Arduino Project: tinyML and Robotics
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This piece of art knows when it’s being photographed thanks to tinyML | Arduino Blog
Nearly all art functions in just a single direction by allowing the viewer to admire its beauty, creativity, and construction. But Estonian artist Tauno Erik has done something a bit different thanks to embedded hardware and the power of tinyML. His work is able to actively respond to a person whenever they bring up a cell phone to take a picture of it.
At the center are four primary circuits/components, which include a large speaker, an abstract LED sculpture, an old Soviet-style doorbell board, and a PCB housing the control electronics. The circuit contains an Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense along with an OV7670 camera module that can capture objects directly in front. Tauno then trained a machine learning model with the help of Edge Impulse on almost 700 images that were labeled as human-containing, cell phone, or everything else/indeterminate.
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Building an experimental wave drive tank | Arduino Blog
There are many ways to make a thing ambulatory beyond simply slapping on some wheels. James Bruton often experiments with these unique drive mechanisms, whether they are practical or not. In his newest video, he built what he calls a “wave drive” to propel a tank-like robot. This experimental wave drive tank features a 3D-printed body and remote Arduino-based control.
This drive mechanism works using motion similar to someone doing the worm dance move, which is very much like how flatworms swim through water in nature. For a more technical visualization, imagine a spinning helix projected onto a 2D plane. The result looks like a sine wave, hence the name. The bottom of the wave makes contact with the ground and friction provides grip, letting the mechanism roll forward. That helix visualization also mirrors the physical implementation here, as a screw-shaped drive shaft guides tracks as it spins.