Today at Maker Faire New York, Massimo Banzi, co-founder of the Arduino project, unveiled several new boards in a main stage presentation, What’s Ahead for Arduino. The new boards are on view in the Arduino tent at Maker Faire, and you can read about them on the Arduino blog, too.
Ed Rogers lives next to active train tracks, which leads to a lot of noise in his bedroom when a train passes and the windows are open. Like any good maker, Ed solved his problem with a homebrew automatic window closer. He attached a pair of linear actuators to the windows with 3D printed brackets. These actuators are controlled by an Arduino with an H bridge and can be activated by a button on his nightstand. Not only that, but the project also integrates a motion detection system to close the windows automatically when a train is passing.
The ADK TinkerKit from the Maker Shed is a pack of 25 TinkerKit Modules, an Arduino Mega ADK, a Mega Sensor Shield, and necessary wires to kickstart your Android development experience without soldering.
The PING))) Ultrasonic Sensor, from the Maker Shed, is one of my favorite sensors. It has a range from .75 inches to 10 feet and is surprisingly accurate and easy to use with an Arduino. This versatile sensor can be used for motion sensing, distance measuring, and object detection making it perfect for robotics.
The Voice Shield Kit, from the Maker Shed, lets you easily add audio to your next Arduino project. Make talking clocks, voice guided GPS, alarms, awesome Halloween props and more.
The ProtoSnap, from the Maker Shed, is an Arduino compatible development platform for teaching the basics of Arduino programming efficiently. It requires no assembly, wiring, or soldering, so you can jump right into programming. Control LEDs, buzzers, light sensors, and more. There’s even a small prototyping space so you can add your own circuits. Once you have a firm grasp of the programming, you can snap off the individual components of the ProtoSnap for use in future projects.
I couldn’t dredge up much information about this project, but this Arduino-based Facebook “Like” button by Mario Klingemann will be on display at the Ultra Social exhibition, a part of the UAMO Festival in Munich. I wish I could be there so that I can push it myself, since I definitely want to be counted among those who like this project.
