Inspired by a YouTube video of another candy sorter, Willem Pennings decided to build his own version.

After nearly eight months of work, he now has a device that can separate M&Ms or Skittles into their respective color dishes. Control is accomplished via a pair of Arduino Nano boards along with two EasyDrivers and an RGB sensor. These actuate a small servo for mixing the candies, and a stepper motor to properly position the candy tube.

Besides designing the controls for the machine, everything is modeled beautifully in the NX10 CAD package. The results, as seen in the video, look extremely polished–and it’s quite soothing to watch these candies drop into their little bowls in automated fashion!

You can find more details on Pennings’ project page and check out the video that inspired him here.

Carlos Rodriguez–who not only happens to be an Arduino team member but also a Masters student at Malmö University’s K3 school–has shared with us a project that he and a group of his interaction design classmates have created. 

For the outsider, The Hunt is an Arduino-based light board; a piece of decoration in a tasteful home. Its six carefully crafted boxes are sources of light that shine when attached to the board. But what’s hiding in plain sight is a whole new world. The intrinsic light and shadow patterns hide an exciting game of strategy, hunt, and kill.

The Hunt is inspired by board games such as Quoridor, Chess, and Ludo. It is a two-player game, where each player has three tokens–two hunters and one beast–and the goal is for a hunter to catch the opponent’s beast. At each turn, a player moves one token–up, down, left or right– but the catch is: if moving a hunter, their beast will also have to move but in the opposite direction. The main strategy of the game is then to find out how to catch the opponent’s beast without sacrificing your own.

You can find more photos and information on this interactive project here. Shout out to Ana Barbosa, Andrea Serra, and Dennis Bücker as well for their impressive work!

Mike, CEO of the Useless Duck Company, recently got sidetracked playing computer games. After receiving a notification on his phone, he realized that he had lost track of the time and was late to a very important meeting. Being the Maker that he is, he decided to invent a system that would prevent this from happening again. Introducing the Rick and Morty Alarm.

Now Mike just has to enter how much time he has remaining (in hours, minutes and/or seconds), and he’ll receive an alert in the form of a Screaming Sun when it’s time to leave.

The alarm consists of a Windows Forms application that sends a serial signal to an Arduino Uno, triggering a stepper motor. He also designed and 3D-printed the mechanism that raises the TV show character’s cutout. Meanwhile, the loud yelling noise is played through his computer speakers.

Since this worked so well for his desktop, Mike say he created a mobile app to help him wake up in morning. Check it out below!

If you want to play accordion via a MIDI interface, manufacturers such as Roland do make such a device. The downside is that they tend to be fairly expensive, as one would have to assume they are something of a specialty item.

Conversely, if you are able to get your hands on an accordion whose buttons and general movement work, but can’t actually produce good notes, you can build your own! This is just what developer and composer Brendan Vavra did, purchasing a broken instrument for $150 on eBay, then carefully disassembling the keys which were mapped to an Arduino Mega.

The setup also includes a Bluetooth transceiver module for sending MIDI signals wirelessly to a computer running music production software, as well as a barometric pressure sensor for adding dynamic expression using the accordion bellows.

As you can see in the video below, the result and his accordion skills are quite impressive! You can find more information on this project on its GitHub page and read New Atlas’ write-up here.

By now, you are probably familiar with the Toa Mata Band–the world’s first LEGO robotic band controlled by Arduino Uno, which is hooked up to a MIDI sequencer.

Now a few years since Toa Mata Band’s debut, Italian producer Giuseppe Acito has shared the group’s latest music video: a cover of Kraftwerk’s “The Robots.” As you can see below, Acito himself performs the 1978 track’s vocals while the LEGO Bionicle figures play the tunes using a variety of gadgets, including pocket synths, drum pads, xylophone keys, and iPhones running apps.

This is my inspiration to this Kraftwerk ‘s tribute, regarding their vision of the future and to their brilliant approaching to the music with a touch of irony that even now is still influencing a thousand of music producers around the world. My video contribution from Toa Mata Band (a tiny orchestra of Lego robots driven by Arduino) represents a version of the iconic tune “The Robots” using nowadays open-source technologies, microcontrollers, 3D printer, robot arm, music DAW, smarthphones, pocket synthesizers and more… trying to give a new way to read the message we got from them 40 years ago.

OpenDrop V2 is an updated design for an open-source digital microfludics platform, which was initiated by GaudiLabs in Luzern, Switzerland and developed by several communities including hackteria | open source biological art, BioFlux and digi.bio. The device is part of a much larger ecosystem focused around digital biology with hopes of making personal lab automation accessible to more people.

OpenDrop runs on a new technology called “electro-wetting” to control small droplets of liquids, which allows anyone to carry out digital biology experiments. Potential applications are not only limited to science, but the art, music, gaming and education fields as well.

One such example is OpenDropper, an 8-bit video game based on the OpenDrop. You can see it below!

Interested in learning more? Read all about the open-source microfluidics platform here.

RubberArms is an experimental rubber band game, created by Robin Baumgarten at the Global Game Jam 2017 in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.

The controller uses a conductive rubber cord from Adafruit that changes resistance as it’s stretched. This resistance is measured by an Arduino Micro/Leonardo (or a Teensy 3.2), which acts as a USB joystick sending signals to Unity3D. (The game is coded in Unity3D using Spring Joints and Line Renderers.)

At this point, the game is a simple prototype where you control the distance of two characters whose arms stretch whenever you stretch the rubber band, throwing little ‘Bleps’ around. You can read more about RubberArms on Baumgarten’s page, as well as his earlier project “Line Wobbler” here.

With books being replaced by electronic alternatives and sugary drinks in short supply, this custom locker has come to the rescue.

After a conversation with a few friends about an idea he had for a vending machine that fit entirely inside of a locker, high school student Blake Hawkins decided to actually make it a reality. His setup crams dispensing hardware for two types of highly-caffeinated soda, including an Arduino-connected coin acceptor and a spring to keep the locker closed between sales. The C-shaped cylindrical device that physically doles out the cans is quite clever as well.

No word on how school staff have reacted to his new in-school business, but the students have naturally been quite entertained and pleased about the new locker hardware. Hawkins even got to ask his girlfriend to the prom using the contraption with a custom can for her!

You can check out more of this build on its page. You may also enjoy these two DIY vending machines as well, which can be found here and here.

Arduino Education is a worldwide-leading school initiative bringing technology into the hands of teachers and students to create a more inventive learning environment. Arduino will be exhibiting Creative Technologies in the Classroom 101 (CTC 101), the latest addition to its one-of-a-kind STEAM program, at Bett 2017, held January 25-28 in London.

CTC 101 is a modular program consisting of 25 playful, well-documented projects and easy-to-assemble experiments designed to introduce students 13-17 years old to the foundations of programming, electronics, mechanics and robotics.

Throughout the four-day event, CTC 101 will be showcased at the Arduino booth (B235) and can be found on display inside the Intel stand (C210). Attendees will be able to get a firsthand look at the various CTC 101 modules, explore sample projects, and enter a contest to win a complete kit along with other giveaways.

“CTC helps build the school of the 21st century by bringing project based learning to your classroom,” says Arduino co-founder David Cuartielles. “The program is one of the best examples of educational curriculum for student motivation, and — most importantly — teacher  professional development.”

Want to get started with CTC? Don’t miss Cuartielles’ workshop, “A Hands-on Look at CTC 101,” on Friday, January 27th at 1:40pm in the STEAM Village!

Need a hand? The UFACTORY team has got you covered with the uArm Swift, an open-source robotic assistant for your desktop.

The four-axis uArm Swift is a smaller and sleeker version of the company’s original device from 2014. Based on an Arduino Mega, the robot is capable of lifting 500 grams (1.1 pounds) with a working range of 5 to 32 centimeters (2 to 12.6 inches).

UFACTORY has launched two different models of the consumer-friendly arm on Indiegogo. Whereas the basic model is perfect for beginners and those looking to tinker around with robotics, the Swift Pro is designed for a more experienced Maker crowd with a stronger motor, more precision, and greater versatility. It also boasts position repeatability down to 0.2mm.

With a little programming, the Pro can perform a wide range of tasks from 3D printing to laser engraving to picking up and moving game pieces. You can even create your own actions through the team’s Blockly-based graphical software, uArm Studio, as well as control your Swift either directly from a keyboard-and-mouse setup, by making gestures, or over Bluetooth from the uArm Play mobile app.

The Swift is extendable with three different end-effectors (suction cup, metallic gripper, and universal holder) and a built-in socket for selected Seeed Grove modules. But that’s not all. Attach an OpenMV Cam and the robotic arm can detect faces, colors, and markers.

If you’re looking for an affordable and portable robotic arm, be sure to check out UFACTORY’s Indiegogo campaign.