Tag Archives: Bob Martin

A first look at Maker Faire New York 2015

Arduino

Found at the heart of the Maker community, Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software.

Arduboy

Arduboy is an open source, credit card-sized device for people to play, create and share their favorite 8-bit games.

Keyboardio

Keyboardio‘s Model 01 is an heirloom-grade keyboard for serious typists, which features a beautiful hardwood body, an advanced ergonomic design, and is fully programmable with the Arduino IDE.

Microduino

Microduino are quarter-sized, stackable building blocks that allow Makers of all ages and skill levels to bring robots, music boxes and countless other projects to life.

Modulo

Modulo is a set of tiny modular boards that takes the hassle out of building electronics, giving Makers the ability to develop custom electronics for their project without having to design and assemble circuits from scratch.

Qtechknow

Quin Etnyre is a 14-year-old Maker, teacher and entrepreneur, who fell in love with Arduino after attending his first Maker Faire at the age of 10. The whiz kid recently successfully funded his Qduino Mini, an Arduino-compatible tiny board with a built-in battery charger and monitor.

Zippy Robotics

Prometheus from Zippy Robotics lets Makers create real circuit board right from their desktop in just minutes.

Bosch

Bosch Sensotec has developed a prototype indoor navigation device based on Arduino and the BNO055 sensor, which will enable firefighters to quickly escape from dangerous dark or smoke-filled structures.

And that’s not all…

Look who’s talking now!

Don’t miss Atmel’s Henrik Flodell as he explores the ways to Take Your Arduino Prototype to the Next Level on Saturday from 11:00am-11:30am on the MAKE: Electronics stage. He will be immediately followed by the Wizard of Make Bob Martin who will demonstrate how to Stretch Your Arduino Environment to Get the Visibility You Need.

On Sunday, Atmel VP of Marketing Sander Arts will hop on the MAKE: Electronics stage at 11:30am to reveal how Makers with an entrepreneurial spirit can Turn Their Prototype Into a Business. Several hours later at 4:00pm, Atmel Head of Social Media Artie Beavis will moderate a lively discussion between Bob Martin, 14-year-old CEO Quin Etnyre, Arduino’s Tom Igoe and Dr. Michael Wang on the ways Arduino Opens New Doors for Educators and Students.

Go behind the scenes!

You don’t have to be a reader of EDN.com to enjoy a unique meet-up hosted by the site’s LEDitor-in-Chief Lee Goldberg, which will taking place on Saturday 10:30am. The VIP walking tour will take you backstage several of the event’s most interesting exhibits, namely Atmel. You’ll also walk away with tons of t-shirts, evaluation kits and lots of other cool swag.

Those wishing to participate are encouraged to meet in front of the rocket-shaped “Forms in Transit” sculpture, located at the traffic circle that’s just beyond the main entrance. The actual tour of the Faire grounds will kick off at 11:00am sharp! With only 25 spots available, reservations are strongly recommended. To RSVP, write Lee at LEDitor@green-electronics.com.

Can’t ‘make’ it to the Faire? Don’t worry!

You can always follow @Atmel live on Twitter for the latest updates, trends and happenings. What’s more, we’ll even be bringing the show to you live via Periscope. Stay tuned!

Going hands-on with the now-on-sale Arduino Zero

3 Replies

It’s official! Makers in the U.S. can now buy the 32-bit Arduino board online.

In addition to a number of other announcements during his Maker Faire Bay Area “State of Arduino” address, Massimo Banzi had finally revealed the dates for the highly-anticipated Zero board to a standing-room only crowd. In fact, MAKE: Magazine would even go on to call it “one of the biggest pieces of news” from this year’s show and tell.

And now available (as of June 15th) for purchase within the United States, here’s a quick refresher on the 32-bit Arduino unit that is bound to become a Maker hit over the summer. While its form factor may share that of the Leonardo, the Zero boasts an Atmel | SMART SAM D21 ARM Cortex-M0+ core, enabling the board to run much faster and pack more of a punch than its 8-bit counterparts.

It’s also worth mentioning that the latest device offers users the ability to easily talk to the cloud, thanks to an increase in bits and clock cycles to deal with what’s coming in and going out. This allows Makers to bring their wildest (and smartest) Internet of Things projects to life. As the Wizard of Make Bob Martin explains, “You can do this with an 8-bit microcontroller, but sometimes with data streams, it’s like drinking from a firehose.”

Key hardware specs include 256KB of Flash, 32KB SRAM in a TQFP package and a clock speed of 48MHz. In comparison, the 8-bit Leonardo (ATmega32U4) comes with only 32KB of Flash, 2.5KB of SRAM and merely runs at 16MHz. One its other notable features is the Atmel Embedded Debugger (EDBG), which provides a full debug interface without the need for any supplemental hardware. EDBG supports a virtual COM port that can be used for device programming and traditional Arduino bootloader functionality, and is entirely compatible with Atmel Studio to give users the ability to import their sketches directly and do source-level debugging.

The Zero sports six analog and 14 digital pins, all of which except for the Rx/Tx pins can also serve as PWM pins. Meanwhile, the analog pins have a 12-bit ADC instead of the Leonardo’s 10-bit ADC, significantly improving analog resolution. Though the new board does not have EEPROM, it does support 16KB by emulation. In other words, Arduino sketches relying upon this feature will still run without any hiccups.

Upon receiving the board, a user may notice that that Zero’s silk includes an additional graphic element: the Genuino logo. (For those who may not know, Genuino — meaning “genuine” in Italian — is Arduino’s global sister brand.)

“We added the Genuino logo to the Arduino Zero to stress its authenticity, and to make it easier for the Arduino community to spot original boards. We are going to include this logo to all genuine Arduino boards from now on,” the crew says.

In tandem with its debut on the Arduino U.S. online store, the team has unveiled the Arduino IDE 1.6.5 with a bunch of enhancements as well as support for the Zero. This version of the incredibly popular IDE will keep the serial monitor open while uploading, an “Open Recent” menu that shows the last five opened sketches and a new modern editor, among many other improved elements.

Interested? Head over to the Zero’s official page here, where the board is currently going for $49.90. As you wait for its arrival, watch below as the Wizard of Make gives MAKE’s Alasdair Allan a hands-on demonstration.

A sneak peek into Maker Week

1 Reply

And so, the road to Maker Faire begins! Here’s a closer look at what you can expect from Atmel all week.

Maker Faire season is officially underway and we’re just days out from the 10th annual flagship event here in the Bay Area. In 2014, we saw more than 1,100 Makers and 130,000 attendees pack the San Mateo Event Center for two days of innovation, with countless visitors flocking our booth and congregating around other Atmel-driven projects. And rightfully so, as we continue to remain at the heart of the Maker community, powering everything from highly-popular Arduino boards to 3D printers to open-source robots.

Testament to that, we have plenty of demos, discussions and more planned for the days leading up to and during Maker Faire Bay Area. Here’s a rundown of who and what you can expect to see in the coming week!

MakerCon, Tuesday May 12-13th, Palace of Fine Arts

MakerCon is a conference by and for the leaders of the Maker Movement. This event examines the impact of DIY culture on local and global manufacturing, design, workforce development and education, as well as provides valuable, practical insights around its role in the science, business and technology fields.

With the emergence of easy-to-use boards like Arduino, a growing number of Makers are producing systems faster than ever before, dramatically reducing costs and headaches often associated with starting a product. However, once a DIYer is ready to promote their projects for funding or potential commercialization, how can they generate the awareness and attention required for success? In response to that common conundrum, Sander Arts will explore how to take a project from a mere idea to mass market as part of the conference’s Marketplace breakout session on Wednesday, May 13th at 3:30pm PT. In his presentation, Atmel’s VP of Marketing will address how entrepreneurs can go from ‘Makerspace to Marketplace,’ turning their Maker-board prototype into a viable business through digital marketing platforms.

AVR Freaks Meetup, Thursday, May 14, San Mateo Marriott

What do Arduino, MakerBot, 3D Robotics, Sphero and other major names throughout the Maker Movement all have in common? They began with on an AVR microcontroller. After all, it’s no wonder everyone from hobbyists to aspiring entrepreneurs have turned to the versatile family of 8- and 32-bit MCUs to bring their creations to life. Paying homage to its legacy within the DIY community, Atmel is bringing together these likeminded tinkerers, Makers, and most importantly, AVR fans for an inaugural pre-Maker Faire AVR Freak Meetup. Participants will have the opportunity to hop aboard the Tech on Tour big rig and get their hands on the latest and greatest projects from avid AVR users, enthusiasts and loyalists, in addition to mingle with Atmel’s own esteemed panel of experts, snap a selfie with AVR Man and pick up some swag. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, AVR Freak at heart Massimo Banzi will be in attendance, too.

Beyond that, attendees will also have the opportunity to sign up for a Lunch n’ Learn training session, which will guide participants into becoming an “Atmel MCU Designer in One Hour” at 11am PT. Seats are limited, and yes, r egistration is required!

FRIDAY@MakerFaire, Friday, May 15, San Mateo Event Center

New to the program this year is exclusive, early access to show (and tell) from 1pm to 7pm PT. FRIDAY@MakerFaire is designed specifically for supporters and advocates of the Maker Movement to get focused time with Makers ahead of the DIY craziness that is Maker Faire Saturday and Sunday. This is a ticketed event for attendees interested in taking advantage of the preview opportunity.

Maker Faire, Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17, San Mateo Event Center

Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and sharing what they can do. It’s a venue for Makers to exhibit examples of their work and interact with others about it, while in a dynamic setting. Now in its 10th year, this flagship event will be home to thousands of projects, a number of which driven by an Atmel MCU. During the two-day show, visitors will be able to get a firsthand look at some of the Makers who’ve successfully taken their idea from the ‘Makerspace to Marketplace’ inside the Atmel booth (#2223), including:

Arduino

Probably doesn’t warrant much of an introduction. It’s Arduino, come on! This open-source electronics platform is smack dab in the middle of the Maker Movement.

Qtechknow

The question is, what can’t this 14-year-old innovator do? Aside from changing the world one board at a time, CEO Quin Etnyre has already taught classes at MIT, received multitudinous awards, partook in White House Maker Faire, and recently launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for the Qduino Mini.

Zymbit

The Internet of Things represents a compelling opportunity across a staggering array of applications, and as more devices become connected, development time will play an increasingly integral role. Fortunately, Zymbit provides a unique, pre-packaged hardware and software IoT solution that not only allows Makers to customize, add and modify their projects, but bring those gizmos and gadgets to market in days, not months.

DrumPants

Ever catch yourself drumming on your pant leg? Your table? Your desk? Your steering wheel? Well good news, starting a one-man band is now as simple as wearing DrumPants. Dubbed by its creators Tyler Freeman and Lei Yu as “the world’s industrial quality wearable musical instrument,” the kit magically transforms your outfit into a full ensemble with over 100 high-quality sounds and 300 music apps.

littleBits

Like the LEGO and Tinkertoys of the tech-savvy generation, littleBits is open-source library of electronic modules that snap together with magnets, enabling Makers to learn electronics via prototypes. The library currently has over 60 modules, ranging from Arduino to MP3 to cloud bits. The best part? Each interchangeable board works with one another to spark up millions of possible combinations.

1Sheeld

1Sheeld is a configurable shield for Arduino boards that lets users replace their other shields by using smartphone features, such as its display, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, GSM, Wi-Fi and GPS. The system is comprised of two parts: a shield that physically connects to an Arduino and acts as a wireless middleman, transmitting data between the board and any Android smartphone via Bluetooth, and an Android app that manages the communication between the shield and the mobile device.

Zippy Robotics

Zippy Robotics enables users to construct circuit boards, arts and crafts, mechanical parts and other working prototypes righ from their desk through a computer-controlled carving machine called Prometheus.

Wait… There’s More!

On Saturday at 3pm PT, Atmel’s resident Wi-Fi expert Pierre Roux will join representatives from ARM, littleBits and MAKE to delve deeper into the “Connectivity, Creativity and Challenges” of the Internet of Things. Shortly after, the one and only Wizard of Make Bob Martin will conduct an on-stage demonstration on how to debug an Arduino board. This training session will take place Saturday at 6:30pm PT.

Stay Connected

Be sure to follow along with us on Twitter as we bring you all of the latest happenings from throughout the week. For those attending and looking to have their project featured on the Atmel social channels, tweet us to set up an interview! Unable to attend? No need to worry, we’ll also be live-streaming via Periscope — or something that we like to call #Fairescope!

Preview: Maker Faire Rome

Preview: World Maker Faire New York 2014

1 Reply

Are you excited? We sure are! Atmel is getting ready to take center stage at the 5th Annual World Maker Faire 2014 in New York City on September 20th and 21st. Undoubtedly, this year will be amazing as an expected 750+ Makers and 85,000+ attendees head to the New York Hall of Science to see the latest DIY gizmos and gadgets. Once again a Silversmith Sponsor of the event, Atmel will put the spotlight on everything from Arduino to Arduino-related projects.

Our team is en route to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where you will soon find us setting up booth #EP24. (Program guide available here.) During this weekend’s show, we will be showcasing a wide range of projects, platforms and devices from the Makers and companies inspiring today’s DIY Movement.

Even better, you don’t need to wait until Saturday for the making to begin! On the evening of Friday, September 19th, Atmel and Arduino will be hosting a Maker Meet & Greet at the New York Hall of Science. Starting at 6:30pm, join the one-and-only Massimo Banzi and Atmel’s Reza Kazerounian for live demos, Q&A with guests, a paella dinner and… wait for it…. a special announcement! Space is limited and RSVP is required. Those interested may send a request to pr@atmel.com.

So, what else will you find in booth #EP24?

Bob Martin, also known as Atmel’s Wizard of Make and Warp Drive Propulsion Engineer, will be demonstrating uToT Robots and hacking Hexbugs.

Dan Ujvari, Atmel’s MakerBot Magician and Senior FAE, will be showcasing some of his latest creations from a MakerBot desktop 3D printer.

Arduino will be highlighting some of its latest boards, as well as exploring basic principles of electronics and programming. Booth visitors will have the chance to experience firsthand how easy it is to make LEDs blink, turn motors and make buzzers buzz.

Quin Etnyre, 13-year-old CEO of QTechknow, will be hosting his robotics challenge, “The Qtechknow Olympics.”

SparkFun will be joining us in our booth to run a number of soldering workshops, where participants will have the chance to solder new PTH SparkFun interactive badges! Once soldered, these badges will become a trivia game. The participant can put the badges into three small interactive stations which have electronics-based trivia questions on them. If the questions are answered correctly, the stations add points to the badges. Each point adds a new color to the LED on the top of the badge. Points add up to discounts at SparkFun.com!

littleBits, who just announced the launch of the “app store” for hardware store bitLab, will show off a number of their latest electronic building blocks — perfect for young Makers and those looking to hop onboard the DIY train.

AVR Man, the Maker community’s favorite superhero will be in attendance for the first time EVER!

Look who’s talking! Don’t miss Saturday’s Curiosity, Imagination and Motivation: The Natural Inclinations of Young Makers panel discussion on the MAKE: Live Stage at 5:30pm. Atmel’s Bob Martin and Daniel Ujvari will explore the how the STEM initiative and Maker Movement are influencing young Makers and helping to create tomorrow’s industry innovators. The panel will feature Arduino’s Massimo Banzi, Qtechknow’s Quin Etnyre, and littleBits’ Ayah Bdeir.

… and wait, there’s more! We’ll be giving away a number of Atmel Xplained Mini Pro Evaluation Kits all weekend.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Tweet a pic of you and @TheAVRMan using the hashtag #AtmelMakes.
Step 2: Once your tweet is favorited by AVR Man, come on by the Atmel booth.
Step 3: Submit your contact information and away you go with a free kit. (While supplies last.)

Aside from kits, you can walk away with an Atmel Maker Bag, flair, stickers or even a pair of Atmel Maker Converse (which are amazing… and available for purchase).

World Maker Faire will kick off at the New York Hall of Science on Saturday, September 20th, from 10am to 7pm and Sunday, September 21st, from 10am to 6pm. Can’t make it to the Faire? You can always follow @Atmel live on Twitter for the latest updates, trends and happenings from the show. Tweet #AtmelMakes!

In anticipation of this weekend, here’s a look back at last year’s Faire. We can’t wait to see what unfolds this year!

HackADay talks Arduino Zero with Atmel’s Bob Martin

1 Reply

On May 15, Arduino and Atmel debuted the long-awaited Zero. The 32-bit development board packs Atmel’s versatile SAMD21 microcontroller (MCU), which is built around ARM’s Cortex M0+ core.

Key hardware specs include 256kb of flash, 32kb SRAM in a TQFP package and compatibility with 3.3V shields that conform to the Arduino R3 layout.   The Arduino Zero board also boasts flexible peripherals along with Atmel’s Embedded Debugger (EDBG) – facilitating a full debug interface on the SAMD21 without the need for supplemental hardware.

In addition, EDBG supports a virtual COM port that can be used for device programming and traditional Arduino bootloader functionality.

During Maker Faire Bay Area 2014, the HackADay crew had the opportunity to go hands on with the new board, discussing the Zero with Atmel’s very own Bob Martin.

“There are two USB connectors; one let you access the board as a device or a host while the other connects the debugging hardware. If you’ve never used an On Chip Debugger before it’ll change your life so do give it a try,” writes HackADay’s Mike Szczys.

“When you do move past the initial prototyping phase of your project you can still use the Zero as a debugging tool. There’s an unpopulated 10-pin header (not sure if the small pitch header comes with it or not) which can be used to interface with a target board. Bob also spent some time talking about the configurable 6-pin header which allows you to choose from a range of hardware protocols (SPI, TWI, etc.)”

Interested in learning more about the Atmel-powered Arduino Zero? You can check out the development board’s official page here.

Atmel announces Maker Faire lineup  

2 Replies

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth – a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning. Over 1,000 Makers will be represented at the upcoming Maker Faire Bay Area, with more than 200 registering as first-time exhibitors.

We at Atmel are once again proud to be a Silversmith Sponsor of Maker Faire Bay Area. We’re also hosting the following star-studded lineup of Makers and presenters at the Atmel booth (#205) who will:

Mel Li, PHD – Demonstrate wearable electronics and DIY laboratory automation, both powered by Atmel MCUs and Arduino boards.

Trevor Zylstra, SparkFun COO – Showcase Red Boards, the ProtoSnap Pro-Mini and wildly popular MicroView.

Quin Etnyre, CEO of Qtechknow – Host the “QTechKnow Olympics” robotic challenge with Arduino, XBee and FuzzBots.

Pamungkas Prawisuda Sumasta, AVR Hero contest winner – Discuss “Phoenar,” a new way of learning to program AVR uC and prototyping electronics on a Mobile phone. The demonstration will include an Atmel-based board equipped with a number of add-ons to highlight several applications including breadboard on-the-go, monitoring heart rates, pedometer and controlling a robot.

Super Awesome Sylvia – Demonstrate various Atmel-powered devices and projects.

Matt Johnson, Founder of Bare Conductive – Highlight the Touch Board, a capacitive touch prototyping platform powered by an Arduino Leonardo (Atmel ATmega32u4 MCU).

Bob Martin, Atmel’s Wizard of Make and Warp Drive Propulsion Engineer – Hack Hexabugs and demonstrate uToT Robots.

Dan Ujvari, Atmel Sr. Field Applications Engineer – Showcase 3D printing using an Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator.

Maker Faire Bay Area 2014 will kick off at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, CA, on Saturday, May 17, from 10am to 8pm and Sunday, May 18, from 10am to 6pm.   Tickets are on sale now at http://makerfairebayarea2014.eventbrite.com at advance pricing. Advance ticket sales ($17.50 – $32.50 for a full day pass) take place between March 17 and May 16. Tickets can also be purchased on-site at Maker Faire Bay Area 2014 on May 17 and 18, 2014 ($25.00 – $40.00 for a full day pass). All Makers can be found on the Maker Faire web site at http://makerfaire.com/meet-the-makers.

Can’t make it to the Faire? You can follow @Atmel live on Twitter for event updates, or join the conversation by tweeting #AtmelMakes.

Atmel’s commitment to students and Makers

1 Reply

MCU Applications Manager Bob Martin reiterated Atmel’s long-standing commitment to the international Maker Movement during an EELive! 2014 Tech Talk.

“The DIY Maker Movement is dynamic and particularly active on sites like Kickstarter and spaces such as 3D printing,” Martin explained. “We recognize that coming up with the next major innovation is no longer limited to industry heavyweights, but rather, is likely to be prototyped and developed in garages and Makerspaces.”

Martin also noted that Atmel was at the heart of most Arduino boards on the market today and highlighted Atmel’s new SAMA5D3 Xplained board – a low-cost, fast prototyping and evaluation platform for microprocessor-based design.

According to Martin, the board is targeted at both veteran developers and Makers. Indeed, the $79 SAMA5D3 Xplained – built around Atmel’s SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex-A5 processor-based MPU – is packed with a rich set of ready-to-use connectivity and storage peripherals, along with Arduino shield-compatible expansion headers for easy customization.

The platform is also perfect for headless Android projects, with a Linux distribution and software package helping to facilitate rapid software development.

On the software side, Martin briefly discussed the Arduino plug-in for Visual Studio (via Visual Micro), which offers a more detailed and complex environment for developers and Makers looking to supercharge their sketches.

Last, but certainly not least, Martin talked about Atmel’s popular University Program which helps familiarize both students and instructors with the embedded space, while facilitating migration from 8-bit to 32-bit development.

“Atmel offers a full day course for universities, split in two primary sessions. Both are free of charge. The morning session focuses on basic robotics using an Atmel AVR XMegaA3BU Xplained board,” said Martin.

“Course participants are taught pulse and width modulation techniques, as well as how to configure a collision avoidance program with basic algorithms. Attendees of the morning session get to take home their XMegaA3BU Xplained Board and a JTAGICE 3 hardware debugger.”

Meanwhile, afternoon session attendees can keep their SAM D20 Xplained Pro, which are used to implement a simple light and temperature meter along with two additional wing boards.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s commitment to Makers and students? You can check out Atmel’s University Program here and coverage of Atmel-based Maker projects here.

Atmel celebrates International Arduino Day  

1 Reply

Today we celebrate Arduino Day and mark the first successful decade of the Atmel-powered boards.

It’s a 24 hour celebration – both official and independent – with Makers all over the world meeting up to share their DIY experiences.

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel is at the very heart of most Arduino boards on the market today.

Indeed, as  Atmel MCU Applications Manager Bob Martin recently pointed out, Atmel’s 8- and 32-bit microcontrollers have been the MCUs of choice for Arduino since the boards first hit the streets for DIY Makers way back in 2005. More specifically, he attributes the success of Arduino to its easy-to-use, free cross-platform toolchain and its simple do-it-yourself packages with Atmel MCUs.

“These factors helped initially steer the Arduino team to choose our AVR microcontrollers – and today, both our AVR and ARM-based MCUs,” Martin explained.

In addition to the DIY Maker Movement, the boards are popular with veteran designers, architects and engineers.

“It’s very easy to try out design by building a prototype so that they can see what solutions work and toss out those that don’t. This is much easier to do early in the design process before more money has been spent on bringing an idea to fruition; Arduino can play a key role here,” Brock Craft, author of “Arduino Projects for Dummies,” told ItProPortal in late 2013.

“Just a simple example – I know a lighting company that recently used Arduino to control dimmable lighting effects for architectural lighting products they were developing. Using an Arduino helped them try out their ideas in an afternoon, rather than waiting weeks.”

Arduino boards are also extensively used in the educational community, with science and computing teachers in secondary schools choosing the versatile platform to teach kids the principles of programming and computational thinking.

“[Of course], Arduino is used in colleges and universities, [where] they are often found in design programs, particularly in product design, because Arduinos can quickly be used to prototype products that do physical things – like toasters or dispensers or remote controls, for example,” said Craft.

“It is also widely used in digital arts programs for making interactive artwork, music and performances. [Yes], there have been similar products on the market for many years and education curricula have used other alternatives. But what makes Arduino different – and is driving teachers to use them – is that Arduinos are easy to use. And if they need help, it’s easy for teachers and students to get it in the extensive online communities.”

As Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi notes, communities are the primary drivers for contribution in the Maker community.

“What you find is that if you can create a community around an open source project then it becomes really alive because everyone starts to contribute. If you don’t have an ecosystem, the platform won’t be successful. If you start charging for everything, everything dies very quickly,” he said.

“There are millions of sandwich places around the world, the recipe for sandwiches is open. Nobody can patent the recipe for a BLTs but yet there’s like a million restaurants doing BLTs. Everyday each one of them is adding a little source, each one is improving the recipe with technique, but effectively what goes inside the sandwich is out there and open and people still make money.”

As Bazni points out, open source hardware like the Arduino helps encourage creativity.

“I think it enables people to share the efforts that are needed to get the certain type of product or project started. Each person adds what some people call the secret source. You can take open source knowledge and add your own secret source,” he added.

“Or you can sell it or sell services around that product. [Arduino] wants to create a platform that’s going to take this and multiply the efficiency, [while] multiplying the value that people get by being part of that community… The challenge is to build a platform that solves a simple problem for a specific group of people: beginners for example. Our boards enable people to get ideas into products very fast. It’s people over Megahertz.”