Guides & Projects for Makers
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Compact Battery-Powered Plant Monitor with the ATtiny85
Do you have a green thumb? Even if you do, this project will help remind you to water your plants. Simply place the Plant Monitor in the pot with your favorite plant and calibrate it to the appropriate soil moisture level. When the soil gets too dry, the LED will start blinking, giving you a…
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How to Program an ATtiny85 with the Arduino
Sometimes, even a small Arduino is too large for your project. Maybe you only need a few pins, want to use as little power as possible, or don’t have enough physical space. In these cases, the ATtiny85 might be just what you need. ATtiny processors come in various versions, but the ATtiny85 is the most…
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Ventilating Rooms with the Arduino
Are you someone who likes to ventilate your rooms but often forgets the windows open? This happens to me regularly – until now. In this project, an Arduino Nano monitors the temperature as soon as you open the window. If the temperature in the room drops by 0.5°C, it triggers an alarm. This way, you…
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How to Use an Arduino Joystick
The joystick module is a versatile input device commonly used in maker projects. In this article, you’ll learn how to connect an Arduino joystick to an Arduino UNO, how it works, and how to use it in your next project. How the Joystick Works The joystick module uses potentiometers for the x-axis and y-axis. When…
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Secret Messages: Transmitting Encrypted Messages as Audio
Sending messages with end-to-end encryption is standard for many messaging apps like Signal, Threema, and WhatsApp. But how about adding some playful retro charm? In this project, you convert text messages into sounds and send them as audio file attachments in an email. The recipient can decrypt these audio files using a previously agreed keyword…
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ESP32 OTA Updates: Remote Programming
The ESP32 supports OTA (Over-the-Air), allowing you to update sketches wirelessly. OTA is especially helpful when the microcontroller is hard to access or if you want to make changes without a physical connection. In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up OTA and go through a step-by-step example project: a blinking LED whose…
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Sustainability in DIY Projects: How You Can Craft Responsibly
As a maker, you’re often excited about bringing your ideas to life and building things from scratch. Especially in the world of electronics projects, whether with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or other platforms, sustainability plays an important role. Sustainability means using the earth’s resources responsibly, minimizing waste, and making environmentally friendly choices. In this article, we’ll…
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UX Design for Makers: How to Build User-Friendly Projects
As makers, we are often so fascinated by our projects that we overlook a crucial aspect: user-friendliness. We enthusiastically solder components, program microcontrollers, and build complex mechanisms, but often realize in the end that only we can operate them effectively. Friends and family, whom we proudly show our latest creation, stand in confusion. This is…
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Play Snake on the Arduino (and ESP32)
The classic game Snake has been with us for a long time on various devices – on PCs, Texas Instruments calculators, or even the venerable Nokia 3210. Thanks to its simple mechanics, the game can be implemented on almost any device with some processing power. So why not also on an Arduino? In this project,…
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An Arduino Theremin with Fixed Scale
In this project, you’ll learn how to build a simple Arduino Theremin using a piezo buzzer and the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor. But that’s not all – to help even inexperienced musicians impress their friends, this Theremin only plays notes within a scale that you define. In the following example, we’ll use the popular A minor…
