Earlier this year, Arduino launched its Plug and Make Kit designed for people looking to step into the maker scene or the engineering fields. One of the largest drawbacks many people have getting started with electronics projects is soldering, a skill that takes time and finesse to master. That said, microcontroller and single board computer manufacturers have made it easy to connect additional boards and electronic add-ons through the use of novel plug-and-play analog and digital I/Os.
Arduino has gone a step further and has incorporated its own quick connectors in the form of Qwiic I2C (communication) cables.
The Arduino Plug and Make Kit comes with everything needed to build seven different projects, including an Arduino Uno R4 with integrated Wi-Fi (Renesas RA4M1 microcontroller and ESP32-S3-MINI-1) and seven Modulino I2C nodes that offer different functions:
- Modulino Knob: An encoder to adjust values
- Modulino Pixels: an 8x LC8822-2020 RGB LED array
- Modulino Distance: a VL53L4 Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor
- Modulino Movement: a 3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope
- Modulino Buzzer: a buzzer or alarm
- Modulino Thermo: a temperature and humidity sensor
- Modulino Buttons: 3x buttons and 3x yellow LEDs
The kit also includes a Modulino Base to create simple circuits using the Modulino add-on modules, Qwiic I2C cables to connect the boards to the Uno, a USB-C cable for power and programming, and various spacers, screws and nuts to hold everything in place.
As mentioned earlier, the kit allows users to create seven different projects, including a weather station (temperature, humidity, and chance of rain), a digital hourglass with LED indicators, a plant monitor (temperature and humidity), a game controller, a synthesizer, a smart lamp, and a gesture-controlled lamp.
The element14 Community is looking for participants to roadtest the Arduino Plug and Make Kit, especially those working on projects.
Participants must document their builds using text, images, videos and other media so that readers can follow along. Enrolment for this roadtest ends December 2, 2024, and posted reviews will be determined at a later date.
