Category: Plug and Make Kit

Make your scary Halloween pumpkin smart with the Plug and Make Kit!

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 […]

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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!)
  • A powerbank to keep everything running
  • A pumpkin (you can carve out a real one, or you can 3D print one like we did – using this model by Damien Dozias)

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 actually learning 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 post Make your scary Halloween pumpkin smart with the Plug and Make Kit! appeared first on Arduino Blog.

Two NEW Arduino Plug and Make Kit projects recreate iconic vintage games

The Plug and Make Kit is a toolbox you can use for infinite ideas. So what happens if you ask a mix of Arduino designers, engineers, and managers to sit down and brainstorm new ideas to have fun with it? Well, at least one of them is guaranteed to come up with an adorable, old-school, […]

The post Two NEW Arduino Plug and Make Kit projects recreate iconic vintage games appeared first on Arduino Blog.

The Plug and Make Kit is a toolbox you can use for infinite ideas. So what happens if you ask a mix of Arduino designers, engineers, and managers to sit down and brainstorm new ideas to have fun with it? Well, at least one of them is guaranteed to come up with an adorable, old-school, slightly addictive video game. 

That’s exactly how Luca Doglione developed Flappy LED and LED Pong, during a “Make Tank” workshop we held in our Turin, Italy office a few weeks ago!

Meet Luca Doglione, Plug and Make Kit Star

Doglione is an engineering manager for the Arduino software and cloud teams, and one of the key people behind our website, cloud services, and course platform. He likes games in any shape or form, from board games to competitive computer games to vintage 2D arcade games. During the workshop, he was inspired by the different types of Modulino nodes and how they can be used together.

Flappy LED

Using Modulino Distance, Modulino Knob, Modulino Buzzer, and Modulino Buttons, Doglione quickly came up with a simple way to interact with the LED matrix on the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi, all of which are included in the kit. 

The goal of the game is to guide an LED dot up and down to avoid obstacles as you go – just like you would do with the bird in Flappy Bird. The longer you are able to avoid collisions and keep the LED moving, the higher the score!

You can control the movement of the LED light in two alternative ways: turning the knob, or moving your hand up and down above the distance sensor. You choose which mode you prefer by simply pressing the corresponding button on Modulino Buttons (A for the encoder or C for the distance sensor). 

Follow the full tutorial on Project Hub to build this quirky game yourself, and let us know how you customize or expand it. The sky’s the limit!

LED Pong

Doglione worked out Flappy LED so quickly that he had time to ideate a second game. He immediately thought of the classic Pong, and created his own version with Plug and Make Kit. This project is just as portable and easy to recreate as the first, and can be played by two people together. 

LED Pong requires two Modulino Knob: since each kit includes one per type of the seven nodes currently available, it is also a great idea for a collaborative making session with a friend! 


The knobs are used to move the paddle and bounce the ball back and forth. Missing the ball gives the other player one point – as neatly displayed on the Modulino Pixel. The first to reach five points wins! 

The full tutorial is here on Project Hub: try it out, and you’ll quickly bounce from nostalgia to excitement over how many new ideas Plug and Make Kit will unlock!

From reimagining old games to learning new tricks!

After seeing his playful ideas come together so easily, Doglione says, “My favorite part of Plug and Make Kit was being able to bypass the electronics to focus on user experience and interaction. This really unleashed my creativity. Having to figure out circuits always stopped me from tackling complex hardware projects – and I have a degree in computer science! Having that little yellow base and modular Modulino nodes made it really satisfying to see my project looking neat.”

What do you think about Doglione’s games? And what vintage games could you recreate with Arduino Plug and Make Kit? 

Flappy LED

LED Pong

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