As we promised last week, you can find on the Arduino Store a variety of Genuino products available for purchase. After Genuino Uno, Genuino Starter Kit (in Italian and English) and Genuino Mega, today we have 2 new entries: Genuino Micro (18.00€ + tax) and Genuino Zero (42.90€ + tax).

Genuino is Arduino.cc’s sister-brand created by Arduino co-founders Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, and David Mellis, the Arduino.cc team and community. While Arduino branded product are sold in the US only for now, Genuino brand is used for boards and products sold everywhere else in the world. Genuino and Arduino boards share the same components, characteristics and quality of manufacturing. They are actually the same boards under a different name, and you can purchase them depending on the area of the world where you live in.

Arduino ZERO (USA only) & Genuino ZERO (outside USA) are a simple and powerful 32-bit extension of the platform established by the UNO. They provide a platform for innovative projects in smart IoT devices, wearable technology, high-tech automation, crazy robotics, and much more.

Arduino Micro (coming next in the USA) & Genuino Micro (already available outside USA) are the smallest of the family, easy to integrate in everyday objects to make them interactive. The Micro is based on the ATmega32U4 microcontroller featuring a built-in USB which makes the Micro recognisable as a mouse or keyboard. Looking for ideas on your next project with the Micro? Get inspired looking at these projects on the blog.

Starting today you can purchase Genuino Mega on the Arduino Store (35€ + tax) anywhere outside the USA,  and also Arduino Mega on the US Store (45.95$ + tax) USA only.

The Genuino MEGA 2560, like Arduino Mega 2560, is designed for more complex projects as it provides 54 digital I/O pins, 16 analog inputs and a larger space for your sketch. It’s the recommended board for 3D printers and robotics projects because it gives you plenty of room and opportunities and it’s compatible with most shields designed for the Uno and the older Diecimila or Duemilanove Arduino boards.

Genuino Mega and Arduino Mega share the same components, characteristics and quality of manufacturing. They are actually the same board under a different brand. Depending on the area of the world where you live you’ll be able to purchase an Arduino Mega or a Genuino Mega.

Explore inspiring projects made with the Mega.

Libraries are files written in C or C++ which provide sketches with extra functionality, for example the ability to control an LED matrix, read an encoder, connect to a sensor, display, or module, etc. They are very useful to lower the barriers for creating amazing interactive projects and use a wide range of components.  Libraries can be created by everyone and shared with the open source community!

To use an existing library in a sketch you can use the Library Manager (available from IDE version 1.6.2), open the IDE and click to the “Sketch” menu and then Include Library > Manage Libraries and follow the Guide on this page.

If you want contribute with a new library for an Arduino or a Genuino board, you are welcome to do so. The best way to start is to learn how to turn a sketch into a library and when you are good at it, learn how to code with basic Arduino principles in mind in order to allow beginners to get started with Arduino easily. Follow the Guidelines at this page, here’s a preview of what you’ve find:

Be kind to the end user. Assume you are writing an API for an intelligent person who has not programmed before. Come up with a clear mental model of the concept you’re working with, and the terms and functions you will use.

Use full, everyday words. Don’t be terse with your function names or variables. Use everyday terms instead of technical ones. Pick terms that correspond to popular perception of the concept at hand. Don’t assume specialized knowledge. For example, this is why we used analogWrite() rather than pwm(). Abbreviations are acceptable, though, if they’re in common use or are the primary name for something.For example, “HTML” is relatively common and “SPI” is effectively the name of that protocol (“serial-peripheral interface” is probably too long). (“Wire” was probably a mistake, as the protocol it uses is typically called “TWI” or “I2C”.)

Avoid words that have different meanings to the general public. For example, to programmers, an error is a notification that something happened. To the general public, errors are bad things.

When you are ready, you can share your new library and documentation on this dedicated area of the Forum.

We are happy to announce that Genuino Uno is now available for purchase on the Arduino Store (20 euro + tax).

In the last months we’ve been re-organizing manufacturing and starting today we are ready to provide the community with a series of Genuino boards.

Genuino and Arduino boards share the same components, characteristics and quality of manufacturing. They are actually the same boards under a different brand:

Thanks for your patience and stay tuned because in the next days we are going to release more Genuino boards!

Last weekend we were in Rome to take part to the third edition of Maker Faire Rome. With more than 100.000 participants, the event confirmed itself as the biggest Maker Faire outside of US. We thank you all for visiting our booth and express your support to Arduino.cc community.

On Saturday we had a special announcement to make, Intel and Massimo Banzi were on the main stage presenting the collaboration on the Arduino 101 and Genuino 101:

During the three days makers, designers, kids and parents, and many more visited the Genuino Booth and the Maker Store to see the new Arduino’s sister brand Genuino boards, explore the interactive installations and chat with the Arduino team:

Massimo Banzi met  many fans and took part to a lot of selfies :

Explore the gallery of all pictures on Arduino account on Flickr. And see you at Maker Faire Rome 2016!

Maker Faire Rome is over, and that means it’s time for the Arduino media blitz. Arduino has already had a big announcement this week with the introduction of the Arduino / Genuino 101 board powered by the Intel Curie module. Team .cc hasn’t forgotten all their Atmel-powered boards though. The latest news is that Arduinos will be manufactured in Germany by Watterott Electronics (.de, Google Translate).

Right now, Arduino.cc boards are manufactured in China by Seeed, and in the US by Adafruit and Sparkfun. Watterott Electronics is one of the premier hobby electronics distributors in Germany.

Boards made by Watterott will carry the Genuino mark; Arduino.cc seems to anticipate a loss in the Arduino vs. Arduino trademark dispute outside the US. All boards produced under license from Arduino.cc sold outside the US will carry the Genuino trademark, whereas boards produced for the US market will carry the Arduino trademark. Interestingly, this Arduino vs. Arduino split began with a former manufacturer, with a maelstrom of pettiness stemming from that trademark dispute. In any case, the licensing for boards manufactured by Watterott is most assuredly worked out by now. The new manufacturing partner guarantees a greater supply of Arduinos for all.

This week, Intel and Arduino are releasing their first product pushed directly on the education market, the Arduino/Genuino 101 board powered by the Intel Curie module.

The Intel Curie Module

The Arduino/Genuino 101 is the first development platform for the Intel Curie modules which are a recent development from Intel’s Maker and Innovator group. The button-sized Curie is a single package encapsulating microcontroller, Bluetooth, a 6-DOF IMU, and battery charging circuitry; the requisite hardware for anything marketed as a ‘wearable’. The Curie’s brain is a 32-bit Intel Quark microcontroller with 384kB of Flash 80kB SRAM, giving it about the same storage and RAM as a low-end ARM Cortex microcontroller.

Called a module, it needs a carrier board to interface with this hardware. This is where the Arduino/Genuino 101 comes in. This board – the third such collaboration between Intel and Arduino – provides the same form factor and pinout found in the most popular Arduino offering. While the Curie-based Arduino/Genuino 101 is not replacing the extraordinarily popular Arduino Uno and Leonardo, it is going after the same market – educators and makers – at a similar price, $30 USD or €27. For the same price as an Arduino Uno, the Arduino/Genuino 101 offers Bluetooth, an IMU, and strangely the same USB standard-B receptacle.

Intel has further plans in store for the Curie module; In 2016, Intel, [Mark Burnett] of reality television fame, and United Artists Media group will produce America’s Greatest Makers, a reality show featuring makers developing wearable electronics on TV. No, it’s not Junkyard Wars, but until the MacGyver reboot airs, it’s the closest we’re going to get to people building stuff on TV.

Intel’s Prior Arduino Offerings

In 2013, Intel and Arduino introduced the Galileo board, a dev board packed with I/Os, Ethernet, PCIe, and an Intel instruction set. This was a massive move away from all ARM, AVR, or PIC dev boards made in recent years, and marked Intel’s first foray into the world of education, making, and an Internet of Things. In 2014, Intel and Arduino released the Edison, a tiny, tiny board designed for the embedded market and entrepreneurs.

The Arduino 101 and Genuino 101 – different names for the same thing and the first great expression of arduino.cc’s troubles with trademarks and the Arduino vs Arduino war – are targeted specifically at the ‘maker’ market, however ephemeral and hard to define that is. The form of the Arduino 101 follows directly in the footsteps of the Arduino Uno and Leonardo; The 101 has the same footprint, the same pinout, a single USB port as the Leonardo.

Being the ‘maker market Arduino’, this board is designed to bring technology to the classroom. In a conference earlier this week, [Massimo] framed the Arduino 101 as the educational intersection between technology, coding, art, and design. Students who would not otherwise learn microcontroller development will learn to program an Arduino for art and design projects. The Arduino/Genuino 101 is the board that puts the STEAM in STEM education.

Where the Curie is Going

Intel has big plans for the Curie module, with a few products in the works already. The Intel Edison has made its way into consumer electronics and wearables, including an electronic ski coach that will tell you when to pizza and when to french fry. The Curie will be available independently of the Arduino/Genuino 101, with both products being released in early 2016.

From October 16th to 18th, most of us will be participating to the third edition of Maker Faire Rome. We’re setting up an amazing booth showcasing Genuino boards, Arduino Create, Casa Jasmina installations, educational projects from Creative Technologies in the Classroom (CTC), the new Genuino Starter Kit and much more!

We’ll be at Maker Faire Rome all three days at our new Genuino booth, right next to the Maker Store where, for the first time, you’ll be able to purchase Genuino Uno and Genuino Mega!

Take a look at the map below to see where we are (in front of Pavillion U) and click on it if you want to download a PDF version.

Here’s a little preview of what’s new at our booth:

Genuino Modules
The Genuino Modules aim at providing the user a breadboard-less experience in building interactive electronic systems. The family of products contains a Hub, a Shield and umpteen number of individual modules. The Hub is a microcontroller board by itself, based on the ATmega32u4. The Shield is an add-on board that can be mounted onto another board (like Uno). The modules can be used by connecting them directly to the Hub, or to another Genuino or Arduino board using the Shield.

Eslov
The Eslov project is Genuino’s open-source, smart modular development platform made of a hub that connects to a computer, and a series of smart blocks. Each block features different functions, from analog sensors (like LDRs or potentiometers), to gyroscopes, accelerometers or even digital servo motors.
The different blocks automatically identify themselves in the Visual IDE when plugged to their hub. You can then virtually connect the blocks to one another by drawing pipes between sensor and actuator blocks. Without programming a single line of code, it’s possible to build complex prototypes like a seismic detector, a pet tracking device, or your own fitness band. Each block comes with a default firmware ready to run as part of the Eslov platform, but it is also possible to use it in combination with any of the existing Genuino or Arduino boards as a smart device connected via I2C.

Arduino Create 
Arduino Create is a platform that simplifies making a project as a whole, without having to switch between many different tools to manage the various aspects of whatever you are making.
You can write code and upload sketches to any Arduino & Genuino board directly from the browser, store all your sketches online, and access them from any device. The web-based software (IDE) offered by the Arduino Create platform is always up-to-date, including the latest Libraries and Cores, without having to install anything. Boards around you are automatically available in one single dropdown. You can add Schematics and Layout PNGs to your sketches, so that you have in one place all the core elements of your project.

During the three days you can also play with some cool interactive installations, among which:

Colour Theremin
The theremin is a musical electronic instrument that plays monophonic melodies by hand gestures. In this version, Colour Theremin creates a color ‘symphony': its intensity and shade are controlled by the movements of hands. The installation is based on a FastLED library by Daniel Garcia and Mark Kriegsman and it’s running on a Genuino Uno, an LCD shield, two ultrasound sensors, one pot for speed and 122 WS2812b pixels.

(S)passoUno
A DIY Live Stop Motion Tool heavily based on the work of Alexandre Quessy’s ToonLoop (2009), edited and used in Arduino and Processing workshop by Davide Gomba and Mirco Piccin.
(S)passoUno offers the player the possiblity to easily create a custom animation positioning objects on a lasercut board. Add a frame by pressing the Big Red Button, erase the last frame by pressing the Big Black Button, choose a sequence, add colors, add symmetry effects and enjoy the result!

(s)passo uno

Ready to celebrate the maker movement with us? Add the following events to your agenda:

• Friday, 16th October at 11.00am - During the Opening Conference “Life with the Machines” taking place at Aula Magna of Sapienza, Massimo Banzi will have a keynote and an important announcement.
• Saturday 17th October at 4.30pm – Massimo Banzi and Bruce Sterling will talk about “Casa Jasmina, the IoT for real people” at Room 10 of the Maker Faire (check map above).

Share your pictures and thoughts on social media channels using the hashtag #MFR15 and #Genuino

Get your discounted ticket to Maker Faire Rome (promo valid until October 14th –  h.18).

We are happy to announce that the new Genuino Starter Kit is now available on store.arduino.cc (customers from the USA will be redirected to the US-based store and will be able to purchase the Arduino Starter Kit from there).

Genuino Starter Kit, like the Arduino Starter Kit, is a great way to get started with making, coding and electronics!

Genuino is Arduino.cc’s sister-brand created by Arduino co-founders Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, and David Mellis, the Arduino.cc team and community.
This brand is used for boards and products sold outside the US and the Genuino Starter Kit is the first product of the series!

The Starter Kit is based on lessons Arduino’s founders have learned teaching their own classes: if you start with the assumption that learning to make digital technologies is simple and accessible, you can really make it so.

The package includes a Genuino Uno board and the components you need to make 15 fun projects following the step-by-step tutorials on the Project Book. The book walks you through the basics in a hands-on way, with creative projects you build by learning. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll have a palette of software and circuits that you can use to create something beautiful, and useful!

Genuino Starter Kit will also be available for purchase during Maker Faire Rome! Come and visit us, we’ll be happy to show you demos and projects based on Arduino and Genuino boards.

Arduino/Genuino team were in China last month to be part of Shenzhen Maker Faire and present to local makers the new Genuino boards, together with Seeedstudio. They  also had the pleasure to meet with Arduino users, teachers, students and makers of all ages with great skills.
Here’s a selection of pictures form those amazing days (all the pictures are on our Flickr).

Thanks to all the people visiting our booth and warmly welcoming us in China!