Arduino SIM can be used in over 100 countries worldwide with one simple data plan. Compatible with the MKR GSM 1400 board, it is ideal for connected devices on the go. Arduino SIM is currently only available in the US — more information can be found here.
If you’re coming along to the faire, remember to bring along your MKR GSM 1400 board and we’ll give you a free SIM to try out!
The Arduino Certification Program (ACP) is an Arduino initiative to officially certify Arduino users at different levels and confirm their expertise in key areas. Arduino Fundamentals, representing the first level of the ACP, is now available in the U.S. — access to the exam can be purchased either in combination with the Arduino Starter Kit or as a standalone exam.
But Wait, There’s More!
If you’ll be in San Mateo, don’t miss Massimo Banzi’s ‘State of Arduino’ talk on Saturday at 2pm PT on the Center Stage, where he will reveal more news and updates!
In this short article, we are going to provide an overview of all the new and exciting features the team has been working on.
Multi-Value Property Types: The first two types implemented are Location and Color. With Color, you can pick a color from the palette (clicking on it) or just show one in a small window. With Location, you can see a pin on a map and move it; furthermore, you can drag the box and make it bigger
The number of property types is huge, allowing you to pick the one that best suits your needs. All the possible values are taken from the SenML standard.
Shadow Thing: If a device happens to disconnect from the Cloud, as soon as it reconnects, the board will get back its previous property values. For example, if a property controls the status of a lamp, and the lamp property is set to on, the light will be kept on when the device comes back online.
Simply Discover Your Thing ID and Device ID: The panel showing information about its associated board is opened by default, making it easier to read details about the board you are using.
Getting Started Procedure:The procedure is now faster and more reliable, thanks to bug-fixing and a new connection template used in the Cloud_blink sketch.
We are just few hours away from Maker Faire Bay Area 2019, where we will be partnering with Microchip in the Expo Hall (Zone 2).
Those heading to San Mateo over the weekend will want to swing by our booth to meet the Arduino team, check out some demos, and explore all our latest hardware. Plus, we’ve got plenty of exciting news in store!
Bring your MKR GSM 1400 for an exCELLent surprise. It’s that SIMple! We’ll be running a giveaway for every attendee that shows up to our booth with their board.
Magic IoT Sphere: Something small but special is coming! Lift it, question it, shake it — then be amazed. Shake it again and you’re in for a nice Arduino treat. Are you ready to discover the little yet powerful secret behind this magic?
Finally, a Maker Faire Bay Area tradition, Massimo will once again take Center Stage (Zone 6) and deliver his “The State of Arduino” talk on Saturday at 2pm PT.
