Last June Arduino partnered with Seeedstudio to manufacture Genuino boards for the chinese market and during Maker Faire Rome Massimo Banzi took part to an interesting panel to promote  4 chinese delegates from business, education, design and research domains presenting their work and discussing what does it mean to be a maker in China. (in the pic from left to right, Lin, Massimo, Alessio, Jin, Chenille & Flamingo).

The panel titled Making beyond the Wall and moderated by Alessio Jacona tried to address the growing maker movement in China which is not so visible to the European community while the hype of manufacture in Shenzhen, the Chinese Silicon Valley, is gaining more and more international media attention.

Flamingo was the first presenter of the session. Indeed he was also the first person to use Arduino boards in China back in 2007. As an evangelist, he taught physical interactions in China Central Academy of Fine Arts and even started the digital firm K1ND Beijing with Ogilvy China, which focus on interactive design with open source technologies for business projects.

He introduced LightBot (watch video on youku) made in collaboration with Jun Huang, an architect based in China. It’s an installation using LEDs as a brush to draw on light-sensitive canvas. The material on the wall glows after being exposed to light, particularly ultraviolet light, and fades away after some time. Lightbox is powered by an Arduino controlling 1024 LED lights installed on the pallet and stepper motors to control the movement.

Then it was the turn for  Jin  introducing Minibuilder and Candy Project (we featured her work in our blog earlier) created during her fellowship at Iaac. With her international background, Jin explained how she realized how the culture of making in China is focusing more on hardware startups with strong potential to accelerate thanks to great manufacturing opportunities. Whereas in the West, people see it more as a hobby or prefer to explore the conceptual development in a lab environment.  Nowadays she is implementing a new VR projects in China.

Later Lin explained his work as a tutor at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing and also his commitment as a community manager of mechanics and robotics in arduino.cn forum, the community of Arduino fans who also participated to Arduino Day. He worked on various projects and applied Arduino in hemiplegia rehabilitation equipment through sensor feedback and in a gearbox to detect malfunctions through vibration, temperature and stress.

Last but not least, Chenille talked about how he wrote the first book about Arduino in China and more recently, translated the third edition of Getting started with Arduino book into Chinese. He’s now working on a brainwave-controlled music player.

The panel was a good chance to present to an european crowd real experiences from the voice of chinese makers and sharing good practices for future collaborations.

Are you based in China and  want to share a project made with an Arduino or Genuino board? Submit it to the blog, we’d like to feature it and tell your story!

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!

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).

Yes, we made it! You have some more days to complete your application for Maker Faire Rome – The European edition, and be with us next October. So far, we received many interesting, challenging, surprising projects and we don’t want to miss yours: defeat the procrastinator hiding in you and submit you project now!

Projects will be selected by a jury and will participate free of charge. If your project is accepted:

• you can exhibit your project: we’ll give you for free a booth with table and chairs inside the halls, which will be filled with visitors who are curious and interested in meeting you
• you can make a presentation in public: we’ll give you for free a room or a stage where you can talk about your project or tell your story or deal with the issues that you want to propose
• you can hold a workshop: we’ll give you for free a workshop area where you can do interactive demonstrations and engage participants -adults and / or children- in practical activities
• you can perform in public: we’ll give you for free a space or a stage  to perform in your
  creative, technological, robotic, musical, pyrotechnic performance.

Last year Maker Faire Rome welcomed 600 projects, 200 performances, 90.000 visitors coming from all over the world.  Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition recently announced its third edition scheduled from the 16th to the 18th of October 2015 and will take place at  “La Sapienza” University in Rome, exceptionally “closed” for three days to host this international event.

The Curators of the Faire, Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino and Riccardo Luna, italian Digital Champion, are inviting makers of all kinds and ages to showcase their amazing work and embrace the do-it-yourself (or do-it-together) spirit with a great and appreciative audience.

Are you a Maker, an Innovator, a digital Craftsman? The MakerFaireRome’s Call4Makers is out!

There are many ways to participate:

• you can exhibit your project: we’ll give you a booth with table and chairs inside the halls, which will be filled with visitors who are curious and interested in meeting you
• you can give a presentation in public: we’ll give you a room or a stage where you can talk about your project or tell your story or deal with the issues that you want to propose
• you can hold a workshop: we’ll give you a workshop area where you can do interactive demonstrations and engage participants -adults and / or children- in practical activities
• you can perform in public: we’ll give you a space or a stage for you to perform in your creative, technological, robotic, musical, pyrotechnic performance…

The proposals regarding the exposure of projects, if accepted, will lead to the allocation of a booth, free of charge. Presence is required at this booth while Maker Faire Rome 2015 is open to the public (three days). It will also be possible to sell products or gadgets.

Accepted projects will be valorized on the MakerFaire Rome website. Besides, Maker Faire Rome press & media team will diffuse info about participants to the newspapers, radio and television stations, which in the past years have devoted a lot of attention to the projects and performers.

We expect creative, innovative, fun, interactive projects, showing the process by which the achievements enrich visitors, communicating passion and ingenuity.

Are you thinking about participanting? In the meanwhile:

• spread the word! #MFR15
• help us to involve all the makers you know (and especially those who still do not know they are makers!)
• subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed about news, events and discounts!

We are looking forward to seeing you all in Rome in October!

Maker Faire Rome video interviews – “What have you built with Arduino?” – A couple of new protagonists for our short series:

• Bee Uno – Arduino-controlled DJ midi controller, interview with the makers
  

• ITIS-LS – F. Giordani students’ quad ambient controller

Explore playlist on Youtube >>

Maker Faire Rome video interviews – “What have you built with Arduino?” – A couple of new protagonists for our short series:

• Soluppgång (Lampada Solare) – Interactive Sunlight Lamp, university project

• Fablab Torino – Interview with Fabrizio Garda, the latest projects created at Fablab Torino

Explore playlist on Youtube >>

Maker Faire Rome video interviews – “What have you built with Arduino?” – A couple of new protagonists for our short series:

• Zaho – Print your own megastructure – Controlled by Arduino
• Eco Floppy Robot – Robot controlled by Arduino

Explore playlist on Youtube >>

Are connected objects the next big thing? Will they really become part of our life?
Watch Massimo Banzi keynote at Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition to learn more about the Arduino approach to this topic:

Last weekend the second edition of Maker Faire Rome – The European Edition,  hosted 90,000 people (15,000 young boys and girls!) at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, discovering more than 600 maker projects, participated to workshops and attended the conferences and many light-talks.

Take a look at some snapshots on our Flickr account: we took them during the faire at the Arduino Booth and Store (also behind the scene),  the Arduino Activities and the presentations announcing  the State of Arduino and CasaJasmina – the open source connected home – curated by Bruce Sterling. During the long and intense weekend Arduino participated also to the press conference and vernissage of the exhibition 50 years of italian inventions, from Programma 101 to the first 3d printed car, a project by Make in Italy CDB foundation.

In the next weeks we are going to share some  videos of the presentations and the events of those amazing days! Thanks for participating to Maker Faire Rome! Stay tuned…

Do you have any picture to share about the event? Post the link in the comments!