Who doesn’t want to explore underwater? To take a journey beneath the surface of a lake or even the ocean? But a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which is the kind of robot you’d use for such an adventure, isn’t exactly the kind of thing you’ll find on the shelf at your local Walmart. You can, […]
Who doesn’t want to explore underwater? To take a journey beneath the surface of a lake or even the ocean? But a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which is the kind of robot you’d use for such an adventure, isn’t exactly the kind of thing you’ll find on the shelf at your local Walmart. You can, however, follow this guide from Ranuga Amarasinghe to build your own ROV for some aquatic fun.
Amarasinghe is a 16-year-old Sri Lankan student and this is actually the second iteration of his ROV design. As such, he’s dubbed it “ROV2” and it appears to be quite capable. All of its electronics sit safely within a 450mm length of sealed PVC tube. That mounts onto the aluminum extrusion frame structure that also hosts the six thrusters powered by drone-style brushless DC motors.
ROV2’s brain is an Arduino Mega 2560 board and it drives the BLDC motors through six electronic speed controllers (ESCs). It receives control commands from the surface via an umbilical. The operator holds a Flysky transmitter that sends radio signals to a receiver floating on the water. An Arduino UNO Rev3 reads those and then communicates the motor commands to the Mega through the tethered serial connection. That limits the maximum length of the tether to about 40 meters, which subsequently limits the maximum operating depth.
With the specified lithium battery pack, ROV2 can traverse the depths for 30-45 minutes. And when equipped with the 720p FPV camera, pilots can see and record all of the underwater action.
Shortly after attending a recent tinyML workshop in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Joao Vitor Freitas da Costa was looking for a way to incorporate some of the technologies and techniques he learned into a useful project. Given that he lives in an area which experiences elevated levels of pickpocketing and automotive theft, he turned his attention to […]
Shortly after attending a recent tinyML workshop in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Joao Vitor Freitas da Costa was looking for a way to incorporate some of the technologies and techniques he learned into a useful project. Given that he lives in an area which experiences elevated levels of pickpocketing and automotive theft, he turned his attention to a smart car security system.
His solution to a potential break-in or theft of keys revolves around the incorporation of an Arduino Nicla Vision board running a facial recognition model that only allows the vehicle to start if the owner is sitting in the driver’s seat. The beginning of the image detection/processing loop involves grabbing the next image from the board’s camera and sending it to a classification model where it receives one of three labels: none, unknown, or Joao, the driver. Once the driver has been detected for 10 consecutive seconds, the Nicla Vision activates a relay in order to complete the car’s 12V battery circuit, at which point the vehicle can be started normally with the ignition.
Through this project, da Costa was able to explore a practical application of vision models at-the-edge to make his friend’s car safer to use. To see how it works in more detail, you can check out the video below and delve into the tinyML workshop he attended here.
There is something inherently intriguing about submarines that doesn’t seem to apply to other vehicles. Maybe that reflects our natural fears and phobias, or maybe it is a result of our curiosity about the mysterious depths. Maybe it is simply that most of us will never get the chance to ride in a submarine. But […]
There is something inherently intriguing about submarines that doesn’t seem to apply to other vehicles. Maybe that reflects our natural fears and phobias, or maybe it is a result of our curiosity about the mysterious depths. Maybe it is simply that most of us will never get the chance to ride in a submarine. But you can get some of the experience with a model, like 15-year-old Ben Kennedy did with this DIY RC submarine.
This is a remote-controlled submarine built entirely from scratch and it is very impressive. It is a 500mm-long vessel loosely modeled after the Soviet (and now Russian) Akula-class submarine. But the resemblance is entirely superficial, as the Kennedy’s design is 100% original.
The hull and most of the rest of the parts were modeled in Autodesk Fusion 360 and then 3D-printed. An Arduino Nano board receives radio signals from a Flysky FS-i6X transmitter controller via a Flysky iA10B receiver. The Arduino then controls the various systems that allow the submarine to move through the water.
Four small aquarium pumps move water in and out of the ballast tanks to control buoyancy. A single brushless DC motor, which is naturally waterproof, provides thrust. Two waterproof MG995 servo motors actuate the rudders for yaw and pitch, which are necessary for diving/surfacing and steering. Most of the hull isn’t watertight, so Kennedy placed a waterproof plastic bag inside the hull to protect the Arduino and the lithium battery that provides power.
Kennedy tested the sub in his family’s backyard pool and it seems to have performed nicely. He posted his design files and code, so anyone can build their own RC submarine.
Sphere in Las Vegas is inarguably one of the most notable architectural achievements of the 21st century so far. Gaudy? Maybe. Controversial? Definitely. Interesting? Absolutely — no one can debate that with a straight face. When 15-year-old Ben Kennedy’s bedroom nightlight broke, he decided to use the Sphere as the inspiration for this DIY LED nightlight. […]
Sphere in Las Vegas is inarguably one of the most notable architectural achievements of the 21st century so far. Gaudy? Maybe. Controversial? Definitely. Interesting? Absolutely — no one can debate that with a straight face. When 15-year-old Ben Kennedy’s bedroom nightlight broke, he decided to use the Sphere as the inspiration for this DIY LED nightlight.
Like Sphere at the Venetian Resort, Kennedy’s nightlight is a spherical display. It may only be a few inches tall, but it has a whopping 800 LEDs underneath the translucent outer shell. Those are WS2812b individually addressable RGB LEDs, so each can be set to a unique color and brightness independent of its neighbors. It is, in essence, an LED screen wrapped around a three-dimensional ball.
Inside the outer shell is a 3D-printed frame, designed in Fusion 360, onto which Kennedy glued the LED strips. That frame has a kind of tiered structure to match the shape of the sphere. The outer diffuser shell and base were also 3D-printed. An Arduino Nano Every board controls the LEDs using the popular FastLED library, which is ideal for animating a large number of LEDs like this. Those naturally draw a lot of power, so Kennedy purchased a beefy 5V 15A power supply.
To swap between colors and animations, Kennedy reused the infrared remote that came with his old nightlight. He attached an infrared receiver to the Arduino and recorded the codes sent by that remote, then associated them with specific colors and effects in his sketch. He even used potentiometers to dial-in specific hues so they perfectly match the buttons on the remote
Hey there, fellow tech enthusiasts! Ever wondered how you could effortlessly stream camera footage from your Arduino boards directly to your web browser? Wonder no more! Arduino’s Web Serial Camera demo shows how to bring your camera projects to life. Stream images from your Arduino boards Arduino hardware like the Nicla Vision and Portenta Vision […]
Hey there, fellow tech enthusiasts! Ever wondered how you could effortlessly stream camera footage from your Arduino boards directly to your web browser? Wonder no more! Arduino’s Web Serial Camera demo shows how to bring your camera projects to life.
Stream images from your Arduino boards
Arduino hardware like the Nicla Vision and Portenta Vision Shield has democratized accessibility to camera data on embedded systems. On the mission to simplify processing camera images, we are excited to introduce a new cross-platform approach to reading video streams over the serial port. This Web Serial-based advancement is more streamlined and user-friendly than previous methods, which required the installation of additional software and manual configuration.
Requirements
The Web Serial Camera web application enables you to connect Arduino boards equipped with a camera and stream their images straight to your browser. At the time of writing, these include the Portenta H7 + Portenta Vision Shield, Nicla Vision, and GIGA R1 WiFi + OV7675, OV7670, GC2145, HM0360 or HM01B0 camera. All it takes is one of these mentioned boards, an Arduino sketch, and a browser that supports Web Serial.
Unpacking the demo
Connectivity: Experience the magic of the Web Serial technology as you seamlessly connect your Arduino hardware to web applications. Enjoy easy data transfer between your board and the browser.
Image processing: Step into the world of image data processing with JavaScript. The example shows how to process and transform the raw image data from your Arduino board so that it can be displayed in the browser.
Image filters: Learn how to implement basic image filters. From adjusting brightness to applying a sepia effect, you’ll discover how simple it is to transform your images right in your browser. While exploring these filters you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how to manipulate pixels and breathe life into your visuals.
Image download: Frames from the camera stream can be downloaded with the click of a button. This makes it easy to use the camera images for further processing such as training a machine learning model for image classification.
How to get started
1. Upload the Arduino sketch: Visit our dedicated page to access the “CameraCaptureWebSerial” sketch. Simply upload the Arduino sketch to your compatible board using the Arduino IDE or the Arduino CLI.
2. Access the web application: Visit the link to the web application as described on the page mentioned above to access the Web Serial Camera web application. Click “connect”, select your board and confirm the selection.
3. Start experimenting: Dive into the world of real-time imaging in the browser and let your creativity flow.
Are you ready?
The Web Serial-based solution for video streaming on Arduino boards is an effective and adaptable tool for prototyping camera-based applications. Head over to our website and start tinkering today!
We can’t wait to see what you come up with! Share your experiences and creations on social media, and be sure to tag us!
Whether you are an IoT enthusiast, an enterprise developer or a high school teacher, we all know the thrill of bringing a new IoT project to life. But we also understand the frustration of repetitive setup processes and the time sink of configuring the same elements over and over again. What if you could save […]
Whether you are an IoT enthusiast, an enterprise developer or a high school teacher, we all know the thrill of bringing a new IoT project to life. But we also understand the frustration of repetitive setup processes and the time sink of configuring the same elements over and over again. What if you could save your project setup and reuse it at will?
Today, we’re beyond excited to announce a feature that addresses these exact needs: Custom Templates for Arduino Cloud. Custom Templates allow you to easily create, reuse and share IoT projects on the Arduino Cloud. They are great to streamline your workflow, replicate your IoT projects and share them within your team’s workspace.
In a word, Custom Templates aren’t just a new feature; they’re a response to your desire for more flexibility, efficiency, and scalability in the Arduino ecosystem.
What are Arduino Cloud templates?
Arduino Cloud templates are pre-configured projects available to anyone willing to set-up their Arduino devices for use quickly.
These templates automatically configure your device, upload a basic sketch to your board, and create a dashboard, all within one click. It’s pretty convenient and saves you a lot of time in the setup process.
Until now, users could only choose from a gallery of pre-defined templates created by Arduino. With the introduction of Custom Templates, you can now create and save your own project configurations as templates. This means you can:
1. Design your own Thing abstractions, including custom sketches and variables. 2. Create personalized dashboards for interacting with your devices. 3. Save and reuse your favorite project setups. 4. Share your templates within your workspace for Enterprise and School plans.
Why use Custom Templates? 6 reasons
The addition of Custom Templates brings several key benefits to Arduino Cloud users:
1. Save time: Reuse your successful project configurations without starting from scratch each time. 2. Ensure consistency: Maintain uniform setups across multiple projects or devices. 3. Scale fast: Easily replicate projects at scale, a game-changer for Enterprise and School users managing multiple devices or standardizing setups across teams. 4. Customize: Tailor templates to your specific needs, going beyond the pre-defined options. 5. Keep best practices: Capture and preserve successful project setups for future use. 6. Collaborate: Users who are on an Enterprise or School plan can share their templates within workspace, fostering standardization and best practices across your organization.
These benefits make Custom Templates a powerful tool for individual makers looking to boost their productivity, as well as for larger organizations aiming to implement and scale Arduino-based solutions efficiently.
Use cases: Custom Templates in action
Let’s look at some examples of how Custom Templates can help Makers, Enterprises, and Schools.
For Makers
Smart gardening system: Automated watering can be optimized with the usage of soil moisture sensors, remote water pump control and sunlight or rain monitoring. With Custom Templates, you can easily replicate the setup across your garden with one or multiple templates per device type.
Modular smart home system: A DIY enthusiast develops a base template for smart home devices, including basic Wi-Fi connectivity and MQTT communication. They can then quickly derive new templates for specific applications like smart lighting, temperature control, or security sensors, all building upon the same reliable base configuration.
For Enterprises
Industrial sensor deployment: A manufacturing company creates a template for their quality control sensors. This template includes specific calibration settings, data reporting intervals, and alert thresholds. They can rapidly deploy this template to hundreds of sensors across multiple production lines and facilities, ensuring consistency and easy management of their quality control system.
Fleet management system: A logistics company develops a template for their vehicle tracking devices. The template includes GPS tracking, fuel monitoring, and driver behavior analysis features. Using this template, they can quickly set up new devices as their fleet expands, maintaining consistent data collection and reporting across all vehicles.
For Schools
Standardized lab kits: A school’s science department creates a set of templates for different experiments (e.g., environmental monitoring, simple robotics, data logging). These templates can be quickly deployed to student kits at the beginning of each class, ensuring all students start with the correct configuration and reducing setup time.
Progressive learning modules: Teachers develop a series of templates with increasing complexity for a semester-long course. Starting with basic sensor reading templates, they progress to more complex projects involving multiple sensors, actuators, and data processing. This approach allows students to build on their knowledge incrementally, with each new template introducing additional concepts and components.
What is Arduino Cloud?
For those new to the platform, the Arduino Cloud is an intuitive IoT platform that allows you to develop, monitor, and control your Arduino devices remotely. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing your IoT projects, real-time data monitoring, and OTA (over-the-air) firmware updates. With features like Arduino Cloud Templates, it’s easier than ever to get your projects up and running quickly.
Get started with Custom Templates
Custom Templates are a valuable new feature in the Arduino Cloud, offering improved flexibility and efficiency for all users. Whether you’re a maker streamlining personal projects, an enterprise scaling IoT solutions, or an educator designing learning experiences, this feature helps you save time, ensure consistency and increase productivity. Custom Templates allow you to reuse proven solutions and standardize deployments across teams, adapting to your specific needs.
Sign up now and start creating your own Custom Templates. For a detailed guide on how to use this feature effectively, please refer to our documentation.
