A guide for Arduino Project Ideas and exciting projects for beginners and engineering students.

Arduino is an open source Micro-controller board. It is based on Microchip ATMega328P Micro-controller developed by Arduino.cc. The board has sets of analog and digital input/output (I/O) pins that can interface with various expansion boards and other circuits. Arduino has 6 analog pins, 14 digital pins, and it can be programmed using the Arduino IDE (Integrated development environment) via a type B USB cable. It accepts the voltages between 7 and 20 volts and powers up by USB cable or a 9V battery. Moreover the hardware reference design is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 Licence which is available on the Arduino website. The production files and layout for some hardware versions is also available. Arduino UNO version 1.0 board is first in the series of USB Arduino boards and reference model for Arduino platform. The ATmega328 on the Arduino Uno comes pre-programmed with a bootloader which allows to upload new code to it without the use of an external hardware programmer.It communicates using the original STK500 protocol. The Arduino UNO 1.0 does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it uses the Atmega16U2 (Atmega8U2 up to version R2) programmed as a USB-to-serial converter. In conclusion, Arduino UNO has a wide variety of applications with excellent results. 

Technical Specifications

Specification	Value
Microcontroller	Microchip ATmega328P
Operating Voltage	5 Volt
Input Voltage	7 to 20 Volts
Digital I/O Pins	14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins	6
DC Current per I/O Pin	20 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin	50 mA
Clock Speed	16 MHz
Flash Memory	32 KB of which 0.5 KB used by bootloader
EEPROM	1 KB
SRAM	2 KB
Length	68.6 mm
Width	53.4 mm
Weight	25 g

General Pin functions

PIN	FUNCTION
LED	There is a built-in LED driven by digital pin 13. When the pin is HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it’s off.
VIN	The input voltage to the Arduino/Genuino board when it’s using an external power source (as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source). You can supply voltage through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack, access it through this pin.
5V	This pin outputs a regulated 5V from the regulator on the board. The board can be supplied with power either from the DC power jack (7 – 20V), the USB connector (5V), or the VIN pin of the board (7-20V). Supplying voltage via the 5V or 3.3V pins bypasses the regulator, and can damage the board.
3V3	A 3.3 volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum current draw is 50 m
IOREF	This pin on the Arduino/Genuino board provides the voltage reference with which the microcontroller operates. A properly configured shield can read the IOREF pin voltage and select the appropriate power source or enable voltage translators on the outputs to work with the 5V or 3.3V.
GND	Ground pins.
Reset	Typically used to add a reset button to shields which block the one on the board.

Special Pin Functions

Each of the 14 digital pins and 6 Analog pins on Arduino Uno can be used as an input or output, using pinMode(), digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. These pins operate at 5 volts. Each pin can provide or receive 20 mA as recommended operating condition and has an internal pull-up resistor ( by default it is disconnected) of 20-50k ohm. A maximum of 40mA is the value that must not be exceeded on any I/O pin to avoid permanent damage to the micro-controller. The Arduino Uno has 6 analog inputs, labeled as A0 through A5, each of which provide 10 bits of resolution (i.e. 1024 different values). While by default they measure from ground to 5 volts, it is possible to change the upper end of their range using the AREF pin and the analog Reference() function.

In addition, some pins have specialized functions

PIN	FUNCTION
External Interrupts	pins 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.
Serial	pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. These pins are connected to the corresponding pins of the ATmega8U2 USB-to-TTL Serial chip.
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)	3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11 Can provide 8-bit PWM output with the analog Write() function.
SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)	10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI communication using the SPI library.
TWI (Two Wire Interface)	A4 or SDA pin and A5 or SCL pin. Support TWI communication using the Wire library.
AREF (Analog REFerence)	Reference voltage for the analog inputs.

 

For more details refer to: Arduino datasheets

 Arduino Project Ideas  for beginners

1. A giant pixel display using Arduino

   

The LED pixel display uses LED strands to create vibrant patterns, text, and furthermore animated GIFs that you can frame, and hang right on your wall. A digital photo Frame! The build relies on external software, called Glediator (free) that allow you complete LED matrix control, and the ability to create live or pre-recorded mixes of your LED animations.

you’ll need:

• 10-meter strip of LED pixels
• 5V 10A power supply
• Thick wire
• Ikea RIBBA photo frame
• Glass frosting spray
• White paint

2. Pulsating LED cube

   

If you are looking for something beautiful to build, the pulsating LED cube is a perfect choice! A single Arduino controlls LEDs via multiplexing, it is still easy enough for beginners to make. This project also involves a good soldering practice, which is one of the essential beginner’s electronics skills you need to know.

You’ll need:

• 64 LEDs
• Craft wire
• Component wire
• Crocodile clips
• Scrap wood
• Drill

3. Make your own Ambilight

   

It is originally developed for Philips TVs, the Ambilight features ambient lighting that reacts to the images on your television screen. It is easy to recreate the Ambilight for any screen. Cheap addressable LEDs cut the cost of this impressive build, and at the time of writing the component list for this project you have to pay reasonable costs upto 4500 INR.

You’ll need:

• WS2812B LED strip
• 10A 5V power supply

4. Arduino-Powered Temperature Controller

   

Make your own Arduino temperature controller instead going for a commercial one. Not only is this an excellent beginner level project, but it has real-world applications!

You’ll need:

• Temperature sensor, such as the TMP36
• Relay or RC plug switches
• Screw terminals
• Box to trap the heat
• Heating/cooling element, or incandescent bulb with fixture (or both)

5. Arduino Traffic Light Controller

   

This project is a great introduction to Arduino programming. This is easily done on a breadboard. The traffic light controller uses a red, yellow, and green LED to re-create a traffic light on a breadboard. Therefore It’s an easy way to get hands-on with writing and editing code.

You’ll need:

• Arduino UNO
• A breadboard
• LEDs red, green, blue
• Resistors, Capcitors, connecting wires
• Power supply

6. Simple Arduino Alarm System

   

A simple alarm system which uses a motion sensor to detect movement. Consequently, the LEDs flash and a high-pitched warning tone is emitted when an intruder is detected.

You’ll need:

•  Ultrasonic “ping” sensor
•  Piezo buzzer
•  LED strip light
•  A (Passive Infrared Sensor) PIR sensor ( in case of motion detection)

7. Arduino RFID Smart Lock

   

An Arduino RFID smart Lock, Looks complicated! However it’s more direct than you’d think due to a cheap and easy-to-use RFID reader .

This project uses a few new parts. Rather than starting from scratch, the code is modified from existing examples. This is a fantabulous introduction to multi-component devices with real practical uses.

You’ll need:

• Logic-level N channel Mosfet
• 12v Power supply
• MFRC522 module
• 12v Solenoid

8. A buzz wire game with arduino

   

The buzz wire game is a fantastic project to work with small children. This is an exiting project to work with an Arduino board.

You’ll need:

• Old metal coat hanger.
• Small Arduino compatible buzzer

9. Arduino-Powered Laser Turret

   

Build your own Arduino powered laser turret. The code in this project can extend and allow you to customize your turret’s movement. Moreover, this is an amazing introduction to servos with Arduino boards, the building blocks of robotics!

you’ll need:

• 2 servos
• Metal wire and cable ties
• Laser module
• Piezo buzzer

10. Control Arduino with python

    

This is a simplest project on arduino, If you already know Python, you can learn about Arduino hardware without learning a new language. This project is especially useful for people just starting out, as Python is a beginner-friendly language.

you’ll need:

• Arduino UNO Kit
• PC for programming

11. Arduino game controller

    

Gaming is cool. The only thing which is more cool is to build your own Game controoler. This Arduino game controller project cover both building your own hardware, and step-by-step coding of a simple game.

You’ll need:

• Uniduino Unity Asset
• Unity3D (free)

12. Arduino Overspeeding detector

    

You can make an overspeed detecting system for your vehicle. Just attach it to your vehicle by setting up a GSM & GPS connection thorough a mobile with an Arduino UNO board. The system can be developed with accident detection mechanism.

You’ll need:

• Arduino UNO
• GSM Module
• GPS Module
• 16×2LCD
• 10KPOT
• Power supply
• Connecting wires

At Eckovation you are going to get an exellent approach to the latest technoligies. For getting more acquainted with Arduino related projects go for following online courses.

Robotics Online Certification Course

IoT with LoRa and Arduino UNO

If you like the ideas please drop your comments in the below comments section. It helps us to stay motivated! 🙂

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