Top 10 Cool Arduino Projects
Arduino is a cheap electronics board that allows you to create your own electronics without a lot of programming experience . We love Arduino, but like any other electronics project, it’s hard to come up with ideas for what to build. If you’re just looking for inspiration or just want to get started, let’s take a look at ten of the coolest Arduino projects.
10. Create a tiny weather display.
Want an easy way to keep track of the weather? This Arduino project uses the Adafruit HUZZAH board (which the Arduino runs on) and a small graphical OLED display to showcase the current weather, today’s highs, and tomorrow’s weather. Plus it’s tiny, and everyone loves tiny electronics.
9. Create a MIDI controller.
MIDI controllers are a great way to control the various sounds on your computer using physical hardware. This is pretty old technology, and you can buy all sorts of cool little MIDI controllers from just about any music store. But if you don’t want to buy a MIDI controller and be like everyone else, you can make your own using the Arduino . You will need to 3D print your own case if you want it to look as chic as this, but otherwise it is made from off-the-shelf components. Once you build it, you can control all of your hits, beeps and boops via USB.
8. Add the fingerprint reader to your garage door opener.
Garage door openers are boring. If you want to spice it up a bit, plug in a fingerprint reader to open the door. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is a pretty daunting project, but the end result is so awesome it’s hard to give up. If that’s too much for you, you can always control your garage door with your Arduino and your smartphone .
7. Keep cats away from stalls with an auto-release spray gun.
Sometimes the best Arduino designs are the most ridiculous. Case in point, this motion detection spray gun . The idea is simple: when motion is detected, the spray is triggered. This is the perfect way to keep cats away from counters or furniture.
6. Build your own Arduino
The beauty of Arduino is that it is open source, which means you can create your own pretty easily using off-the-shelf parts. It only requires about $ 5 per part, and when you’re done assembling it you will have a much better understanding of exactly how the Arduino works. If this particular project is too big for you, then this one is pocket-sized .
5. Add a motion-activated night light under the bed.
No one likes to bump into things when they get up in the middle of the night, but turning on a bedside lamp isn’t the best experience either. This project solves this problem by connecting LED lights under the bed and then firing them with a motion controller and an Arduino. That way, you don’t have to worry about blinding yourself when you get up, but you still don’t bump into everything.
4. Disable any phrase on your TV.
Tired of hearing about Kim Kardashian, Star Wars or Donald Trump? Enough already mutes the sound on your TV when it detects any word or phrase while tracking closed captioning. It will turn on after 30 seconds if the word or phrase is no longer mentioned. You can program it to block any phrase you want, making your TV viewing experience more enjoyable.
3. Add an Ambilight sensor to your LCD.
Adding a small backlight leak to the LCD is a great way to make watching movies more immersive. You can add your own using the Arduino and the result is an awesome movie viewing system you built yourself.
2. Create a robot arm.
If you really want to learn many different Arduino-related skills in one project, a robot arm is a great place to start . You will learn programming, building basics, prototyping, and more. Plus you get a cool robotic arm.
1. Create a fully functional computer control panel.
Ever wanted to use your computer as a control panel in a sci-fi movie? Reddit users did it, which is why he built it himself . As you can see in the picture, there is a lot going on in this project, but Arduino is behind it all. Beyond that, it’s all about setting up multiple USB controllers, some of the lights, and adding as many switches as you need to control everything from screen settings to volume.
The Lifehacker Weekend Roundup has collected our best guides, explanations, and other posts on a specific topic so you can complete big projects with ease. To find out more, check out our Weekend Roundup andTop 10 Tags.