Qtechknow’s Qduino Mini is now available

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The Qduino Mini is the first tiny Arduino-compatible board with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge.

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Adding to 15-year-old Quin Etnyre’s already rather long list of accomplishments was a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign back in March 2015. The Qduino Mini — which has been on display numerous times inside the Atmel Maker Faire booths — is the first tiny Arduino-compatible board equipped with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that can notify its user when a LiPo needs a little extra juice.

“I always struggled to find a way to charge and monitor a battery, bundle with an Arduino and fit inside of every project.” Inspired by his own frustrations, the young Maker immediately went on to prototype his concept with hopes of one day bringing it to market.

Now available on SparkFun, the Qduino Mini is entirely open source and based on the versatile ATmega32U4 — the very same chip that can be found at the core of the Arduino Leonardo and several other Arduino AtHeart devices. The breadboard-friendly MCU runs at 8MHz at 3.3V and boasts plenty of dedicated digital, analog and PWM pins.

The pint-sized project is not only packed with a battery charger circuit and fuel gauge, but possesses an uber-mini, ultra-thin form factor as well. This makes the shrunken-down, lightweight ‘duino an ideal choice for DIY quadcopter or high-altitude balloon projects, in addition to a wide range of other gadgets like an NFC Smart Lock and B&W Selfie Printer.

Since its inception, the Qduino Mini has received a few minor upgrades before arriving at its latest iteration. According to Quin, these included two RGB LEDs (one for status, another that’s user programmable), a USB and power switch on the same face, and a LiPo connector on the opposite side of the board. What’s more, it has become even more “mini,” having been reduced from its original 1″ x 1.5” size to 0.8″ x 1.5”.

Sound like the tiny, Arduino-compatible board you’ve been looking for? Well, look no more as the Qduino Mini is available for $29.95 on SparkFun!

Rewind: 12 young Makers to watch in 2016

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It’s safe to say, the future looks bright! 

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Over the last couple of years, the Maker Movement has ushered in a new wave of low-cost hardware that enables anyone of any age and skill level to begin tinkering. Easy-to-use boards like the Arduino continue to lower the barriers to entry, while simplifying the prototyping process. Ultimately, this allows kids to explore basic electronics, learn coding, pursue STEM-related disciplines, and in some cases, even start their own business.

Here are a few young Makers from 2015 that prove age is just a number when it comes to innovation…

Omkar Govil-Nair (O Watch)

Do you recall what you were doing back in the summer of fourth grade? Chances are you weren’t creating a programmable, SAM D21-based smartwatch like eight-year-old Omkar Govil-Nair, let alone launching a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Quin Etnyre (Qtechknow)

Quin Etnyre already has quite the resume for a 15-year-old. After discovering his passion for tech, the self-taught whiz-kid has created his own company Qtechknow, taught classes at MIT, been invited to the White House and garnered over $40,000 on Kickstarter all within three years. Most recently, he introduced a tiny Arduino-compatible board complete with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge.

Jordan Fung (Pedosa Glass)

What do you do when you’re a 13-year-old app developer who doesn’t have the money to shell out for a new pair of Google Glass? You build your own, of course! Hong Kong resident Jordan Fung devised a smart glasses attachment powered by an Arduino Nano (ATmega328) that shows him data and control information via a tiny FLCoS display.

Shubham Banerjee (Braigo Labs)

Eighth grader Shubham Banerjee constructed a braille printer entirely out of LEGO as a way to improve access and literacy for the visually impaired. More impressively, his startup Braigo Labs received venture capital funding from Intel late last year.

John Wall (WΛLLTΞCH)

17-year-old John Wall loves crafting his own open source wearable gadgetry. From OLED watches to Bluetooth/NFC bone-conduction audio headsets, the future Stanford grad has done it all.

Chase Freedman (Brick Sound Kit)

“What if there was a way to record our own sounds and play them back whenever we flew our LEGO spaceship?” This was the simple question that prompted eight-year-old Chase Freedman to explore his imagination and develop an attachable, Arduino-friendly device that lets kids record or download sounds to enhance their playtime experience.

 Sahar Khashayar (Wildfire Warning System)

Jimmy Fallon welcomed 14-year-old Sahar Khashayar onto his show earlier this year. The ninth grade student had the chance to demonstrate her inexpensive device capable of detecting wildfires (and house fires, too) and sending a text alert to emergency personnel before flames rage out of control.

Nick Anglin (Strikey Sensors)

During a Maker Camp last summer, 13-year-old Nick Anglin noticed that there was a void in the market for Little Leaguers looking to learn how to pitch accurately. Whereas most middle schoolers would simply draw a rectangular box out of chalk on a brick or concrete wall and then proceed to throw the ball at the makeshift strike zone, this Maker decided to take a much more high-tech route with the help of lasers and Arduino.

Nilay Mehta (Low-Cost Robotic Arm)

With the help of 3D printing and Arduino, Nilay Mehta was able to build an inexpensive, voice-controlled robotic arm. The Irvine, California high school student programmed the unit to mimic the movements of an actual human hand, such as pinching, grabbing or holding a utensil. Using voice commands through a two prong microphone attached to the limb, the arm can carry out specific actions at the request of its wearer.

Aidan Fay (Cockpit Simulator)

What do you do if you’re a 17-year-old whose aspirations of flying an airplane have been grounded by the FAA due to a pre-existing medical condition? Having been interested in aviation for quite some time and still determined to one day earn his Class 3 pilot’s license, Aidan Fay decided to design a full-scale Cessna 172 simulator right in his bedroom. And unlike other computer programs and video games available today, the San Diego-based Maker wanted a system that would take his training to whole new heights. His life-size cockpit includes everything from pedals that control actual airplane rudders and brakes, to a steering yoke, to an Oculus Rift running Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D software for a truly immersive experience.

Emmett White (PineDuino)

As seen at the Westport Maker Faire, second grader Emmett White came up with a Pinewood Derby car that uses an Arduino Nano, an accelerometer and an LED display to collect and display information as it travels.

Guillaume Rolland (SensorWake)

Wake up and smell the coffee, literally. This is what Guillaume Rolland, an 18-year-old French entrepreneur, set out to accomplish with the world’s first olfactory alarm clock. The unit awakens its user with a scent rather than an abrupt audio alarm.

A first look at Maker Faire Rome 2015

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As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Makers do!” 

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It seems like yesterday that we were at the New York Hall of Science preparing for what was surely an incredible World Maker Faire 2015. And now just a few weeks later, the Atmel crew has arrived in Rome, all set to kick things off at the Sapienza University campus.

Once again a Silver Sponsor of this year’s show, you’ll find several startups and Makers who’ve successfully demonstrated what it takes to go from “the MakerSpace to the MarketPlace.” In addition to big names like Bosch, those inside the Atmel booth will include:

Acme Systems

Acme Systems designs and manufactures Linux-embedded boards, namely the Arietta G25 system-on-module with an Atmel AT91SAM9G25 at its core. One project in particular that you’ll want to check out is the team’s open source LED panel that interacts with a smartphone over Wi-Fi.

Arduboy

A crowd favorite back at World Maker Faire, Arduboy is an open source, credit card-sized console that lets people play, create and share their favorite 8-bit games.

Intoino

As seen on Indiegogo, Intoino‘s KITS provide a simple way for young Makers to learn coding and electronics while bringing their connected projects to life.

1Sheeld

In case you missed them at Maker Faire Bay Area 2015, 1Sheeld magically transforms your smartphone into one of 40 different reconfigurable Arduino shields.

Cosino

Cosino is an open source platform comprised of flexible, easy to-use hardware and software components. The team will be showing off their latest projects based on the Cosino (SAM9G35) and Cosino Enigma (SAMA5D3) CPU modules along with their carrier boards and other GNU/Linux embedded systems.

Qtechknow

Everyone’s favorite teenage CEO and whiz kid, Quin Etynre will once again be on hand with Qtechknow’s Arduino-compatible board, the Qduino Mini. But that’s not all, you’ll even be able to snap a black and white selfie in his thermal printer photo booth!

Bosch

Heck, even major brands are tapping into the powers of the Maker Movement! Escaping dangerous dark or smoke-filled structures quickly is crucial for the firefighters who save thousands of lives on a daily basis. Tailored for those situations, Bosch will be demonstrating a prototype of their indoor navigation device that’s built around the mighty Arduino and BNO055.

Rewind: Atmel @ World Maker Faire 2015

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Maker Faire New York, Maker Faire New York — a show (and tell) so good we had to say it twice.

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Ah, Maker Faire. The only place that can you find everything from a 30-foot-tall, flame-throwing robot and a life-sized game of Mousetrap to a pancake printing machine and a floating head choir that sings when you press their keys.

Over the weekend of September 26th and 27th, tinkerers, modders and hackers of all ages flocked a jam-packed Atmel booth housed inside the always popular Maker Pavilion. There, we showcased a number of gizmos and gadgets that have successfully made its way “From the MakerSpace to the MarketPlace.” Meaning, this particular batch of startups have demonstrated what it takes to bring an idea from mere prototype to full-blown product, many by way of crowdfunding. Among those on display included the Kickstarter sensation and wrist-friendly Keyboardio, the credit-card sized gaming system Arduboy, 14-year-old Quin Etnyre and his Qduino Mini, former Pixar engineer Erin Thompson’s Modulo boards, Microduino’s super LEGO-like modules, and Zippy Robotics’ soon-to-launch Prometheus PCB milling machine. Oh, and who could forget big names like Bosch, Arduino and the one-and-only Massimo Banzi, too?

When it came to projects driven by our mighty AVR and Atmel | SMART MCUs, it didn’t stop at our booth either. In fact, countless others throughout the fairegrounds proudly showed off their embedded creations, with some of them even paying a special visit to our tent like PancakeBot, Zymbit, Dr.Duino and eight-year-old CEO Omkar Govil-Nair with his Arduino-based O Watch, to name just a few. On top of all that, several Atmel team members — Bob Martin, Henrik Flodell, Sander Arts and Artie Beavis — took the World Maker Faire stage to talk prototyping, Arduino, debugging, STEM and how to take your product mainstream.

So with another incredible event in the books, let’s take one last look back before flipping the page to Rome!

Take a black and white selfie with the Qduino Mini Photo Booth

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The Qduino Mini is an ATmega32U4 based board with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that’s just as affordable as an Arduino, but a quarter of the size. 

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Hot on the heels of a rather successful Kickstarter campaign, Quin Etynre continues to amaze us with his pure ingenuity and passion for creating things. As the quintessential example of what it takes to go from ‘MakerSpace to Marketplace,’ earlier this year the 14-year-old CEO introduced what he calls the Qduino Mini — a tiny Arduino-compatible board equipped with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that can let a user know when their LiPo needs a little more juice.

Born out of his own frustrations of having to guess when a project was running out of power, the open source dev board is based on an ATmega32U4 — the same MCU that can be found at the heart of the Arduino Leonardo, which the Maker has used to tinker around with for quite awhile. The small device isn’t only packed with a charger circuit and fuel gauge, but possesses a lightweight, ultra-thin form factor as well. This allows for it to be programmed and have its energy restored simulatenously via USB. On top of all that, each Qduino is also breadboard-friendly and has two RGB LEDs: one for status, another that’s user programmable!

The Qduino Mini measures just 0.8″ x 1.5” in size and weighs a mere fraction of an ounce, making the shrunken down Arduino ideal for drones and high-altitude balloon projects, as well as a wide range of other gadgets like Etnyre’s incredibly popular B&W Photo Booth that had been on display inside our Maker Faire New York booth.

How the selfie machine works is pretty straightforward. A user stands before a webcam mounted to a monitor, presses a button, and 20 seconds later, a thermal printer spits out an instant photo on receipt paper. The best part? It doesn’t require any ink! As you can imagine, this would be a perfect novelty item for any birthday party, prom, wedding or just for some fun around the office. (Heck, even AVR Man seems to enjoy it!)

The system itself is comprised of a monitor and two green 3D-printed parts: a button and a thermal printer, both embedded with an Qduino Mini. Pressing the round button triggers a sketch, which in turn, processes the captured image from the webcam and sends it over to the thermal printer.

Pretty cool, right? But don’t just take it from us. Watch Etnyre explain it himself in the video below! Plus, those wishing to pre-order a Qduino Mini of their own can now do so over on SparkFun.

A first look at Maker Faire New York 2015

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Heading to the New York Hall of Science this weekend? You’ll find some big names inside the Atmel booth.

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Are you excited? We sure are! Atmel is getting ready to take center stage at the 6th Annual World Maker Faire in New York City this weekend, September 26th and 27th. And boy, are we in for a treat! This year will surely be yet another amazing event with more than 830 Makers and 85,000 attendees expected to flock the New York Hall of Science. Once again, as a Silversmith Sponsor of the show, we’ll be shining the spotlight on a wide range of AVR and Atmel | SMART powered projects inside our booth.

Our team is currently en route to Flushing Meadows, where you will soon find us setting up our space in Zone 3. (Program guide available here.) Over the two-day span, we will be showcasing a wide range of gizmos and gadgets from DIYers and startups who have successfully taken their idea from the ‘MakerSpace to MarketPlace.’ Among the names you will see:

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!

A sneak peek into Maker Week

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

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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, registration 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!

Creating an NFC door lock with the Qduino Mini

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Have you ever wanted to unlock your front door with just your bus pass, a tag or an old hotel room key? Now you can.

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In today’s world, convenience is a huge factor. From mass transit to hotels, more and more devices are becoming enabled with contactless technology to expedite our days. Wouldn’t it be great to do the same at home? After all, having to search through your bag to find your keys can often times be a daunting task, and time-consuming nevertheless. Just imagine how easy it could be to unlock your front door using nothing but that bus pass, that old hotel room key, or any other item embedded with an NFC tag. Thanks to Maker Quin Etnyre, now you can. Even better, the entire project costs less than $100!

As its name would imply, the NFC Door Lock is a compact, Qduino Mini-powered door lock that senses when there is an NFC tag present, unlocks your door using a servo motor and multiple 3D-printed parts, and makes absolutely no modifications to your current door accessory. In other words, you can take it apart if needed in just a few minutes.

“This is super useful and I hope to put it on all doors of my house — it’s a relatively easy build in a few hours for an advanced user or a great weekend project for beginners,” the 14-year-old Maker explains.

Fresh on the heels of a super successful Kickstarter campaign, the Qduino Mini is ideally suited for this project. For those unfamiliar with it, the Arduino-compatible board is equipped with a built-in battery charger and fuel gauge that can notify a user whenever a LiPo needs a little extra juice. However, since the Qduino Minis won’t be readily available until this summer, Etynre suggests using a SparkFun Pro Micro (ATmega32U4), a LiPo battery charger, and a LiPo battery fuel gauge.

Using his ATmega2560 based Bukito 3D printer, the Maker went on to create a couple of parts for the lock, including its round mounting plate, servo head, servo mounting blocks, as well as the housing for its electronics. All of these components can be completed in a matter of two-three hours.

Etnyre then acquired hookup wire, an Adafruit NFC Shield, the Qduino Mini and some right angle male headers, before splitting off three pins from the block of male headers, and soldering them to one edge of the proto space on the NFC Shield. Throw in some cutting between the IRQ and D2 on the NFC Shield, along with a little coding using the Adafruit PN532 NFC library, and you’re well on your way to finishing the smart lock.

Next, the Maker removed the inside face of his deadbolt and mounted the servo head onto the door. He placed the entire assembly of the Qduino Mini and NFC Shield inside the 3D-printed box, attached the servo cable to its connector and ran the cable through the designated hole in the lower lefthand corner of the housing. From there, the lock is affixed to the door.

Want to add an NFC Door Lock to your home? Head over to Etnyre’s entire project page here. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out the Qduino Mini here.

A look back at Maker Faire Rome 2014

And just like that, another weekend of making has come to an end but not without its ‘Faire’ share of memories. The Atmel team spent the weekend of October 3-5th in Italy’s Renzo Piano Auditorium Parco della Musica for Maker Faire Rome. The European flagship event attracted a record-setting 80,000+ Makers, modders, hackers, hobbyists and veteran engineers from all across the continent.

Inside our jam-packed space, booth-goers had the chance to meet and mingle with a number of Makers and their Atmel powered projects.

13-year-old CEO Quin Etnyre hosted his “Qtechknow Olympics” robotic challenge and showed off his newly-developed Social Androids.

Atmel’s Wizard of Make Bob Martin demoed uToT Robots and his incredibly-popular hacked Hexbugs — which has become quite the fixture at Atmel Maker Faire booths.

Maker Mel Li, Ph.D. generated quite the buzz with her latest Atmel powered wings. 

Newcomer to the booth Monique Martin exhibited her latest Beehive Collapse project, which featured 3D-printed hexagons.

The SparkFun team, led by CTO Trevor Zylstra, allured over 1,300 attendees to our co-branded soldering workshops all weekend.

Lastly, visitors had the unique opportunity to witness firsthand the newly-unveiled, ATmega2560 powered Arduino Materia 101 3D printer.

Oh, and how could we forget? The Maker community’s favorite superhero AVR Man was in attendance.

Now, for a look back at some of the memorable moments from the show…

Weren’t able to join us in Rome, you can see all the photos from the amazing event here.

Preview: Maker Faire Rome

Just days after taking center stage at World Maker Faire in New York, Atmel is getting ready to kick off Maker Faire Rome 2014 at Renzo Piano’s Auditorium Parco della Musica, a Makers village of nearly 70,000-square meters. Once again a Silver Sponsor of the event, we will be shining the spotlight on the latest Arduino and Arduino-related projects.

As they say, “When in Rome, do as the Makers do.” That means, be sure to stop by our booth (FSP107), where we’ll be showcasing the latest in Atmel powered tech including:

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

Maker Mel Li, Ph.D. will be wearing her latest Atmel powered wings. 

Monique Martin will be on hand to showcase an interactive display around the beehive colony collapse. 

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!

…And after his incredibly popular debut, AVR Man will return to the Atmel booth in Rome. Capture the moment by taking a snapshot with the Maker community’s favorite superhero…

Maker Faire Rome is set for October 3-5, 2014. 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!

A braille printer, a retro robot, a marshmallow canon, or perhaps even a prototype of the next big IoT device? If you’re feeling inspired this weekend go and make something, don’t forget to submit your 8-bit idea for a chance to win $1,500 in cash, social stardom and of course, some Atmel swag.

While we wait for the weekend, let’s take a look back at last year’s event.