Earlier today, Arduino co-founder David Cuartielles participated in DSI4EU’s policy workshop entitled “Shaping the Future of Digital Social Innovation in Europe,” which gathered digital social innovators and policy makers to inspire and connect with different networks. During the workshop, Cuartielles and other leaders demonstrated clear examples of digital social innovation throughout Europe, along with some best practices and hands-on tips.

How is Digital Social Innovation (DSI) connected with Maker Culture, you ask? DSI is a type of collaborative innovation in which users and communities collaborate with digital technologies to co-create knowledge and solutions for a wide range of social needs at a scale that was unimaginable before the rise of the Internet. The organizations and projects identified and mapped by DSI4EU can be grouped within six broad domains and projects like Arduino are empowering people to develop New Ways of Making thanks to open hardware and educational programs!

DSI4EU is a support action in the H2020 Collective Awareness Platforms program. The initiative will grow and scale the current Digital Social Innovation network of projects, organizations, and individuals bringing together social entrepreneurs, hackers, communities, and academics working on key DSI fields such as the Maker Movement, the collaborative economy, open democracy and digital rights. It’s fostering digital innovations for social good, helping communities share data, collaborate to solve societal problems, and scale their initiatives focusing on open and distributed technologies and new sustainable business models. Finally, it’s representing the building blocks for a new participatory innovation model for Europe, a more decentralised web and an inclusive and sustainable society, including a radical approach to scaling, extending and connecting the DSI network in Europe.

Food Screening is an Arduino-based project inspired by the act of watching films while eating meals alone, and was conceived especially for people living on their own abroad. The installation–developed by visual communicator Fongyee Ng in collaboration with Han–gyeol Lee–uses light and distance sensors to create an interaction with each food item, which triggers a snippet from a film that mimics the sound effects of consuming the meal, making eating alone a more entertaining experience.

The CALEIDUINO is an Arduino-based digital and sound reactive kaleidoscope, designed to serve as a toy, an art object, and a tool for teaching electronics and programming in a playful yet creative way.

At the heart of CALEIDUINO is a PCB for connecting an Arduino Nano, a TFT 1.8 “display, an analog 3-axis accelerometer GY-61, a piezoelectric, a switch, and a 9V battery–all of which are housed inside a hexagonal methacrylate case. Just like in any kaleidoscope, t three mirrors in triangular prism shape, while an accelerometer collects a user’s movement to generate the psychedelic graphics and sounds.

In terms of software, the CALEIDUINO uses the Arduino IDE along with the Adafruit GFX and ST7735 libraries. The project is entirely open source and is the work of artist José Manuel González. You can read more about the device here, or see it in action below.

Anyone who has ever watched Ghostbusters is surely familiar with the iconic proton pack–the combination of a handheld wand and backpack-sized particle accelerator that’s the weapon of choice for weakening ghosts and aiding in capturing them. And with a remake of the ‘80s flick coming out in a few days, what better time for a DIY prop equipped with full-featured user control and Hollywood-like effects?

That’s exactly what John Fin has done using a bunch of household items, including a five gallon bucket for the cyclotron, a garlic powder container for the N-Filter, a hairbrush for the PKE meter, as well as spark plug wire, cardboard tubes, pill bottles, handles from power tool cases, and a couple electrical boxes and miscellaneous parts.

The proton pack is based on an Arduino Uno along with a Seeed Studio SD card shield containing .WAV files. The Arduino supplies all of the sound and light effects, except for the cyclotron lights which use a 555 timer and 4017 decade counter. The sound is amplified through an old computer speaker board, while two homemade boards control the lights.

The red lights on the cyclotron area are supposed to be asymmetrical. This project took two weekends to make, one for the pack and one for the gun. It is attached to a homemade  PVC “ALICE” frame. I tried to make it as light as possible, the whole unit weighs just 13 lbs. Its not fully “screen accurate” but more like a “Model 3″ version. The addition of a bunch of actual electronic components make it look more like it is a  functional unit instead of a prop.

The power meter on the gun and pack are synced to show an accumulating “charge” while a generator sound plays. When armed, the lights on the gun blink and the generator sound intensifies. When it’s fired, the barrel lights and the blast sound plays as the charge meter decreases to zero. It then shuts off and recharges.

Russian artist ::vtol:: is no stranger to the Arduino blog. His latest project–which was designed for the Polytechnic Museum Moscow and Ars Electronica Linz–is an autonomous light-music installation called “Divider.” The wall-mounted soundscape consists of seven lasers that horizontally send rays through 42 fans, which act as modulators to turn the light signals into rhythmic impulses. Seven photo sensors on the end monitor the presence or absence of light, while four Arduino Mega boards control the system.

The lasers serve a “independent binary variables” which become the basis for all sound composition. Since the fans can each spin at variable speeds, this allows for a constant shift of modulation phases and a wide range of noises.

According to ::vtol::, the Divider is inspired by Léon Theremin’s Rhythmicon, the world’s first rhythm machine. The 1931 device also used rotating discs to interrupt light rays and optical sensors to pick up light and produce rhythms.

Sound interesting? Wait until you see it perform below! You can also check it out here.

Grand Slam tournaments, like Wimbledon, always prompt a discussion around the sometimes-disconcerting noises tennis players make on the court. Although some may argue that grunting helps apply the maximal force when striking the ball, others believe the shrieking is completely unnecessary and downright annoying. There are even top names in the game whose screams routinely top 100 decibels–only slightly less than the sound of a power saw–which has led many to call into question whether or not the behavior is actually a form of cheating.

Mindful of this, Maker Seiya Kobayashi has come up with a hilarious project that is the perfect blend of fun and function: a racquet that grunts whenever it’s swung. A user simply selects one of four notable noisemakers–Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal–and the aptly named Grunting Racket will take care of the rest.

In theory, this allows you to focus on your footwork and making proper contact, while the combination of an Arduino Pro Mini, an accelerometer, and speaker emits the obnoxious sounds. Additional components include a LiPo battery, an Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board, and a button on the grip for choosing between grunters.

The project has come a long way since its earliest prototype, which only used an accelerometer, FX Sound Board, and an Arduino Uno connected to a PC.  Now, the electronics are all neatly housed inside the racquet’s handle. While you won’t find a gadget like this around the All England Club anytime soon, you can check it out in action below!

As part of their final project at EDN – Navàs, robotics students Rafart Jordi and Marc Thomas recently built an impressive Arduino simulator that captures video from a camera-equipped RC vehicle and displays it on a TV screen, making it feel as though you’re in the driver’s seat of a shrunken-down car.

The simulator is driven by an Arduino Uno along with an IBT-2 H-Bridge to control the 24V motors, and wirelessly communicates with the modified toy car via an XBee module.

You have to see it in action below!

While this recent project may look like something straight out of Simone Giertz’s notebook, it’s actually the brainchild of James Cochrane. The engineer, who admittedly loves building all sorts of crazy machines, has developed an apparatus he calls the IoT Robot People/Pet Affectionator.

As its name would suggest, the Affectionator is an Arduino Nano-driven device that automatically gives his dog T-Bone a pat on the head along with a spoon-fed treat at the touch of an arcade button. That’s not all, though. It even allows the pup to reciprocate by pressing his own button and sending over a token of his appreciation on a fork–which in Cochrane’s case is a gummy worm.

Aside from the Arduino, the Affectionator is equipped with two H-Bridge motor drivers, two geared Pittman motors, and two geared hobby motors.

These days people are more connected with each other, however we are experiencing fewer physical interactions. This device will allow you to provide affection either locally or remotely to your pet without any physical contact. If your pet decides you are also worthy of their affection they can also reciprocate with a pat on the head and a tasty treat.

One day while giving my dog T-Bone a scratch behind the ears I came up with this silly idea. A robot which gives you a pet on the head and feeds you a treat. With the IoT, you can also build two of these and network them across the Internet.

Intrigued? Watch the hilarious idea in action below!

A big thanks to everyone who already submitted their projects, performances, and workshops for Maker Faire Rome. However, due to such an incredible demand, the  Call for Makers submission deadline has been extended to Thursday, June 30th. That means you have one more week to send your applications to participate in the 4th edition of Europe’s biggest innovation event, held October 14-16,2016 at Fiera di Roma.

Want to join us in celebrating Maker culture this fall? With more than 100,000 square meters of exhibition space available, the time to submit your project is now!

Prizes and contests
All the projects selected within the Call for Makers are automatically eligible for the following prizes and contests if they match the requirements specified in each regulation.

• R.O.M.E. Prize –  Rome Outstanding Maker of Europe – 100,000 euro!
• Make to Care – Projects about health and disability
• Startup Contest – Projects related to Internet of Things (IoT)

The LEDmePlay is an open-source DIY gaming console powered by an Arduino Mega. Games are displayed on a 32 x 32 RGB LED matrix housed inside an IKEA picture frame, and played using any C64-compatible joystick from the ‘80s. LEDmePlay supports several games, each of which are downloadable for free online, and Makers are encouraged to develop their own as well.

Its creator Mithotronic has also built a handheld variant for on-the-go fun, LEDmePlayBoy. This device is based on the same Arduino Mega, powered by eight AA batteries, and uses an analog thumb joystick and two fire buttons for control.

Interested? You can check out the LEDmePlay’s construction manual, and find all of the games’ source codes here.