Our 12 favorite Arduino UNO projects
The UNO wasn’t Arduino’s first board, and it won’t be its last. There have been many varieties of microcontroller and maker boards before and after the UNO, but none have been as iconic. As we cross the epic milestone of 10 million UNOs sold and the launch of the UNO Mini Limited Edition, we decided it was time to take a look back at some of our favorite UNO projects from the last 10 years.
And we want to hear about yours, too. Join us over on social media to share your favorite UNO projects, whether you built them yourself or marveled at someone else’s electronic creation.
The Toothbrush Machine
The queen of terrible tech Simone Giertz casually blew the internet’s mind back in 2015 with her robotic skateboard helmet with an automated toothbrush mounted on the front.
Arduino GRANDE
Spend more than five minutes Googling “Arduino UNO” and you’re bound to find yourself looking at the Arduino GRANDE. A fully operational UNO that’s six time bigger than it should be.
Coffee Printer
If you’ve ever left a coffee ring on your notepad or table top, you’ll appreciate how effective it is at leaving a mark. This UNO project put that annoying side effect of coffee to artistic use.
Autonomous “Follow Me” Cooler
Why carry your own beer and sandwiches around like a sucker, when you can “simply” connect a robotic cooler to your smartphone’s Bluetooth®, hook it up with GPS and let if follow you around.
Skeleton Arduino Uno
This Arduino UNO is its own project, which is so meta it’s impossible not to love it! It’s a PCB without the PCB, and takes “open” source more literally than any other maker board has ever achieved.
Gaming Microwave
Microwave’s used to be considered the fastest way to cook things. But in today’s CPA-addled world, even one-minute noodles take too long. Problem solved; game while you’re waiting.
Floppotron
This UNO project takes the concept of “everything is a drum” to new levels by turning devices like hard drives, floppy drives, scanners and more into a techno-orchestra.
pedalSHIELD UNO
This programmable guitar pedal built from an UNO lets you create all your own effects and digital sounds, with an ever-growing repository of pre-built effects from the Arduino music community.
Automated Dust Collection
Master maker and craftsman I Like to Make Stuff has created some incredible carpentry projects, and underneath it all is an Arduino UNO keeping his awesome workshop clean.
Useless Box
Useless machines are a wonderful maker project rabbit hole to fall down. This is a great example, and even though they’re useless, you can learn so much from building one. Which means it’s not actually useless, right?
Drumcube
Drumcube is a drummer in a box, so as long as you’ve got an Arduino UNO and a small box, you’ll always have someone down in the boiler room when you play at a gig.
Petoi Bittle
This highly maneuverable little palm-sized robot runs, jumps and plays to become your very own robotic pet. Some stunning design work, and it can even carry up to half a kilogram as it skips around!
Got a mind-blowing Arduino UNO project we missed? Share it with us on social media, and let us know if you’re planning a brand new UNO project, ideally using the stunning UNO Mini Limited Edition!