STEMpedia and Arduino bring block-based coding to the Arduino® UNO R4 WiFi and UNO R4 Minima boards as well as the Arduino® Alvik robot.

Every maker remembers the moment something they built first came to life: an LED blinking, a servo sweeping, a sensor reacting to a hand wave. Today, that moment gets a lot easier to reach thanks to a new collaboration between STEMpedia and Arduino!

We’re excited to reveal that PictoBlox 10.0, STEMpedia’s coding and technology creation platform, has expanded its Arduino compatibility to include the UNO R4 WiFi, UNO R4 Minima, and Alvik robot. 

And what better place to celebrate this news than at Maker Faire Rome 2026? Join us from October 23rd–25th to explore the new integration and try PictoBlox for yourself! 

From first-time coder to confident creator

Arduino has long been a starting point in electronics for makers, students and educators.PictoBlox brings a visual, drag-and-drop programming experience that helps users to focus on programming concepts without having to start with coding syntax. Together, they can help beginners go from “I’ve never coded” to “I built a working project” in a single session.

But PictoBlox isn’t just for beginners – or just for programming. Beyond block-based coding and Python, the platform is designed to let users explore AI and machine learning, experiment with tinyML and intelligent systems, program compatible robotics and electronic hardware, and develop IoT projects. It also supports game and animation development, opening up even more opportunities for hands-on creativity and experimentation.

Announcing the collaboration, Dhrupal Shah, CEO and Co-Founder of STEMpedia, said: “Great innovations begin with the freedom to experiment. By expanding Arduino board support in PictoBlox, we are making it easier for learners and makers around the world to turn their ideas into working projects. 

“Students can create AI-powered projects and train their own Machine Learning models, making complex technologies more accessible. We’re excited to see how this collaboration inspires the global maker community to explore, build, and innovate.”

What you can do with PictoBlox and Arduino

Combining visual programming with Arduino hardware opens up all sorts of creative possibilities:

• Program with blocks: snap together scripts instead of typing code, and see how your Arduino responds right away.
• Work with sensors: read inputs such as an IR sensor and use them to trigger actions.
• Control actuators: drive LEDs and servo motors from your scripts.
• Go wireless: control your projects from a smartphone using Dabble, a project interaction and Bluetooth controller app.

By bringing together Arduino’s hardware ecosystem and PictoBlox’s versatile coding environment, the collaboration aims to make technology creation more approachable and open up new possibilities for the global maker community to learn, build, share, and innovate. 

Built for classrooms, clubs and makerspaces

Whether you’re teaching in a classroom, running a coding club or experimenting in a makerspace, this expanded integration is all about trying to lower the learning barrier and open up new possibilities for creative exploration.

By helping reduce the need to manage syntax, block-based coding means learners can focus on developing essential skills like logical thinking, problem-solving and understanding how code works. And as their confidence grows, they can build on these foundations, explore text-based programming and take on increasingly ambitious projects within the Arduino ecosystem.

For educators, it’s a compelling combination: an approachable software environment and a familiar, well-supported hardware platform, with plenty of room for students to learn, experiment and grow – all in one workflow! 

Get hands-on at Maker Faire Rome! 

Heading to Maker Faire Rome this year? Be sure to stop by booth N.02, where you can see PictoBlox and Arduino in action, try out the new integration for yourself and chat with the team. We’d love to see you there!

Download PictoBlox at: https://thestempedia.com/product/pictoblox/download-pictoblox/

Arduino, UNO, Alvik and the Arduino logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Arduino S.r.l.

The post More ways to code, more ways to create: PictoBlox expands Arduino support appeared first on Arduino Blog.

Maker Faire Rome is back! On October 23rd–25th makers, engineers, educators, and tech enthusiasts will gather for three incredible days of innovation, hands-on demos, and live talks.

We’re proud to be Gold Sponsors of this edition and, as always, we’ll be right in the middle of the action! We’re setting up shop with live demos, talks on stage, special offers, and plenty of new hardware to explore. Come visit booth N.02 to experiment with new boards and kits, take your first steps into physical AI, or just to catch up – we love seeing you all!

Here is a quick look at what we’re bringing to Rome this year.

Live demos and partner highlights

Stop by our booth to see a selection of Arduino products and new launches in action. This year, we invite you to go deeper into what’s possible when open source meets physical computing:

• Tangible Tech with the Arduino^® VENTUNO Q board: Get an up-close look at physical AI with the Tangible Tech demo powered by VENTUNO Q, demonstrating how supported hardware can process inputs and respond to physical interactions with low latency.
• Social Robot Demo (with STMicroelectronics): We’ve teamed up with STMicroelectronics to build a collaborative social robot demo! You can check it out live at both the Arduino booth and the ST booth, where ST will also be highlighting industrial monitoring, e-scooters, and edge sensing. Plus, catch us on stage at the ST booth for a joint talk

Get hands-on at the booth!

We’re bringing a selection of hardware to test drive at the booth, including:

• Arduino^® UNO Q and VENTUNO Q: Explore our dual-brain boards built to bridge real-time microcontroller control with Linux runtimes and local AI capabilities.
• UNO Q DIY Synth Bundle: For the music makers, come hear how digital signal processing and Python scripts can be used to create custom synthesizer projects.
• Arduino^® USB Camera: Check out our new launch for computer vision projects and real-world sensing.
• And more new launches we’ll unveil soon!

Planning to expand your setup? Visitors who sign up for our newsletter at the booth will score a 10% discount on their next hardware purchase!

Explore AI learning with Qualcomm Academy

Since the beginning, Arduino has maintained a longstanding focus on education, supporting students and educators with hands-on electronic tools and resources. At Maker Faire Rome, that focus will include AI learning opportunities. If you’re looking to build AI skills, our friends from Qualcomm Academy will be joining us at the booth. They’ll be presenting new certification programs  designed for developers who want to build AI skills in deployment using our compatible edge platforms.

Don’t miss the keynotes and stage talks 

As many of you will remember, Maker Faire Rome 2025 was the first public event where we presented UNO Q. After one year, we take the stage to celebrate! 

Mark your calendars for two key presentations:

• From UNO Q to VENTUNO Q: Arduino’s First Year with Qualcomm
  Speaker: Stefano Implicito, Marketing Director at Arduino
  When: October 23 at 4:30 PM
  What: A look into how Arduino and Qualcomm Technologies are shaping the future of edge AI and accessible compute.
• One Year of Projects with Arduino UNO Q
  Speaker: Massimo Banzi, Co-founder of Arduino
  When: October 24 at 4:00 PM 
  What: Massimo takes the stage to showcase a selection of creative and technically sophisticated community-built projects created with UNO Q over its first year. If you missed his talk at Maker Faire Bay Area, this is your chance to catch him. 

Get your tickets online, come meet us in person! 

If you’re planning to attend, please note that there will be no physical ticket counter at the venue in Rome. All tickets must be purchased in advance online at the official Maker Faire Rome website.

Purchase your tickets, drop by booth N.02 to say hi to the team, and let us know what you’re building. Ciao! 

Qualcomm Academy is a program of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Arduino, UNO, and VENTUNO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Arduino S.r.l.

The post See you at Maker Faire Rome 2026! appeared first on Arduino Blog.

Italians have a love of innovation and design and it shows at Maker Faire Rome. In this episode of Make:Cast, I look back at Maker Faire Rome in October 2019 during a pre-Covid time when live events could happen. I was guided through Maker Faire Rome by Alessandro Ranellucci, the curator of Maker Faire Rome, along with Massimo Banzi, co-founder of Arduino. Maker Faire Rome 2020 is happening as a virtual event this weekend.

Read more on MAKE

The post Make:cast – To Maker Faire Rome with Love appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

We’re just days away from Maker Faire Rome — The European Edition, taking place October 18-20th at Fiera di Roma. This year’s Arduino booth, which will be located inside Pavilion 8, will be broken up into three areas:

• Education: We will be exhibiting our lineup of Arduino Education kits — Science Kit Physics Lab, CTC 101, CTC Go!, and Engineering Kit — and offer visitors hands-on demonstrations to learn more about the Arduino educational journey, covering students and educators from secondary school to university.

• Makers: We will be showcasing the Dark Side Rover, the grand prize winner of the Ultimate Arduino Challenge contest. Nicolas Gilbert and his class, the authors of the project, will be at the booth and organize some practical demonstrations with the robots. 

• Arduino IoT Cloud and connected products: In this section, we’ll highlight two demos connected to the Arduino IoT Cloud. There will also be an exhibition of our MKR family boards, featuring a range of connectivity options like WiFi, Bluetooth, NB-IoT, Sigfox and LoRa.

The Arduino booth will include an interactive basketball installation as well — all visitors will have the opportunity to win some Arduino boards, goodies, and much more! 

Finally, members of the Arduino team will join Maker Faire Rome’s program all weekend long. 

• On Thursday, October 17th, Massimo Banzi and Valentina Chinnici, Arduino Education Product Manager, will participate in Maker Faire’s opening conference ‘Groundbreakers – re:making the future’ (5:45pm, Ex caserma Guido Reni, via Guido Reni 7 — register here). 

• On Saturday, October 19th, Massimo will give his traditional ‘State of Arduino,’ discussing the latest developments and future challenges for the company (4pm, Stage B in Pavilion 8).

If you are planning to attend, please visit Maker Faire’s Rome website to find the full agenda, plus other important information. Finally, don’t forget to invite your friends and post on social media tagging @Arduino and using the hashtag #MFR19.

Planning to attend Maker Faire Rome in October? We’re currently seeking volunteers to join our team during the event—staffing tables and displays, helping with demos, and providing technical assistance when necessary.

Those who help us for one shift will receive a day pass; spend two days with us, and you’ll have a ticket for the entire weekend to explore the show. Water and snacks will be provided, of course, and we’ve even prepared a small gift to show our appreciation for your time and effort.

Interested? Please fill out this questionnaire, and we’ll get back to you soon! (If you are under the age of 18, we will need your parents’ permission.)

• When: October 12th-14th (Friday-Sunday)
• Venue: Pavillion 7, Fiera di Roma, Viale Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, 79, 00148 Ponte Galeria RM
• Shifts: See this online form
• More info: Email events@arduino.cc

Maker Faire Rome: AAA, cercasi volontarie e volontari per il booth Arduino

Cercasi volontari/e per Arduino! Hai in programma di visitare Maker Faire Roma? Siamo alla ricerca di volontarie e volontari per lo il nostro booth – che ci aiutino a spiegare i progetti e diano supporto durante le demo.

Con un turno di volontariato allo stand Arduino, avrai a disposizione un pass per la giornata; se, invece, sarai al nostro booth per almeno due giorni avrai il pass per l’intero evento. Sappiamo quanto sia importante il tuo tempo e quanto sia fondamentale il tuo aiuto al nostro booth, per questo motivo saremo felici di offrirti il pranzo e una selezione di gadget Arduino.

Ti interessa partecipare al booth Arduino? Per favore completa questo form, ti faremo sapere prestissimo!

Se hai meno di 18 anni, puoi partecipare ma con il consenso firmato dei tuoi genitori!

• Quando: 12, 13 e 14 Ottobre 2018 (Venerdì, Sabato, Domenica)
• Dove: Padiglione 7, Fiera di Roma, Viale Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, 79, 00148 Ponte Galeria Roma
• Per ogni informazione: contattare events@arduino.cc

How can you help advance Industry 4.0 using the Arduino ecosystem? From robots and predictive maintenance to remote control and data acquisition, we’ve teamed up Distrelec to launch a new Automation & Robotics Contest challenging our community to create innovative solutions that can make the industry faster, cheaper, more flexible, and efficient.

Participants are required to tap into our extensive range of IoT boards like the MKR1000 WiFi and MKR GSM 1400, libraries, and online platform to bring their ideas to life. Industrial automation projects could target energy management, remote monitoring, machine safety, or predictive maintenance, for example, using Arduino Create to set up, control, and connect your Arduino, Intel, and Arm-based devices. Robotics projects could include designs for surveillance drones, robotic arms, rovers, or autonomous transportation, leveraging feature-rich boards like the Mega and Due to prototype advanced systems. 

How to Enter

• Create a free account on Arduino.cc (or log in if already a member).
• Register for the contest by clicking “Register as a participant.”
• Send your concept to the Arduino/Distrelec: Automation & Robotics Contest by June 29, 2018. The top 150 makers will receive a coupon for Distrelec online store. Moreover, there will be a series of micro contests, with weekly prizes handed out from Distrelec.
• Design, build, and submit your project by September 16, 2018. Winning projects will be selected based on their originality, quality, creativity, and social impact. 

Prizes

• 1st Place: Keithley DMM6500 Bench Top Multimeter and a trip to Maker Faire Rome 
• 2nd Place: Weller WT1010 Set: WT1 Soldering Station, WTP90 Soldering Iron, Safety Rest 200, XNT A Soldering Tip
• 3rd-10th Place: Grove Starter Kit for Arduino

Ready to get started? You can find more information on the contest here and browse Distrelec’s entire Arduino lineup on their website. To submit your ideas, please visit the Arduino Project Hub. And remember, projects must use an Arduino board in order to be eligible to win!

Planning on attending Maker Faire Rome next month? We’re currently seeking volunteers to join our team during the event—staffing tables and displays, leading one-on-one workshops and demos, and providing technical assistance when necessary.

If you volunteer with us for one shift, you won’t leave empty-handed! You’ll receive a day pass; spend two days with us, and you’ll have a ticket for the entire weekend to explore the show. Water and snacks will be provided, of course, along with some Arduino goodies.

Interested in helping out at our booth? Please fill out this questionnaire, and we’ll get back to you soon!

If you are underage, we will need your parents’ permission.

• When: December 1st-3rd (Friday-Sunday)
• Venue: Pavillion 6, Fiera di Roma, Viale Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, 79, 00148 Ponte Galeria RM
• Shifts: See this online form
• More info at events@arduino.cc

Maker Faire Rome: AAAA, cercasi volontar* per il booth Arduino

Hai in programma di partecipare a Maker Faire Roma? Entra a far parte del team di volontar* all’Arduino booth! Stiamo cercando appassionat* di Arduino che ci aiutino durante l’evento dando il benvenuto ai visitatori e fornendo assistenza tecnica e supporto durante le demo.

Con un turno di volontariato allo stand Arduino, avrai a disposizione un pass per l’intera giornata; se, invece, sarai al nostro booth per almeno due turni avrai il pass per i tre giorni di evento. Sappiamo quanto sia importante il tuo tempo e quanto sia fondamentale il tuo aiuto al nostro booth, per questo motivo saremo felici di offrirti il pranzo e una selezione di gadget Arduino.

Ti interessa diventare un* volontari* al booth Arduino? Per favore completa questo form, ti faremo sapere prestissimo!

Se hai meno di 18 anni, puoi partecipare ma con il consenso firmato dei tuoi genitori!

• Quando: 1, 2 e 3 Dicembre 2017 (Venerdì, Sabato, Domenica)
• Dove: Padiglione 6, Fiera di Roma, Viale Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, 79, 00148 Ponte Galeria Roma
• Turni: Vedi questo form
• Per ogni informazione: contattare events@arduino.cc

If you love chess, but aren’t thrilled about playing it on an app, the InfiVention team has just the board for you.

The origin of the game chess is a fascinating and somewhat unknown tale, stretching continents and many hundreds of years. In the last 25 or so years, however, it has gone from a game played on a beautiful board with finely crafted pieces, to something played on a computer or smartphone. Perhaps this is a good thing, since finding competition is as easy as signing into the correct game.

On the other hand, this type of play looses a lot of charm, and you can’t exactly pass the app on your beat up smartphone to your kids one day. Attempting to fill in the gap is the amazing automated board called “Square Off.” With an Arduino Mega 2560 at its core, it automatically moves the pieces, and detects where you move, allowing you to play in the real world with someone remotely–even if he or she is merely using a tablet!

Square Off is all set to redefine the world of board games, starting with chess. Bringing to you the world’s smartest, most connected and the most evolved chess board. It enables you to play your favorite game against a fellow chess enthusiast from anywhere in the world. The automated board is designed to reflect the move of your opponent with precision. Not just that, you can challenge the artificial intelligence of the board, too.

Intrigued? You can learn more about Square Off on its nearly-funded (as of this writing) Kickstarter page, as well as on the Arduino Project Hub!

If you love chess, but aren’t thrilled about playing it on an app, the InfiVention team has just the board for you.

The origin of the game chess is a fascinating and somewhat unknown tale, stretching continents and many hundreds of years. In the last 25 or so years, however, it has gone from a game played on a beautiful board with finely crafted pieces, to something played on a computer or smartphone. Perhaps this is a good thing, since finding competition is as easy as signing into the correct game.

On the other hand, this type of play looses a lot of charm, and you can’t exactly pass the app on your beat up smartphone to your kids one day. Attempting to fill in the gap is the amazing automated board called “Square Off.” With an Arduino Mega 2560 at its core, it automatically moves the pieces, and detects where you move, allowing you to play in the real world with someone remotely–even if he or she is merely using a tablet!

Square Off is all set to redefine the world of board games, starting with chess. Bringing to you the world’s smartest, most connected and the most evolved chess board. It enables you to play your favorite game against a fellow chess enthusiast from anywhere in the world. The automated board is designed to reflect the move of your opponent with precision. Not just that, you can challenge the artificial intelligence of the board, too.

Intrigued? You can learn more about Square Off on its nearly-funded (as of this writing) Kickstarter page, as well as on the Arduino Project Hub!

Planning on attending Maker Faire Rome this month? We’re currently looking for volunteers to join our team during the event—staffing tables and displays, helping lead one-on-one workshops and demos, and providing technical assistance when necessary.