Arduino Wows Crowd at Maker Faire Rome 2018

Arduino, the open-source hardware and software company, seemed to be impress eager audiences at this year's Makers Faire in Rome. While the updates on the single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits were impressive, what fascinated the Interesting Engineering team most was seeing how these boards were used. 

Here are our favorite innovations and new ideas using the Arduino systems and products: 

This LED matrix certainly impressed our team:

The Wizard of Make, Bob Martin, having some FGPA fun with the MKR Vidor. Swing by Pavilion 8 to try out our video processing/LED matrix demo for yourself! #MFR18 pic.twitter.com/AiCEZDMkbu

— Arduino (@arduino) October 13, 2018

Using Arduino for something other than robotics? This automated watering system was powered by Arduino, helping cultivate impressive plant growth:

Arduino Education

There was also this clever bike that used the Arduino Engineering Kit: 

Cool demos of the #ArduinoEngineeringKit at @MakerFaireRome this weekend! Check out the @arduino booth at Pavilion 8 https://t.co/2aaxBTdSyJ #MFR18 pic.twitter.com/GrkMOEEV5F

— MATLAB (@MATLAB) October 12, 2018

But that is not all this kit can do. It includes three cutting-edge Arduino-based projects to teach fundamental engineering concepts such as mechatronics, MATLAB and Simulink programming.

In addition to the Self-Balancing Motorcycle, the kit can produce a Mobile Rover that can navigate between given reference points, move objects with a forklift and more, as well as a Whiteboard Drawing Robot. It is the ideal solution for all university students seeking hands-on incorporation of Arduino technology.

? The AEK drawing robot makes engineering class so fun-fetti! #MFR18 pic.twitter.com/K2ys1o9Sr9

— Arduino (@arduino) October 12, 2018

Arduino Makers

This section showcased Arduino's latest projects, especially the Uno Wifi system. The Uno Wifi features a brand new 8-bt microprocessor from Microchip for the first time on an Arduino board. 

Similar to the Arduino Uno Rev3 with an integrated Wifi module, the Arduino Uno Wifi board is based on the ATmega328P (datasheet) with an ESP8266 Wifi Module integrated (datasheet). It features an impressive mind-blowing 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. 

Arduino Internet of Things

This emphasis showed how Arduino could be used in unexpected ways, like the greenhouse that so captured the attention of our Interesting Engineering team. There were also a couple of demos of the MKR Vidor 4000. It definitely grabbed attention with the real-time matrix demo: 

@mbanzi having fun with @arduino MKR Vidor 4000 (FPGA) massive real time led matrix demo at @MakerFaireRome ! pic.twitter.com/VkqfytGPNh

— Fabio Violante (@fviolante) October 14, 2018

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More than just good tech, the IoT emphasis showed practical ways startups and companies around the world have used Arduino in creating new products and services for their respective markets. 

One such way is through the Arduino Cloud, an IoT application that helps makers build connected objects fast. It lets you connect multiple devices to each other and even exchange real-time data while monitoring them from anywhere through an interface.

Best of all, Arduino Cloud is fully integrated in the Arduino Create ecosystem. This means you can quickly and easily generate a template code in Arduino Cloud and then upload it to your board using the Arduino Web Editor. Volia!