POTI-POTI.ORG

30 most useful and affordable Arduino projects for everyone

Arduino is here and has triggered the 3rd Industrial Revolution. Thanks to it, electronics and physical computing are getting more and more popular and normal people from all over the world are making amazing things. They are using Arduino as the “brains” of all sorts of DIY devices, from CNC routers and 3D printers to new and inventive musical instruments or automatic gardeners. We have explored and dug in the myriad of projects that are currently available and open sourced in the web, and have selected but a little (only 30!) to categorize them according to some more global and emerging disciplines.
In general, Arduino is considered to be most commonly applied (so far) by hobbyist and DIYers, but this reality is rapidly changing, and thanks to another cornerstone of the Revolution, namely crowdfunding (Kickstarter, IndieGogo, etc), it is becoming a consumable that many professionals are using to make other people’s lives easier and/or much more interesting.
After an incursion in the world of open-sourced Arduino projects and using some crtitical analysis we have noticed how many of these can really contribute in a near future to the following areas of a more evolved form of civilization:

• Food Production
• Music and Visual Arts
• Communication, Networks and ITs
• Clothing and Costumes
• Domotics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Medicine and Human Body

Which of course doesn’t mean that they are exclusive of them. Interestingly, most projects are hybrids that bridge their application from one of the points above to another.

Our selection is based not only in their interest as doable running projects but also as their potential to change our everyday lives.

1. FOOD PRODUCTION
   • Arduino controlled greenhouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZiqUZGjGc0)
   • Arduino botanicalls (http://www.botanicalls.com/kits/)
   • Arduino hydroponics (http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=130344.0)
2. MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS
   • Play the piezo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR8-zOhIBHI)
   • Arduino trumpet (http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Trumpet/?lang=es)
   • Outdoor high speed photography (http://www.instructables.com/id/High-Speed-Outdoor-Photography/)
   • SMSlingshot (http://www.vrurban.org/smslingshot.html)
   • Digital Graffitti (http://blog.formatlos.de/2008/12/01/digital-graffiti/)
   • Sonic Body installation (http://vimeo.com/908827)
3. COMMUNICATION, NETWORKS AND ITs
   • Open Energy monitor (http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/)
   • Uncle Bill’s Solar water heater (http://www.users.waitrose.com/~robinjames/SolarWaterHeater/electrics/electrics.html)
   • Arduino weather station (http://www.toptal.com/c/how-i-made-a-fully-functional-arduino-weather-station-for-300)
   • Keyglove (http://www.keyglove.net/)
   • Arduino Game Controller (http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-an-Arduino-Uno-R3-as-a-Game-Controller/)
   • Arduserver (http://arduserver.com/)
   • Makey-makey (http://www.makeymakey.com/)
4. CLOTHING AND CUSTOMES
   • Smart textiles (http://www.tio3.be/p449)
   • Signalling jacket (http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/LilyPad/build/turn_signal_jacket.html)
   • CNC tattooing (http://blog.ponoko.com/2011/03/17/automatic-cnc-tattoo-machine/)
   • POV bike wheels (http://www.instructables.com/id/RGBike-POV-Open-project/)
5. DOMOTICS, ARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
   • RFID book finder (http://intelligentbookfindersystem.blogspot.com/)
   • Conductive paint wiring (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/863853574/touch-board-interactivity-everywhere)
   • Sand glass traffic light (http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/11/18/sands-of-traffic-times/)
   • Sismograph (http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Seismic-Activity-Monitor-Ethernet-Shield/)
6. HEALTH AND SPORT
   • Cyclocomputer (http://www.instructables.com/id/Wireless-Altoids-Cycle-Computer/)
   • Biometrics (http://www.cooking-hacks.com/documentation/tutorials/ehealth-biometric-sensor-platform-arduino-raspberry-pi-medical)
7. INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
   • 3D printing (http://reprapbook.appspot.com/)
   • CNC machines (http://www.instructables.com/id/CHEAP-ARDUINO-CNC/)
   • Quadrotor (http://www.instructables.com/id/Quadrotor/)
   • RC Lawnmower (http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-RC-Lawnmower/)

Impressive huh? Well, this is just the beginning…