Uno R4 – DIY Database

UNO Rev3 or UNO R4? Choosing the perfect Arduino for your project

The Arduino UNO is legendary among makers, and with the release of the UNO R4 in 2023, the family gained a powerful new member. But with two incredible options, which UNO should you pick for your project? Here’s a breakdown of what makes each board shine, depending on your needs, skills, and goals. Why the […]

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Why the UNO Rev3 is still a go-to classic

The UNO Rev3 has been around for over a decade, earning its reputation as a solid, reliable board perfect for beginners. Simple, robust, and versatile, it’s the “base camp” of the Arduino ecosystem. Its 8-bit architecture makes it straightforward to understand exactly what’s happening in your code.

Applications and ideal uses

The UNO Rev3 is fantastic for projects like controlling LEDs, motors, and simple sensors – as well as any of the 15 projects included in our best-selling Arduino Starter Kit.

Its ability to handle a higher current directly from each pin makes it ideal for connecting power-hungry sensors or motors without needing extra components. It’s also compatible with an enormous number of sketches and libraries that have been built around it over the years.

One key advantage? The microcontroller on the UNO Rev3 can be removed, allowing you to use it independently – a feature that many seasoned users love.

Over the years, users have pushed it to the limit to create some pretty impressive applications: a remarkably powerful library for audio, an interactive crypto-mining tool, and even a whole BASIC computer that you can hang around your neck like a badge!

The UNO R4 was designed for the modern maker

The UNO R4 builds on everything makers love about the Rev3, adding features that bring it up to speed with the needs of today’s tech. Its 32-bit Arm® Cortex®-M4 guarantees significantly faster processing power and can handle more advanced projects. It comes in two versions: the UNO R4 Minima for essential functionality and the UNO R4 WiFi for Internet-connected projects.

The latter is the brains of the Plug and Make Kit: the easiest way to go from zero to tech hero, with step-by-step tutorials to create a custom weather station, a video game controller, a smart timer and so much more!

Advanced features for new possibilities

The UNO R4 packs in features that are groundbreaking for the UNO family:

12-bit DAC: Enables analog output for audio waveforms or other analog components without external circuitry.
CAN bus: Ideal for connecting multiple devices in robotics or automotive projects.
Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® on the R4 WiFi model: Easily build IoT projects and connect to the Arduino Cloud to control your devices remotely.
Enhanced Diagnostics: The R4 WiFi includes an error-capturing mechanism that helps beginners by identifying issues in the code, a fantastic learning tool.

Applications and ideal uses

With increased memory and processing power, the UNO R4 is perfect for projects that require complex calculations or manage multiple processes. Think IoT, data sensing, automation systems, creative installations or scientific equipment where precise measurements and real-time adjustments are key.

What’s more, the UNO R4 has the capability to leverage AI – and our community has jumped at the chance of exploring whole new realms. One user built a gesture recognition system made of cardboard, another added smart detection to a pet door to always know if their cat was home or not, and another yet came up with a great tool to always know what song is playing.
Not to mention the possibilities for advanced animations like this one – inspired by Bad Apple – developed thanks to the LED matrix right on the UNO R4.

Is a 32-bit MCU always better than an 8-bit?

The short answer is, no. We believe the best solution is always determined by the requirements of the project at hand: bigger, faster, more powerful or more expensive is not always better.

8-bit microcontrollers process data in 8-bit chunks, which limits the size of numbers they can handle directly to values between 0 and 255 (or -127 and 128). This limitation makes them best suited for applications with minimal data processing needs, such as basic tasks like toggling LEDs or controlling simple sensors. However, they also tend to be more affordable and to consume less power, making hardware design less expensive, and have a simpler architecture, which translates to easier programming. So, if you are still learning the basics and need the most straightforward tool, or you are tackling a project with minimal requirements, an 8-bit MCU is not only all you need, but probably your best option.

On the other hand, if you need to work on much larger numbers and perform data-heavy calculations, 32-bit microcontrollers can handle advanced applications like image processing and real-time analytics. The difference is not just 4-fold going from 8 to 32: it’s a huge jump from 255 to 4,294,967,295! Almost by definition, any solution that requires this kind of performance will be more complex to design and program, require more memory, and consume more power, often affecting battery life. The upside, of course, is the incredible potential of what you can achieve!

Compatibility and transitioning from UNO Rev3 to UNO R4

If you already have experience with the UNO Rev3 and are considering the R4, but have concerns about compatibility, rest assured: they have the same form factor, pinout, and 5V operating voltage. This makes it easy to transfer accessories such as shields from one to the other.

On the software side, tutorials and projects are often compatible. We have even created a GitHub repository where you can check compatibility for libraries with the new R4 (and even help us update information or add new R4-friendly versions). This is part of the effort we share with our community to make sure that transitioning to the UNO R4 – if you choose to do so – is as seamless as possible.

Which Arduino UNO should I choose?
UNO Rev3	UNO R4
• Best for beginners or those working on foundational projects. • Great for educational settings, where understanding core programming concepts and hardware interactions are the focus. • Ideal if you need a reliable, budget-friendly, no-frills board with vast project resources available online.	• Perfect for advanced users or beginners looking to push boundaries with more complex projects. • Best for IoT, data-intensive, or networked applications that require more processing power. • A smart choice if you’re experimenting with new peripherals like CAN bus, DAC, or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity.

Choose your UNO and start creating!

Whether you choose the classic UNO Rev3 or the more recent UNO R4, you’re joining a global community of makers, educators, and inventors who love to create. Both boards offer incredible opportunities, each tailored to different stages and styles of making.
Ready to dive into a new project? Buy your next UNO and discover limitless possibilities!

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This DIY smart chicken coop features AI-based predator detection

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Raising chickens can be a very rewarding endeavor, as they can provide fresh daily eggs and help get rid of pests in the yard. But, like all animals, they require care. Most importantly, you’ll need to ensure that they have regular food and water, and you’ll need to protect them from predators like coyotes, foxes, and cats. To ease the workload, you may want to consider building Coders Cafe’s DIY smart chicken coop that features AI-based predator detection.

The purpose of a coop, aside from being a comfy place for chickens to roost, is to provide protection from weather and predators. This design is pretty small and is probably only suitable for one or two chickens, but the concepts can be applied to larger coops. It provides a few very useful features: remote or automated feeding, remote or automated door operation, and predator detection with remote notifications. You’ll never have to worry that you forgot to feed the chickens or that you left the door open, and you can respond immediately if you get a notification about a predator.

An Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board oversees those features, operating the door and dispensing food using simple motor-driven mechanisms. A companion app lets the user set an automated door and food schedule, or perform those actions with the tap of the button. A Twilio app integration enables SMS alerts.

The predator-detecting magic works thanks to DFRobot’s HuskyLens AI camera sensor. Users can train that to recognize specific predators and then it will tell the Arduino if it sees one. That communication occurs over I2C and is easy to setup, removing all of the difficulty of implementing AI.

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Technology meets creativity in two interactive art student projects

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Art and engineering are not separate concepts. There is a great deal of overlap between the two and many modern disciplines increasingly blur those lines. Mónica Riki is an “electronic artist and creative coder” who embodies that idea: you might remember her and her incredible Arduino UNO R4-powered installations from our blog post last year. In addition to her artistic practice, her technology-forward approach inspires her work as an educator, as she helps her master’s students develop hybrid concepts that use microcontrollers, sensors, lights and a variety of different technologies to create interactive art pieces. The level of creativity that technology is able to unleash is readily apparent in two of her students’ projects: Flora and Simbioceno.

Flora, created by College of Arts & Design of Barcelona students Judit Castells, Paula Jaime, Daniela Guevara, and Mariana Pachón, is a board game in the form of an interactive art installation. It was inspired by nature, with gameplay occurring throughout a simulated ecosystem. An Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board handles the interactive elements, with additional hardware including NFC readers, motors and accompanying drivers, sensors, pumps, LEDs, and more.

Simbioceno, by Ander Vallejo Larre, Andrea Galano Toro, Pierantonio Mangia, and Rocío Gomez, also uses an UNO R4 WiFi. It consists of two ecosystems: one aquatic and one aerial-terrestrial. They exist in symbiosis, communicating and sharing resources as necessary. Hardware includes LEDs, pumps, and biofeedback sensors. The students put particular thought into the construction materials, many of which are recycled or biomaterials.

Both projects are interactive art and expressions of creativity. While they do integrate technology, that technology isn’t the focal point. Instead, the technology helps to bring the two experiences to life.Feeling inspired by this creative use of the Arduino platform? We hope you’ll develop your own projects and share them with us and the entire community: contact [email protected] or upload directly to Project Hub! You could be our next Arduino Star.

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This perplexing robotic performer operates under the control of three different Arduino boards

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 […]

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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.

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Storing ephemeral micropoetry on RFID cards for bite-sized readings

Most people don’t consume poetry in the same way that they do novels. Instead of reading a book of poetry from cover-to-cover over the course of a few sessions, the majority of people seem to prefer enjoying poetry in occasional little chunks. And unlike the epic poems of Greek antiquity, those tend to be short […]

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“Micropoetry,” in this context, is a style of short poem consisting of three lines. Each of those lines can contain up to 16 characters. That is roughly similar in overall length to a haiku, but doesn’t have any rules regarding syllables. In fact, some haikus couldn’t fit in this micropoem structure, as the lines would contain too many characters.

If these rules seem awfully specific, that’s because they aren’t arbitrary. Bandini created them so that the poems can fit within the limited storage of MIFARE Classic 1k RFID chips. MIFARE didn’t design those to store any significant amount of data, but rather for saving critical attributes like IDs. These rules ensure that MIFARE Classic 1k RFID tags can contain micropoems. Bandini even created a handy utility to write the poem’s lines into a card’s memory.

With that structure defined, Bandini built a device to let users read the stored poetry. When someone is in the mood for some poetry, they can simply place a micropoem RFID card on the device. An Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board will then scan the RFID chip using an MFRC522 module, read the stored data, and display the poem’s lines on a 1.3” 128×64 OLED screen.

As an added dramatic bonus, one datum in the RFID chip’s memory is a counter. On each read, the device increments that counter. When it reaches three, the device deletes the poem from the chip’s memory forever.

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This UNO R4 WiFi-controlled device streamlines a restaurant’s online order system

Most successful restaurants operating today have to take advantage of online ordering, as a huge chunk of customers have switched to takeout and delivery. But point-of-sale (POS) systems don’t always integrate well into a kitchen’s workflow and that can lead to missed orders — one of the worst things a restaurant can do. To help […]

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UncleBobbyTO’s friend uses a Square system in her restaurant, which has an online interface and sends an email for each new order. But the kitchen staff is busy and they sometimes fail to notice the emails. This device solves that problem. It can sit in the kitchen or by the expo window and connects to the Square API, checking for new orders every three minutes. When the device detects a new order, it lights up green and displays basic information about that transaction. Staff can then look up the order and press a button on the device to clear the notification.

That’s all possible because the device contains an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi board, which has built-in Wi-Fi capabilities that lets it connect to the internet and the Square API. It resides inside of a sturdy 3D-printed enclosure that also contains an RGB LED strip and a 16×2 character LCD screen.

Now UncleBobbyTO’s friend can run her restaurant without worrying that staff might miss an order.

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Reimagining the chicken coop with predator detection, Wi-Fi control, and more

The traditional backyard chicken coop is a very simple structure that typically consists of a nesting area, an egg-retrieval panel, and a way to provide food and water as needed. Realizing that some aspects of raising chickens are too labor-intensive, the Coders Cafe crew decided to automate most of the daily care process by bringing […]

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Controlled and actuated by an Arduino UNO R4 WiFi and a stepper motor, respectively, the front door of the coop relies on a rack-and-pinion mechanism to quickly open or close at the scheduled times. After the chickens have entered the coop to rest or lay eggs, they can be fed using a pair of fully-automatic dispensers. Each one is a hopper with a screw at the bottom which pulls in the food with the help of gravity and gently distributes it onto the ground. And similar to the door, feeding chickens can be scheduled in advance through the team’s custom app and the UNO R4’s integrated Wi-Fi chipset.

The last and most advanced feature is the AI predator detection system. Thanks to a DFRobot HuskeyLens vision module and its built-in training process, images of predatory animals can be captured and leveraged to train the HuskyLens for when to generate an alert. Once an animal has been detected, it tells the UNO R4 over I2C, which in turn, sends an SMS message via Twilio.

More details about the project can be found in Coders Cafe’s Instructables writeup.

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