As climate change continues to worsen, events such as heavy rains, hurricanes, and atmospheric rivers have only intensified, and with them, large amounts of flooding that pose serious risks to life and property. Jude Pullen and Pete Milne, therefore, have responded by creating a “physical app” that can show the potential for flood dangers in real-time with […]
As climate change continues to worsen, events such as heavy rains, hurricanes, and atmospheric rivers have only intensified, and with them, large amounts of flooding that pose serious risks to life and property. Jude Pullen and Pete Milne, therefore, have responded by creating a “physical app” that can show the potential for flood dangers in real-time with sound, lights, and an ePaper display.
The Arduino Nano 33 IoT powering the Flood Alert device sources its data from the UK Environmental Agency’s API to get statistics on an area’s latest risk level along with an extended description of what to expect. Initially, the electronics were mounted to a breadboard and housed within a cardboard enclosure, but a later revision moved everything to soldered protoboard, a 3D-printed case, and even added a piezoelectric buzzer to generate audible alerts.
For now, the Flood Alert’s sole source of data is the aforementioned API, but Pullen hopes to expand his potential data sources to include “hyper-local” sensors that can all be aggregated and analyzed to give a much more precise view of flooding in a smaller area.
Collaborative coding in education can be a game-changer for students, providing them with real-world skills in communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. With the new collaborating coding feature of the Arduino Cloud, students can collaborate in real time on coding projects, making it easier to test, integrate, and refine their work in the classroom or remotely. If […]
Collaborative coding in education can be a game-changer for students, providing them with real-world skills in communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
If you are on a paid Cloud School or Business plan and you have created a Shared Space, Collaborative Coding will already be enabled for you. Just open a sketch file from your organization space and start editing.
You can purchase an Arduino Cloud School or Business plan on this page.
How does Collaborative Coding work?
Before, to edit a shared sketch, the user needed to make a copy to edit it, only the owner could edit the original sketch. Users could end up with many copies of the same sketch. Now, if you’re editing a shared sketch and another user tries to access it, they’ll get an instant notification in the lower corner of the Arduino Cloud Editor. Once you’re done or have uploaded the sketch, the other user can edit it.
Below are seven ways that showcase how collaborative coding can enhance learning experiences in educational settings.
1. Remote team projects
In today’s increasingly connected world, remote collaboration has become a critical skill. By assigning students to a remote team project, such as building a smart greenhouse, educators can simulate real-world tasks. In this scenario, each student tackles a different component of the project: one works on coding for temperature sensors, another handles humidity control, while another focuses on pressure regulation.
Through real-time collaboration tools, students can test and integrate their code seamlessly, making it easier to identify and resolve issues as they arise. This approach doesn’t just encourage communication and teamwork; it also gives students valuable exposure to the challenges of coordinating efforts across distances – a skill essential in modern engineering and tech careers.
2. Peer learning and mentorship
As the students code, mentors can provide immediate feedback, guide them through debugging, and teach best practices. This instant interaction accelerates learning by allowing students to correct mistakes as they occur and learn more efficiently. Mentors can also demonstrate advanced coding techniques, improving the overall skill set of junior students while fostering a supportive learning environment.
3. Interdisciplinary projects
A great way to incorporate collaborative coding is through interdisciplinary projects, which bring together students from diverse fields like computer science, physics, and environmental science. Take a weather station project, for example. Each student can code different elements, and with the Collaborative Coding feature, they can seamlessly integrate their work into a unified system in real time. This setup not only helps students share their domain-specific knowledge but also prepares them for real-world scenarios where interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial.
4. Classroom code review sessions
Arduino Cloud simplifies live code review sessions. Teachers can use the platform to host collaborative peer reviews, where students suggest improvements and optimizations on each other’s code. The Collaborative Coding feature allows these suggestions to be implemented and tested instantly, creating an interactive learning experience. This real-time feedback helps students improve their coding skills by learning to write cleaner, more efficient code. It also exposes them to different problem-solving approaches.
5. Hackathons and coding competitions
Hackathons are a great way to encourage teamwork and creative problem-solving, with students having to work closely together under time constraints. The Collaborative Coding feature enables real-time teamwork, allowing students to brainstorm, write, and debug code simultaneously. This setup encourages effective communication and quick decision-making, which are crucial skills in high-pressure environments like coding competitions. Students also learn how to divide tasks, manage time, and integrate different components swiftly.
6. Cross-school collaborative projects
Collaborative coding doesn’t have to be limited to one classroom. By connecting students from different schools, you can promote collaboration on larger, more ambitious projects. For example, students from various schools could work on a shared environmental monitoring system, with each school responsible for different parts such as data collection, interface design, and system integration.
Using the Collaborative Coding feature, they can integrate their code into a unified system in real time, learning from each other’s approaches and gaining exposure to different coding styles and experiences.
7. Pair programming exercises
In pair programming exercises, two students work together on a single coding task – whether that’s in the classroom or remotely. One student writes the code while the other reviews it in real time, and they switch roles regularly so both get hands-on experience with every part of the project.
This technique encourages close collaboration and helps students develop their communication skills and systematic debugging techniques. It also gives them the opportunity to learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses, improving their overall coding abilities.
Conclusion
Integrating collaborative coding into the classroom can dramatically enhance the learning experience for students, giving them the skills they need to thrive in the modern workforce. From remote team projects and interdisciplinary work to peer mentoring and hackathons, these use cases demonstrate how coding can be both a collaborative and creative activity. By fostering teamwork, communication, and technical expertise, educators can prepare students for success in coding and beyond.
Everyone loves the look of Nixie tubes, with their glowing orange characters made of curvy filament. But we usually only see makers using Nixie tubes for one purpose: clocks. That’s unfortunate, because they have a lot more potential, as illustrated by Bob Cascisa’s Nixie tube slot machine game. This is a really delightful device that […]
Everyone loves the look of Nixie tubes, with their glowing orange characters made of curvy filament. But we usually only see makers using Nixie tubes for one purpose: clocks. That’s unfortunate, because they have a lot more potential, as illustrated by Bob Cascisa’s Nixie tube slot machine game.
This is a really delightful device that puts the slot machine experience into a handheld form factor, with a beautiful Nixie tube display. It has a single button to spin the “wheels,” and seven Nixie tubes to show the action. The top three Nixie tubes represent the wheels and they cycle through distinct symbols. The bottom four Nixie tubes show the player’s balance to keep track of payouts.
The bottom Nixie tubes are IN-12 models, which are Soviet NOS (New Old Stock) models capable of displaying numeric digits. The top Nixie tubes are rarer IN-7 models that can display a handful of symbols that would be useful for lab instruments, such as ?. Cascisa chose those IN-7 tubes because their symbols have a more iconographic appearance than standard alphanumeric characters, which English-speakers would try to read.
An Arduino Nano board controls the gameplay. It plugs into a custom PCB that Cascisa designed to house all of the components necessary to drive the Nixie tubes — a difficult job compared to modern LED and LCD displays. It requires a power supply that can provide high voltage to the Nixie tubes. Power comes from an 18650 battery pack inside the simple enclosure, with a charging port on the side.
By Vegas slot machine standards, the gameplay is pretty simple. But this unit’s Nixie tube display certainly looks much nicer than the retina-scarring graphics on those machines.
Your automatic garage door is almost certainly the most vulnerable access point in your house. Traditional systems are notorious for their susceptibility to replay attacks, but even more sophisticated modern garage door openers and those that lack remote functionality entirely are still prone to human error — you may simply forget to close the door. […]
Your automatic garage door is almost certainly the most vulnerable access point in your house. Traditional systems are notorious for their susceptibility to replay attacks, but even more sophisticated modern garage door openers and those that lack remote functionality entirely are still prone to human error — you may simply forget to close the door. This “auto closer” system developed by SébastienL42 prevents such errors.
At its heart, this setup’s purpose is to close a garage door that a homeowner mistakenly left open. That’s a common problem, as you can see for yourself if you drive around a suburban residential neighborhood at night. If a homeowner forgets to close their garage door, SébastienL42’s device will sound a notification through an indoor dashboard. If enough time passes, it will go ahead and close the door itself.
That functionality requires two Arduino Nano Every boards. The first goes in the garage and connects to the garage door opener so it can close to the door. It detects a closed door using a pair of microswitches. The second Arduino is for the indoor dashboard, which provides notifications and control buttons. SébastienL42 designed that dashboard to fit into a picture frame and it looks really nice.
The two Arduino boards communicate with each other via nRF24L01 radio transceiver modules, which could potentially create a new vulnerability. But SébastienL42 put serious thought into that possibility and eliminated exposure by simply making the system incapable of opening the garage door — it can only close it. If a bad actor somehow gained access, they wouldn’t be able to do anything more nefarious than close the door for the homeowner. And the garage door opener’s standard safety features remain in place, so there shouldn’t be any danger.
With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve got the perfect project to make your decorations more fun and interactive. All you have to do is take the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino nodes included in your Plug and Make Kit to create an awesome jack-o’-lantern that will light up and cackle with evil laughter […]
With Halloween just around the corner, we’ve got the perfect project to make your decorations more fun and interactive. All you have to do is take the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino nodes included in your Plug and Make Kit to create an awesome jack-o’-lantern that will light up and cackle with evil laughter when someone walks by!
Connect it to Arduino Cloud and you’ll be able to check on it and even remotely trigger some spooky surprises.
This is an easy project that anyone can do, and we’ll walk you through the steps to make it happen.
A step-by-step guide to make spooky super simple
This project is a great introduction to making interactive things. You won’t just be setting up some store-bought props, you’ll be creating technology and bringing your pumpkin to life!
To get started, you’ll need:
Plug and Make Kit (including UNO R4 WiFi, Modulino Pixels for the glowing eyes, and Modulino Distance to trigger the action when someone approaches)
An MP3 module and a small speaker for the creepy sounds
A microSD card to store your sounds (feel free to use the ones we provide, or record your own!)
The Modulino Distance sensor detects when someone approaches your jack-o’-lantern, and that’s when the magic begins. The Modulino Pixels light up the eyes, syncing with the spooky sounds played from the MP3 module. Everything is controlled with an UNO R4, and thanks to Arduino Cloud, you can even control the pumpkin remotely, change the sounds, and keep track of how many people you’ve scared.
All the code and details are ready for you to download from Arduino’s Project Hub. We’ve also created a template that will help you set everything up quickly. This template automatically uploads the code to your UNO board and creates a custom dashboard so you can monitor and control your creation. Just follow the link to get started!
Unleash your creativity!
Sure to make a lasting impression on your trick-or-treating visitors, this project offers you the chance to have fun while actuallylearning a lot about electronics, coding, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Why just buy interactive objects when making your own is so rewarding? So grab your tools, start building, and give your Halloween the high-tech twist it deserves!
As always, we highly encourage you to customize the project with your own ideas: with the UNO R4 WiFi and Modulino nodes included in the Plug and Make Kit, you have all the tools you need.
For example, you could use Modulino Buttons to change scary sounds locally, or make your scary jack-o’-lantern even smarter. It can check the weather from an online forecast and change the LEDs’ color to let you know if it’s going to rain, help you use your smartphone to monitor the temperature outside in real time via Arduino Cloud… and much more!
Be sure to share your scary creations with us: upload them to Project Hub or email [email protected] to get in touch.
The Arduino Cloud has long been a trusted platform for makers, engineers, and developers to manage their IoT projects with ease. From tracking sensor data to automating smart devices, the cloud enables seamless connectivity. Complementing this, the Arduino IoT Remote mobile app gives users the power to monitor and interact with their dashboards from anywhere. […]
The Arduino Cloud has long been a trusted platform for makers, engineers, and developers to manage their IoT projects with ease. From tracking sensor data to automating smart devices, the cloud enables seamless connectivity. Complementing this, the Arduino IoT Remote mobile app gives users the power to monitor and interact with their dashboards from anywhere. Now, we’re excited to announce a new feature that enhances your experience even further: the ability to change dashboard layouts directly through the mobile app!
Let’s dive into this exciting new update, along with some other minor features recently added to improve your experience.
Change your dashboard layouts from the IoT Remote app
Previously, modifying or rearranging the layout of your IoT dashboards was only possible through the browser on a PC. While this worked well for desktop users, it wasn’t convenient for those who needed to make changes on the go. With the latest update, you can now modify the “mobile view” of your dashboard directly through the Arduino IoT Remote app.
It’s important to note that Arduino Cloud dashboards have two distinct views: mobile and desktop. This new feature allows you to customize the layout specifically for your mobile devices, without affecting the desktop version. So whether you’re monitoring your projects on your phone or tablet, you can now optimize the layout for a mobile-friendly experience.
By customizing the mobile view, you gain more control over how your data is displayed and interacted with on your phone—perfect for users who need a quick overview and control of their IoT systems while away from their desktops.
How to use the new layout feature
Using this new feature is simple. Here’s how you can rearrange your dashboard layout in the IoT Remote mobile app:
1. Open the Arduino IoT Remote app and log into your account. 2. Navigate to the dashboard you want to modify. 3. On the Settings menu of the dashboard, tap the Rearrange button. 4. Select a widget by clicking on it, and move it around the dashboard to the new location or change its size. 5. Click on CANCEL to discard your changes or on SAVE to save your changes, and your updated layout will be visible across all your mobile devices.
What else is new on the IoT Remote app?
In addition to the layout customization feature, during the past months we’ve introduced several minor updates to make your app experience even smoother:
Sync dashboard cover image: Now, you can set a cover image for your dashboard, and it will automatically sync across all your devices. Whether for branding, personalization, or easy recognition, this feature ensures visual consistency on every device you use.
Disable trigger from Notification Detail: You can now enable or disable a trigger directly from the Notification Detail screen. This feature provides quick control over automated actions, helping you fine-tune your project with minimal hassle.
Clear notifications via the Activity Manage Panel: Keep your notifications organized by clearing them all from the new Activity Manage Panel. This helps you stay focused by removing unnecessary clutter from your feed.
Install the Arduino IoT Remote on your mobile phone
These new features make it easier than ever to stay on top of your IoT projects from anywhere with your mobile phone. Whether you’re monitoring, controlling, or tweaking your dashboard, the Arduino IoT Remote app is the perfect tool for the job, and it’s free!Ready to experience these new updates? Download the Arduino IoT Remote app today from the App Store or Google Play and take full control of your IoT projects from the convenience of your mobile device.
Every decade or two, humanity seems to develop a renewed interest in humanoid robots and their potential within our world. Because the practical applications are actually pretty limited (given the high cost), we inevitably begin to consider how those robots might function as entertainment. But Jon Hamilton did more than just wonder, he actually built […]
Every decade or two, humanity seems to develop a renewed interest in humanoid robots and their potential within our world. Because the practical applications are actually pretty limited (given the high cost), we inevitably begin to consider how those robots might function as entertainment. But Jon Hamilton did more than just wonder, he actually built a robotic performer called Syntaxx and it will definitely make you feel things.
It is hard to describe this robot without sounding like a Mad Libs game filled out by a cyberpunk-obsessed DJ. Hamilton designed it to give performances, primarily in the form of synthetic singing accompanied by electronic music. It looks like a crude Halloween mask given life by a misguided wizard sometime in the 1980s. It is pretty bonkers and you should probably watch the video of it in action to wrap your head around the concept.
Hamilton needed three different Arduino development boards to bring this robot to life. The first, an Arduino Giga R1 WiFi, oversees the robot’s operation and handles voice interaction, as well as audio playback. The second, an Arduino Mega 2560, moves the robot’s neck according to input from two microphones (one on the left, the other on the right). The third, an Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, controls the rest of the servo movement.
The result is a robot that is both impressive and also pretty disconcerting.
Recently, we announced the exciting new Image widget for Arduino Cloud. This powerful feature opens up a world of possibilities for enhancing your IoT dashboards. But the true potential of the Image widget lies in the applications that you create. Today, we’re excited to dive deeper and show you what kind of IoT dashboards your […]
Recently, we announced the exciting new Image widget for Arduino Cloud. This powerful feature opens up a world of possibilities for enhancing your IoT dashboards. But the true potential of the Image widget lies in the applications that you create.
Today, we’re excited to dive deeper and show you what kind of IoT dashboards your can create with the Image widget. Whether you’re using it for smart homes, enterprise solutions, or educational tools, the possibilities are endless—and we’re here to help you discover its full potential!
As a maker, the Image widget can be a game-changer for your smart home projects. Here are a few examples:
1. Home security dashboard: Detect intrusion with camera photos
Here’s our first IoT dashboard idea: Display live snapshots from a home-made security camera, updating the image at regular intervals or triggering updates based on motion or sound detection. This allows you to keep a close eye on your property, even when you’re away. You can control the whole system from an Arduino Cloud dashboard.
In this project, you’ll learn how to build a security system using the Arduino Nicla Vision‘s camera. The system captures snapshots when it detects sound levels above a set threshold, and everything is managed through an Arduino Cloud dashboard. From enabling or disabling the system, viewing event history, to receiving alerts, Arduino Cloud makes it easy to control and monitor your security setup. Check out the full project for all the details and step-by-step instructions!
Image 1: Arduino Cloud intrusion detection dashboard with snapshot of a living room
2. Plant visual growth diary dashboard
In this second IoT dashboard idea, you can bring your indoor or outdoor garden into the digital realm. Use the Image widget to create a visual growth diary, displaying daily or weekly photos of your plants. Combine this with soil moisture sensors to get a comprehensive view of your plants’ health and progress over time.
Image 2: Arduino Cloud irrigation dashboard with snapshot of a plant
NOTE: This dashboard above is based on this original project and has been modified to include the Image widget. These adjustments were made to demonstrate the potential of this new feature in enhancing your Arduino Cloud dashboards.
3. DIY Weather station dashboard with outside daily photos
In this 3rd example, you can turn your Arduino-powered weather station into a visually engaging dashboard. That’s right, display real-time weather icons and images of the current sky conditions. You can even integrate sensor data to provide a complete picture of your local microclimate, making your DIY weather station a must-have for any maker’s smart home.
Image 3: Local weather station Arduino Cloud dashboard with daily photo
NOTE: This IoT dashboard idea above is based on this original project and has been modified to include the Image widget. These adjustments were made to demonstrate the potential of this new feature in enhancing your Arduino Cloud dashboards.
By adding a camera, following the instructions of the intrusion detection project described in the first IoT dashboard idea above, you can take your weather dashboard to the next level.
4. More ideas to use the Image Widget in your Arduino Cloud IoT dashboards
The new Cloud image widget offers powerful ways to integrate real-time imagery into your data-driven workflows. Below are five additional examples of how the Image widget can enhance your Arduino Cloud
5. Industrial equipment monitoring: Embed real-time visuals of critical machinery, like thermal imaging data, in your dashboard to quickly identify and address potential issues.
6. Smart agriculture: Integrate drone or satellite imagery to monitor crop growth, soil conditions, and irrigation systems, helping make data-driven decisions for your farm.
7.Supply chain visualization: Create interactive maps displaying the real-time location and status of products and materials, while tracking inventory levels and shipment progress.
8. Quality control: Compare images of acceptable and defective products to enhance visual inspections and streamline quality control processes.
9. Education: Use real-time or time-lapse visuals to bring live science experiments into digital learning, enriching students’ engagement with STEM subjects.
Community Spotlight
We’re excited to see what you, our innovative Arduino community, will create with the Image widget. Share your projects and ideas on the Arduino Project Hub or in the Arduino Cloud forum, and inspire others with your creative applications. Who knows, you might just end up being featured in our next Community Spotlight!
Conclusion
The Image widget is more than just a pretty face — it’s a powerful tool that can transform the way you approach IoT projects, whether you’re a maker, an enterprise, or an educator. By unleashing your creativity and leveraging this feature, you can breathe new life into your dashboard or create new breeds of projects.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for Arduino Cloud for free today, start exploring the Image widget and let your imagination run wild. The possibilities are endless, and we can’t wait to see what you create. For more information and tutorials, check out the Arduino Cloud documentation.
Cats may be adorable, but they evolved to be predators. Unfortunately, responsible owners keep their cats indoors to avoid decimating the local wildlife population and that means Mr. Whiskers and Ms. Socks don’t get much opportunity to express their hunting urges. That’s why Sascha at Small Batch Factory designed Gatoino, which is an automatic laser […]
Cats may be adorable, but they evolved to be predators. Unfortunately, responsible owners keep their cats indoors to avoid decimating the local wildlife population and that means Mr. Whiskers and Ms. Socks don’t get much opportunity to express their hunting urges. That’s why Sascha at Small Batch Factory designed Gatoino, which is an automatic laser turret toy that lets cats hunt for red dots indefinitely.
Gatoino automates laser cat toy playtime, putting less strain on owners’ wrists and keeping the fun going for as long as the furry felines want to keep up the chase. It moves the laser dot in two axes and does so in an unpredictable (pseudo-random) way, so it will keep the cats on their toe beans. And an onboard control interface lets the human adjust the playing field size and the movement speed, along with session schedules.
An Arduino Nano board controls all of that through a custom PCB to keep the wiring tidy. It moves the laser using two small SG90 hobby servo motors in an arrangement similar to a mirror galvanometer. Those parts all fit into a simple 3D-printed enclosure that can be placed on a shelf or mounted onto a wall out of the way.
If you’re interested in building your own Gatoino, the design files and instructions are available for purchase on the Small Batch Factory website.
Robotics is already an intimidating field, thanks to the complexity involved. And the cost of parts, such as actuators, only increases that feeling of inaccessibility. But as FABRI Creator shows in their most recent video, you can build a useful robotic arm with just a handful of inexpensive components. This is pint-sized robotic arm that […]
Robotics is already an intimidating field, thanks to the complexity involved. And the cost of parts, such as actuators, only increases that feeling of inaccessibility. But as FABRI Creator shows in their most recent video, you can build a useful robotic arm with just a handful of inexpensive components.
This is pint-sized robotic arm that has some of the same features as big and expensive industrial robots, just on a smaller scale. Users can operate the four joints manually, but can also record a series of positions and let the robot automatically move from one to the next. That is a popular programming technique in many industries, making this robot useful for learning real methodology and for performing practical tasks.
The best part is that this robot is very affordable. All of the parts, with the exception of fasteners and electronic components, are 3D-printable. The electronic components include an Arduino Nano board and four SG90 hobby servo motors that can be found for just a couple of dollars each. FABRI Creator designed a custom PCB to host the Arduino, to provide power input, and to simplify the wiring. That PCB isn’t strictly necessary, but it results in a much tidier robot.
The assembled robot is small, but has enough reach to be useful and enough strength to lift light objects. It is a perfect starting point for people who want to learn robotics basics on a budget.
