After finding that purchasing a tracking device for his satellite dish would be quite expensive, YouTuber “Tysonpower” decided to simply build one himself. What he came up is an assembly made with 3D-printed parts and extruded aluminum that uses a pair of NEMA23 stepper motors for movement.

While it doesn’t quite work with the dish itself due to its offset weight, the concept was successfully used to track weather satellites using a VHF Yagi antenna.

Control is provided via an Arduino Nano, which interfaces with a computer over USB serial that provides satellite information. You can check it out in the video below, and find more details in the project’s write-up.

To capture images of bullets “interacting” with various objects, photographic hacker Tyler Gerritsen created an impressive chronograph rig, able to measure the speed of a bullet launched from a rifle at 1000 meters per second. While the concept of measuring time from one sensor to another isn’t new, implementation at this speed required some interesting tricks.

To accomplish this feat, Gerritsen designed his own sensor array using photodiodes in a reverse-biased setup, and even calibrated the clock speed of the Arduino Uno for control in order to account for any variation. Finally, the time between triggering a flash and light actually appearing had to be compensated for in the code, a different value for each type of equipment.

The project write-up is a great read for anyone interested in this type of photographic or measurement technique, and the resulting photos can be seen here.

Water is essential to life on earth, and making sure our rivers and lakes are free from pollution is therefore quite important. For environmental monitoring, students from Bergen County Academics Magnet High School have come up with the Intelli-Buoy system that can track water turbidity, pH, oxygen, and temperature levels for analysis. It can also keep tabs on wind speed and rain stats for possible correlation.

The floating device uses a pair of Arduino Unos with an SD card shield mounted on each in order to record these statistics over several days, and it’s designed with two external USB ports for easy access.

Be sure to check out this orange PVC sensor assembly the video seen here.

What’s the best way to dispose of the dust that is produced when cutting with power tools? YouTuber Bob Claggett’s answer is to automate the process entirely, using a series of PVC sewer pipes to transport air to a central vacuum system, along with an Arduino Uno for control.

Airflow is regulated via a blast gate for each power tool, which is opened and shut using a hobby-style servo and custom linkage system. The powerful dust collector is controlled with the help of a relay.

Cleverly, a voltage sensor is employed for each power tool needing dust collection, allowing the Arduino to turn on the system and decide which gate to open without any human interaction.

Want a similar system for your workshop? Be sure to check out Claggett’s entire build in his write-up here and in the video below!

If you’ve been interested in creating a word clock for your home, then perhaps this neat build by “oliverb” will be the perfect place to start.

The clock, powered by an Arduino Nano along with a RTC module, is capable of displaying the time by spelling it out as you expect, or can use the letters as a matrix in order to show the time in digital format. These letter-dots can even be configured to form an “analog” clock if you prefer.

But that’s not all. The device can reveal the temperature and humidity, as well as play games like Tetris. Be sure to see it in action below!

Starting tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 1st, the Arduino team will be exhibiting at 5th annual Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition. Those heading to Rome over this weekend (December 1st -3rd) are invited to swing by our booth at Pavilion 7 (Interaction) and join us for some inspiring talks. This year Arduino is also operating the official Maker Shop with lots of products and ideas that can help you find original gifts for Christmas.

The booth

We’ve been preparing a series of demos for adults and kids at the booth to showcase the new Arduino Education products and programs and the latest developments of the MKR family boards and IoT solutions. Moreover, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the AUG (Arduino User Group) Program, to meet the winner of the Arduino MKR FOX 1200 Contest, and to play with an interactive installation by Supsi university!

The store

At Pavillon 7, close to Arduino Booth there will be a Maker Shop by Arduino selling most of the Arduino products (including the latest Arduino MKR WAN 1300 (Lora) and Arduino MKR GSM 1400 recently announced!). You’ll find also some other interesting kits and Christmas gift ideas for kids, makers and developers, plus a selection of Arduino goodies.

Talks

The Arduino team will join the Maker Faire Rome’s program with some unmissable talks and presentations about Arduino innovations, new products and partnership programs with the following schedule:

• Friday, Dec. 1st (5:00 pm – 5.30 pm, room 3, Sala Euphemia, Pad. 10): Nerea de la Riva Iriepa, Valentina Chinnici, David Cuartielles  ‘Arduino Education: redefining the educational experience with Arduino’
• Friday, Dec 1st (5.30 pm – 6:00 pm, room 3, Sala Euphemia, Pad. 10): Fabio Violante (Arduino CEO), Sara Therner ‘Introducing the Arduino At Heart Program’
• Saturday, Dec. 2nd ( 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, room 22, Area Formazione 4.0, Pad. 7): Massimo Banzi, ‘Democratizing the Industry 4.0’
• Saturday, Dec. 2nd (3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, room 3, Sala Euphemia, Pad. 10): Fabio Violante (Arduino CEO), Luca Cipriani ‘Arduino Create: the easiest path for IoT development’
• Saturday, Dec. 2nd (2.30 pm – 3:00 pm, room 3, Sala Euphemia, Pad. 10): Andrea Richetta, Arturo Guadalupi ‘Arduino MKR board: an overview’  

We look forward to seeing you all at Pavilion 7 (check out the Makerfaire MAP in PDF

We’re excited to announce a new challenge with Amazon Alexa and Hackster.io, which invites the Arduino community to design the smart home gadgets of the future.

Makers have already come up with exciting ways to integrate Alexa and Arduino into their projects, from talking teddy bears and singing animatronic fish, to voice-controlled blinds and holiday decorations, to robotic coffee machines and drink mixers. And now, we want to see what next-generation devices you can come up with next. Personalized lighting? Room temperature automation? Security and doorbell systems? Pet toys and feeders?

Contest winners will be awarded with prizes that can help take their ideas from prototype to product through Dragon Innovation’s certification process, Kickstarter coaching sessions, cash, and more.

The Best Overall Alexa Smart Home Skill & Gadget winner will receive a prize package valued at $29,000:

• $14,000 cash
• Kickstarter Package: Promotional video and marketing fund
• Dragon Innovation Certification
• A 60-minute Kickstarter coaching session (to take your project to product)

Want to learn more about the Alexa and Arduino Smart Home Challenge? You can find a full list of rules and prizes here.

When you see a mechanical clock, you know on some level that it took a vast amount of expertise and craftsmanship to get working, but you might also assume that this could all be swapped out very easily with modern electronics. While this might be the case with a clock that only tells time, as David Henshaw shows with his project, once you add in extra features like a moon phase, date indicator, and chimes, things get complicated quickly.

Henshaw began by purchasing an 1847 vintage clock from England without the movement—the parts that actually it tell time. He then replaced the mechanical assembly normally found inside with stepper motors, sensors, an Arduino Uno, and a variety of other wires and bits.

You can see the retrofitted grandfather clock in action below, while the build process (which took the better part of a year) and Arduino code he used are outlined on his website.

Sequencers, as YouTuber “LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER” explains, are musical devices that go through a sequence of tones one by one. While this can be done quite simply with a 4017 counter chip, if you instead substitute in an Arduino board for the counter, you can make your gadget behave normally, go backwards, or even act as a sort of keyboard using input buttons.

This particular project employs a Nano for control, giving it a conveniently small form factor to fit inside your equipment.

Since the start of building modular synths, ive always been looking for an arduino powered sequencer. but never really happy with the projects that were about. because it was still menu dives and button combinations. which is not what you wanna be messing about with! you may aswell use a computer and a mouse ha.

Be sure to check out LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER’s entire build process and a demo of the keyboard sequencer in the video below. You can also find circuit diagrams and Arduino code in the project’s write-up here.

Have you ever wanted a vending machine for snacks but didn’t know where to start? With an Arduino Mega, some motors, and an infrared sensor to detect coins, Dejan Nedelkovski decided to build his own using only hand tools.

The DIY vending machine’s structure is made out of MDF, and uses wires bent into helical shapes to twist items out of four storage spaces with continuous rotation servos. While they could just drop to the bottom, Nedelkovski added a little extra flair and constructed an elevator system powered by stepper motors to gently lower the chosen treat to the exit opening.

You can see the project in action below, and find more details in Nedelkovski’s write-up here.