WHATS COOL IN ARDUINO

By Marc de Vinck, Interactive Bit Shifter

Meet the Arduino

Leonardo
ITS NO SECRET THAT MAKERS OF ALL
skill levels are adopting Arduino the open
source ecosystem of microcontrollers, addon shields, sensors, and code to bring all
kinds of DIY projects to life. In this column Ill
bring you cool new stars in the Arduinoverse,
and I hope youll tell me about great stuff
youre finding at whatscool@makezine.com.

Arduino Leonardo
The Arduino Leonardo (makershed.com/
leonardo) made its first retail appearance at
Maker Faire Bay Area 2012. If you were lucky
enough to attend, you may have picked up
one from the Maker Shed store. If not, dont
worry now you can get them online.
Leonardo is a very different kind of Arduino,
yet it still works as elegantly as previous versions of this amazing little microcontroller.
At its heart is the ATmega32U4 chip, which
eliminates the need for a secondary processor for USB communications. This not only
lowers the price of the board, but also allows
it to be used as a virtual keyboard or mouse!
Imagine the new possibilities for letting your
projects interact with computers.

Mintronics: Menta
This kit was designed in New York City by
open source hardware pioneer Adafruit
Industries, in partnership with MAKE and
Maker Shed (makershed.com/menta). Its an
Arduino-compatible microcontroller that fits
perfectly inside everybodys favorite enclosure, the mint tin complete with onboard
prototyping area and shield compatibility.
And check out the 3D-printed Menta enclosure created by Tod Kurt (aka todbot). Tod
uploaded his design files to Thingiverse (thing
iverse.com/thing:23809) so you can easily
download and modify the design. Its perfect

if you want a little more height for stacking

shields or adding jumper wires, sensors,
or battery packs to your Menta.

Arduino Wireless Proto Shield

This new shield (makershed.com/mksp13)
allows your Arduinos to easily communicate
with each other and with your computer from
100300 feet. It was designed to use Digis
XBee radio modules, but any wireless module
with the same footprint will work. Arduino also
sells a version with an SD memory card slot.

Arduino Ethernet
This microcontroller integrates an Arduino
and the popular Arduino Ethernet Shield. By
downloading and using the Ethernet library
in your Arduino sketches, you can connect
all kinds of projects to the web, like Matt
Richardsons Snail Mail Push Alert system for
his iPhone (makezine.com/go/snailpush) and
Chris DAngelos tkts Ticker Tape gadget that
researches and prints out Broadway theater
ticket discounts (makezine.com/go/tixticker).
Now you dont need a separate shield for
web connectivity just plug and play with
Arduino Ethernet (makershed.com/mksp9). a

Marc de Vinck is a father, professor, and maker and breaker

of things.
Follow us @make 29