Arduino
Esplora is now available in the Arduino store
The Arduino Esplora is a ready-to-use, easy-to-hold controller that lets you explore the infinitive possibilities you have in the world of sensor and actuators, without having to deal with breadboards, soldering or cable.
There is no limit to the applications-amusing, educational, useful – you can program. You can even add a couple of extra sensor and actuators if you need them. Add a colour LCD module and you’ll be able to create original game on your very own open-source console!
Buy it from the Arduino Store (you can also have it with the retail package below).
Arduino Tour con tappa a Verona: missione compiuta

Il weekend del 20 aprile scorso l’Arduino Tour si è fermato a Verona. Condividiamo con voi le foto dell’evento da cui traspare l’entusiasmo dei partecipanti che, non solo hanno potuto sperimentare le potenzialità dello Starter Kit, ma hanno avuto il supporto del Treviso Arduino User Group, da tempo attivo nella divulgazione e promozione di Arduino nel territorio veneto.
I progetti prototipati durante la giornata di domenica sono stati tutti interessanti e in particolare vorremmo menzionare:
- SunShift (aka “raggio della morte”), ovvero un sistema che con il concetto dell’inseguitore solare, muove uno specchio per riflettere il sole verso un punto specifico (ottimo per illuminare casa!)
- Cercapersone con risposte pre-programmate: un sistema che visualizza su LCD i messaggi in arrivo, e tramite dei bottoni permette di inviare una risposta a scelta tra quelle preprogrammate
Il workshop era ospitato da TheFab, uno spazio per maker in cui non ci sono solo eventi e workshop ma possiamo trovare anche delle macchine tipografiche Heidelberg attualmente usate da LinosType e proprio con queste macchine è stato realizzato il poster donato a Massimo Banzi in occasione della sua visita a Desio.
Nella foto qui sotto appare la matrice del circuito utilizzata stampare la locandina e celebrare la tappa del Tour Arduino (che vedete più sotto) a Verona:


Ci vediamo alla prossima tappa a Napoli, affrettatevi a prenotare perchè sono ancora disponibili solo alcuni posti!
An interactive corset teaching you how to breathe
RUAH is an interactive corset powered by Arduino Lilypad and created by Giulia Tomasello for her BA graduation project. Its main aim is to help people into learning the importance and the benefits of a deep diaphragmatic breathing.
The circuit is composed by a sensor sewn on an elastic belt and an actuator placed inside the corset.
The stretch sensor catches the move of diaphragmatic breath and sends a feedback from Lilypad to muscle wire, a flexinol spring, inflating and deforming the centre of the structure.
Through this interaction between user and bustier, user becomes conscious about his body and his
breathe, increasing his sensory abilities and his physical endurance.
The slow controlled breathing, which balances body and mind, is acquired only after a long workout.
As the wearer feels it like a real second skin, RUAH transmits and receives emotional feedback, contrasting a continuous sense of stillness and movement, opposite feelings that surround us and join up to ecstasy.
If you are interested in checking out the details of the project, you can explore Giulia’s pictures of the work in progress and her github code repository, after watching the video below with the Ruah in action!
The joystick that changed a life and could help many more
Robert Book is a tinkerer by nature and works at Silicon Valley Bank with Ian McCutcheon, a geek by nature. One day they were talking and Robert shared his big problem: his son Jerry, who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy, couldn’t use a keyboard anymore but loved to play computer games. Jerry could only be able to use a mouse with his right hand and very limited abilities in his left.
After a chat they realized that if they put their heads together they could make something that might enable him to play the different computer games with more ease and enjoyment.
Ian knew that Arduino Leonardo has a great capability, it can emulate a keyboard and a mouse and soon they came up with the first release of an augmented joystick making Jerry much happier. This collaboration became a great story you can watch in the video below and it’s going to make even more people happy thanks to the shared code to build the joystick yourself.
Arduino’s cameo appearence in The Following
The Following is an american TV Series which premiered last january and telling the story of
former FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) and his attempts to recapture serial killer Joe Carroll following the latter’s escape from prison
On the 9th of April Season 1, chapter 12 aired and some of you noticed the unexpected!
An Arduino Uno spotted for the first time in a TV series at 17m 40s: Kevin Bacon jumps over an ArduinoUno-activated device … the red led blinking seems pretty dangerous!
But what kind of device is it exactly?Turning drawings into a music game
Gilda Negrini and Riccardo Vendramin, two young product designers from Italy, wrote us to share their last work, designed during a course called Autoproduzioni at Politecnico of Milano. It’s called MusicInk, it runs on an Arduino Duemilanove board, and gives an alternative method to teach music to children. That’s how they describe it:
MusicInk makes drawings turning into real music, this magical process is due to a mashup of various eterogenous technologies: Conductive Ink by Bare Conductive, MPR121 controller, Arduino (Duemilanove board), LiPo shield (removed on a second time), Bluetooth shield by Seedstudio, Android platform, Pure Data for Android (libido), Pure Data patch.
Our project was developed with the help of our friend Manh Luong Bui and has been a very hard work.
We started our project studying the possibilities to create new and cheap musical instruments, then we discovered studies about conductive ink and we decided to create something different with these two technologies.
Here you can see their experience in testing MusicInk in a kindergarten in Milano with children between 4 and 5 years old:
Arduino meets Wearables: workshop at Codemotion Berlin
After participating to Codemotion Rome last month, from the 9th of May we’ll be spending a couple of days at Codemotion Berlin, an innovative tech event engaging developers of all languages and technologies.
We’re having an Arduino wearables workshop organized together with Kobakant duo (Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson) and focused on the use of Lilypad.
In these 8 hours workshop we’ll explore how computing can be made wearable using the Arduino Lilypad and a selection of conductive materials to make textile sensors and sew electrical connections.
In order to quickly prototype interactive wearables within the workshop, we’ll provide a selection of open source lasercut felt designs that can readily be assembled to garments and accessories. The textiles sensors and fabric circuits can be stitched into felt and powered by battery to make final stand-alone objects.
The cool thing is that no previous experience in programming or sewing is required to participate, so don’t be shy! Check the details and the earlybird offer on Codemotion website!

The next day, Massimo Banzi, thanx to Maker Faire Rome, is opening the Conference with a keynote speech titled: “People over megahertz”.
Come and join us in Berlin!
**UPDATE**
On the 11th you can join the conversation in the panel starting at 5.20pm with Mika Satomi, Hannah Perner Wilson and Cecilia Palmer:
Makers movement and fashion are getting closer than we think
What happens when fashion and technology get combined? During the panel we’ll explore how the use of low-cost devices and machines is multiplying possibilities of participation and is transforming the way we approach our garments.
Makerfaire Rome – Hangout on-air with Massimo Banzi on monday

Last february we announced the official dates of MakerFaire Rome – The European Edition – taking place next October and finally, also released the Call for Makers to invite tinkerers to enter projects and take part to this event celebrating the makers’ revolution in Italy.
Non we’d like to start exchanging ideas and presenting you some of the protagonists that’s why we are organizing a series of Hangouts OnAir, to inspire and be inspired by some of our friends who are going to participate.
The first hangout is planned for next monday 22nd of april h.8pm CET – Massimo Banzi will be the moderator and his guests are:
Let’s go german with Arduino video Tutorials – auch auf Deutsch
(Den Text auf Deutsch findet Ihr weiter unten)
Today we are announcing the first of a series of video tutorials in german created in collaboration with our friend Max, founder of MaxTechTV and published on Arduino channel on Youtube.
The tutorial of this month explains how to turn your Arduino Esplora into a customized computer gamepad to play any of your videogames. And it’s just the beginning to start the real fun of personalizing the controller: what about configuring it to start a special weapon with a shout using the microphone, included in the board? The options are endless! (here’s the tutorial in english)
For this example we configured the code to be suitable for SuperTuxKart, an open-source racing game we love to play during our breaks!
Enjoy the video below and share with us your new projects made with Esplora, or other Arduino boards, joining our official Flickr Group.
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Wir freuen uns heute das erste Video einer Reihe von Videotutorials auf deutsch veröffentlichen zu können. Die Tutorials werden in Zusammenarbeit mit unserem Freund Max, Gründer von MaxTechTV produziert und auf dem Arduino YouTube-Kanal veröffentlicht .
Das Tutorial des Monats April erklärt wie man den Arduino Esplora in ein individuelles Gamepad für den Computer verwandeln kann, um jedes beliebige Videospiel damit zu steuern. Und das ist nur eine von vielen tollen Möglichkeiten den Controller zu personalisieren und anzupassen: Wie wäre es das eingebaute Mikrofon zu nutzen, um über einen Sprachbefehl eine ‘Special Weapon’ abzufeuern ? Die Möglichkeiten sind endlos! (Hier das Tutorial auf Englisch)
Für dieses Beispiel haben wir den Code angepasst, um damit das open-source Spiel SuperTuxKart zu steuern, ein Rennspiel, das wir auch gern mal in unseren Pausen spielen.
Viel Spaß mit dem Video! Ihr könnt Eure Projekte mit dem Esplora oder einem anderen Arduino Board in unserer offiziellen Flickr Gruppe teilen.
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Du sprichst deutsch und möchtest uns dabei unterstützen einen Teil der Arduino Dokumentation in deine Sprache zu übersetzen? Wir haben schon angefangen und hier kann man unseren Fortschritt beobachten: http://arduino.cc/de/Main/Products.
Wenn Du uns helfen willst, schreibe Max (max @ maxtechtv.de) und er wird Dir erklären wie Du in das Gemeinschafts-Übersetzungsprojekt eingebunden werden kannst. Danke!
Equipping teens with hands-on approach to robots
Hello, I am Frank Magazu. I am 16 years old and go to school in Pasco, Florida. I make robots with the Arduino and got interviewed by my school district. Here is a video of me. Thanks for helping me become proficient at robotics as well as electronics and programing in general.
Thank you Frank! You made our day with your email. Keep up with the great work you and your professor are doing to inspire more people in getting involved in diy robots.



















