Arduino serves as a foundational device for constructing electronic projects. It comprises a pre-programmed microcontroller or integrated development environment for coding and uploading onto the physical board. These devices facilitate the creation of interactive objects, receiving input from diverse sensors and managing motors, lights, and various outputs. Unlike requiring a separate programmer, Arduino allows direct code transfer via a USB cable. Its IDE employs a simplified C++ version, aiding ease of programming comprehension. Additionally, the Arduino board adopts a standard form factor, simplifying access to the microcontroller’s functions. The projects associated with Arduino chiefly engage with software executed on a computer. This article delves into distinct Arduino projects tailored for diploma and engineering students.
What is an Arduino Board?
Primarily, an Arduino board operates on the Harvard architecture, featuring separate memory for program code and data storage. The board stores its code in program memory and data in data memory. Various Arduino boards exist, including Arduino Uno (R3), LilyPad Arduino, Redboard, Arduino Mega (R3), and Arduino Leonardo, each serving specific purposes.
Most Arduino devices share common components such as Power (USB / Barrel Jack), Pins (5V, 3.3V, GND, Analog, Digital, PWM, AREF), Reset Button, Power LED Indicator, TX RX LEDs, Main IC, and Voltage Regulator. Arduino offers several advantages, including simplicity, cost-effectiveness, a user-friendly programming environment, and expandable hardware.
Primarily, the Arduino board utilizes a Harvard architecture, segregating memory for program code and data. Data on the Arduino board is stored in data memory, while the code resides in the program memory. Variants of the Arduino board encompass models such as Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega, Arduino LilyPad, Arduino BT, Arduino Nano, and Arduino Mini. Common components found in most Arduino devices comprise pins, power supply, reset button, TX RX LEDs, voltage regulator, and a power LED indicator. These boards offer several advantages, including expandable hardware, cost-effectiveness, straightforward, and easily comprehensible programming environments.
Arduino Projects for Engineering Students
Arduino projects encompass a wide array of applications such as obstacle avoidance, industrial appliance management, electric appliance control, street light intensity regulation, home automation, underground cable fault detection, solar street lighting, and more. To offer a comprehensive insight into these applications, we provide detailed explanations accompanied by suitable diagrams. Below, we present a list of Arduino projects specifically tailored for engineering students.
Arduino Radar Project
The focus of this project involves creating a Radar Application using Arduino in conjunction with a processing application. Radar, a detection system utilizing radio waves, identifies various object parameters like speed, range, position, and velocity. This technology finds applications in missiles, aircraft, automobiles, marine navigation, and weather forecasting. Within this project, an ultrasonic sensor serves the purpose of detecting objects within a defined range. Components such as a servo motor, Arduino UNO, and Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04) are employed for implementation.
LED Street Lights with Auto Intensity Control
The primary objective of this endeavor is to regulate the street lights’ automatic intensity using an Arduino board. LED lights replace HID lamps in this project’s street lighting system. The Arduino board facilitates light intensity control by generating PWM signals, causing a MOSFET to activate a series of light-emitting diodes, ensuring the desired operational outcome.
LEDs have a longer lifespan than HID lamps due to their lower power consumption. Within the Arduino board, programmable instructions regulate light intensity using PWM signals. This intensity remains high at night, gradually diminishing as road traffic subsides, and continues to decrease until morning. Ultimately, at 6 A.M., the light intensity ceases entirely, restarting the cycle at 6 P.M. in the evening. This recurring process ensures the controlled operation of the lights.
Arduino based Project on Home Automation
The central idea behind this project involves creating a home automation system by employing an Arduino board in tandem with an Android-operating system-based smartphone or tablet. With advancing technology, homes are becoming increasingly intelligent. Currently, traditional switches are positioned at various locations within a house. However, accessing these switches necessitates physical proximity, presenting challenges for users. This project provides an optimal solution by integrating smartphones for remote control and accessibility.
A Bluetooth device is linked to the Arduino board on the receiving end, while a mobile phone’s graphical user interface (GUI) application transmits ON/OFF commands to the receiver on the transmitting end. Through specific GUI interactions, users can remotely switch loads ON/OFF. The Arduino board regulates these loads via Thyristors and optoisolators employing TRIACS.
Arduino Operated Obstacle Avoidance Robot
The primary objective of this project involves crafting a robotic vehicle equipped to evade obstacles. Employing an ultrasonic sensor for navigation and Arduino for operational control, the robot detects obstacles in its path and transmits signals promptly to the Arduino board. Upon receiving these input signals, the microcontroller directs the robot to change its course by activating the motors connected through a motor driver IC.
Arduino based Electrical Appliances Control using IR
The primary objective of this project involves managing electrical devices using an infrared (IR) remote. This remote transmits coded infrared data to a sensor, which is linked to the control unit. Consequently, this system governs electrical loads based on the data received from the remote.
The project operates household appliances integrated into a control unit that can be manipulated via a remote. An infrared receiver captures RC5 coded data transmitted by the remote and communicates it to an Arduino board.
The Arduino board’s programmed instructions interpret the RC5 code, generating specific outputs based on the received data. These outputs activate a series of relays through a relay driver IC. Electrical loads are connected to the control unit via these relay contacts. This project finds application in domestic settings, allowing control over various loads using a TV remote.
Arduino based Solar Street Light
The fundamental idea behind this project involves creating a solar-powered street light managed by an Arduino board to regulate its intensity. The project utilizes photovoltaic (PV) panels to convert sunlight into electricity, charging batteries. A charge controller circuit is employed to manage the battery charging process. During peak hours, the street light intensity is maintained at a higher level.
As the number of vehicles on the roads diminishes during late-night hours, there’s an opportunity to gradually reduce light intensity until morning, conserving energy. Consequently, street lights are programmed to activate at sunset and automatically deactivate at sunrise as a routine measure.
LPG Gas Monitoring & Automatic Cylinder Booking with Alert System
In our current era, technology integration has become integral to simplifying our daily tasks. This particular project aims to streamline the process of LPG gas booking. Presently, the existing online systems for LPG cylinder booking prove challenging for individuals with limited education. Furthermore, these systems lack a mechanism to track the gas quantity within the cylinder.
This project introduces an Arduino-based framework that continuously measures the gas quantity (based on the cylinder’s weight) and regularly updates this information for the LPG agent’s reference. When the gas quantity drops below a predefined threshold, the system automatically initiates the LPG cylinder booking process. Moreover, a gas sensor integrated into this project detects gas leaks, promptly notifying the user for necessary action.
Smart Glove for Sign Language Translation using Arduino
Individuals commonly communicate by speaking, writing, and listening to share their thoughts, experiences, and information. However, those who are unable to hear and speak often rely on sign language to communicate. Nevertheless, difficulties arise when a person who doesn’t understand sign language attempts to communicate with someone who uses it.
In this Arduino-based project, a system is developed to facilitate the translation of sign language gestures into voice commands and vice versa. A glove equipped with various sensors detects diverse sign language gestures, transmitting signals accordingly. Arduino serves the purpose of gathering these signals from the sensors. Using Bluetooth connectivity, Arduino transmits these signals to an Android smartphone. This smartphone then interprets the sign language gestures into voice commands and vice versa, enabling effective communication between individuals using different modes of expression.
Automatic Garbage Collector Bot based on Arduino and GPS
Maintaining cleanliness is highly valued. This project aims to automate the process of garbage collection entirely. Utilizing data from diverse sensors and GPS systems, a robot is engineered to autonomously collect trash from a specific area without human intervention.
To delineate the geographical region the robot must cover, NI LabVIEW is employed. This software gathers area coordinates from Google Maps and generates a map for the robot’s operation. The ESP8266 module facilitates the transmission of this data to the robot. In detecting obstacles, ultrasonic sensors are utilized.
Wifi based Low-cost Monitoring of ECG and Temperature Parameters using Arduino and ThingSpeak
During emergencies or in remote regions, providing immediate medical assistance can pose significant challenges due to a lack of essential medical equipment to assess a patient’s vital signs. This project addresses this issue by introducing a cost-effective Arduino-based system tailored for such scenarios.
Utilizing a pulse rate measurement sensor and a temperature sensor, this system gathers ECG and temperature data from the patient. Subsequently, this information is transmitted via WiFi to a website server. Through this web platform, doctors can remotely monitor the patient’s condition, observe vital signs, and offer essential recommendations. Notably, this project stands out for its affordability and straightforward design, presenting an accessible solution for such critical situations.
Automatic Water Planting System using Soil Moisture Sensor
Farming serves as the primary source of income in numerous nations. As groundwater levels decline and global warming intensifies, there’s a pressing need to enhance agricultural practices. Monitoring soil conditions has become indispensable for achieving successful crop yields in today’s scenario.
This project involves the creation of a soil moisture monitoring system. It utilizes a humidity sensor to gauge the moisture levels in the crop’s soil and transmits this data to the processor. Depending on the sensor readings, the water irrigation system is activated or deactivated. This endeavor contributes significantly to effective water management.
Simple Arduino Projects using LEDs for Engineering Students
The primary uses of these boards predominantly involve basic Arduino projects incorporating LEDs suitable for engineering students. To enhance comprehension of these Arduino projects, we’re providing detailed explanations accompanied by appropriate diagrams.
Auto Intensity Control of LEDs Using An Arduino Board
The primary aim of this project is to regulate the automatic brightness of LEDs utilizing an Arduino board. Instead of HID lamps, the proposed system employs LEDs for their dimming capabilities. An Arduino board is employed to automatically adjust light intensity by generating PWM signals, which in turn activate a set of light-emitting diodes to achieve the desired operational level.
Compared to HID lamps, these lights boast an extended lifespan and consume less power. Within this project, the Arduino board is equipped with programmable instructions that modulate light intensity based on generated PWM (pulse width modulation) signals. During peak hours, the LED intensity remains high. Subsequently, as road traffic gradually diminishes during late nights and continues to decrease until morning, the light intensity gradually diminishes. Ultimately, the light intensity completely switches off at 6 A.M and restarts at 6 P.M in the evening.
Moreover, this proposed system can be further improved by integrating it with a solar panel that converts solar intensity into usable power. This harnessed energy can then be utilized to power the highway lights.
Arduino based Temperature Logger
The intended system revolves around a basic temperature logging setup employing an Arduino board. Its purpose is to monitor temperature at two-second intervals and exhibit the readings on the Arduino serial monitor in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. The system establishes a connection to a personal computer via USB. In this setup, the IC LM35 functions as the temperature sensor, gauging the temperature by producing a voltage output that rises by 10mV for each degree Celsius increase. The temperature sensor operates at an operating voltage of 5V and maintains a standby current of 60uA.
Arduino based Motion Sensor light Circuit
The primary objective of this project is to create a motion sensor light circuit based on Arduino. This circuit aims to detect motion and subsequently activate a light. It primarily comprises components such as the Arduino board, a PIR sensor, an LED, and USB connectors of type A and B. When the PIR sensor, interfaced with the Arduino board, identifies motion, it triggers the illumination of the LED light.
Pin-1 of the sensor establishes a connection to the voltage terminal of the Arduino board, while Pin-3 links to the board’s GND. The output from Pin-2 is connected to digital Pin D3. Through these connections, Pin-1 and Pin-3 receive 5 volts from the Arduino, powering and enabling the PIR sensor. Pin-2 facilitates the transmission of output from the motion sensor to the Arduino board. In the absence of detected motion, the output remains LOW, signaling no voltage input to the Arduino.
Upon detecting motion, the sensor outputs a HIGH signal, supplying the Arduino board with a voltage signal. This signal can activate another device, such as an LED, connected between pin-13 and GND terminals. Notably, an external resistor isn’t required to limit current flow to the LED because pin-13 is equipped with built-in resistance, serving to regulate current flow without the need for an additional external resistor.
Arduino Mini Projects for Diploma & Engineering Students
The following Arduino projects are suitable for a diploma as well as engineering students.
Automation System for Industries Controlled by Joystick & Arduino Nano
The proposed system like industrial automation can be controlled through a joystick & Arduino nano. This project is used to control four electrical appliances in industries.
Arduino based GPS Tracker
This project implements a GPS tracker system with the help of an Arduino board. This project is very helpful in tracking a child, vehicle location as well as other objects.
Arduino based Alarm Clock Radio
This proposed system designs an alarm clock radio with the help of an Arduino board. This project has one feature that is, it displays time, date & generates an alarm on the preferred time.
Wireless Frequency Meter using Arduino
This project implements a wireless frequency meter using the Arduino board. This project is mainly designed for measuring the sinusoidal AC signals frequency. The frequency range is from 50Hz to 3kHz.
Window Alarm Annunciator using Arduino Uno
This project implements a window alarm annunciator using the Arduino Uno board. This kind of annunciator is used for processing different power plants, industries by checking the conditions of plants & gives an alert to the operators regarding the abnormal conditions otherwise deviations of the parameter.
Noise Detector for Automatic Recording System
This project designs a noise detector for an automatic recording system using Arduino. This project is used in offices, classrooms, and libraries to detect noisy people and takes necessary action against them.
Fan Speed Monitoring & Controlling using Arduino
This project is used to monitor and control the electric fan speed based on the temperature using Arduino.
Wireless Web Server based on ESP8266
The wireless web server project can be built with a microchip like ESP8266 & an Arduino. This microchip includes a fixed Ram, ROM, and low-power CPU. It is an entire & an independent Wi-Fi set-up that can carry software applications like a separate device otherwise connected through an MCU.
Digital IC Tester
This project implements a digital IC tester using an Arduino. This device is cost-effective, highly reliable, and cost-effective. This project is used to check various ICs by using a program including different functions.
RF Controlled Robot using Arduino
This project implements a system namely RF controlled robot using an Arduino board. The design of this robot can be done very easily using RF. The controlling range of this RF remote is up to 100 meters through suitable antennae.
Oscilloscope using Arduino & PC
This project is used to design an oscilloscope at less cost using Arduino & PC for signal acquisition. This oscilloscope is mainly used for capturing the frequency signals. The range of these signals up to 5kHz. In this project, an Arduino board is used to read the ADC values and sends these to the PC via USB port.
Earthquake Sensor
This project designs an earthquake indicator by using the ADXL335 accelerometer which is highly-sensitive to identify vibrations. Once an earthquake occurs, the motion is violent enough & crosses a certain threshold, LED glows, energizes the relay to generate a buzzer sound. Further, this project can be enhanced to a knock & shake detector to use in the vehicles, ATMs, etc.
The list of Arduino nano projects includes the following. In Arduino boards, Nano is the smaller version which is most frequently used to make different engineering projects. This board is used where the space for the Arduino board is very less.
LED-Strip based on Music Reactive
This is a simple and beginner project. This project includes a microphone that measures playing music intensity. This data can be sent to the Arduino nano board for stimulating a LED strip so that it can blinks in different colors based on the music.
Lie Detector
This project is used to build a lie detector using Arduino nano. This project detects the electrical conductivity of the human skin but this project cannot give guarantee whether somebody is lying or not because it is a fun project.
Microbot using Arduino Nano
This project is used to design a small robot namely a microbot. This project is used to follow a fixed route based on the program using a gripper or radio remote control or even GPS.
Arduino Nano based Robotic Spider
This project implements a robotic spider using an Arduino nano. This project can be controlled through a smartphone. It is a beginner project.
Arduino Nano based Weather Station
This project designs a weather station using Arduino Nano. Here microcontroller is used as a weather station using a screen as well as connectors. So this system measures the humidity, temperature & shows the time. Further, this project can be enhanced to get extra data on wind conditions, air pressure, rain & UV index. This project can be built with an Arduino nano & some electronic components.
Speedometer using Arduino Nano
This project is used to design a Speedometer to measure vehicle speed while traveling. We know that analog and digital speedometers are designed with an IR sensor as well as a hall sensor. In this project, GPS is used to measure the vehicle speed because these speedometers are accurate as compared with normal speedometers. GPS speedometers track the vehicle continued to calculate the vehicle speed.
Arduino Nano based IR Remote Decoder
The wireless communication technology like an IR is a low cost and simple which is used widely in different applications. Infrared light is similar to the visible light but the wavelength is somewhat longer. This IR property will make it invisible to the human eye & suitable for wireless communication.
IR signals can be decoded in several applications to control some devices. In this project, an IR receiver like TSOP1838 is used to make an IR Remote Decoder through an Arduino. This project is used in different applications for controlling the robot, home automation, etc.
Car Ignition System using Arduino & RFID
At present, most of the automobiles are designed with an ignition system using push-button & keyless entry. The car door can be opened by placing your finger on the capacitive sensor near to the door handle for opening the car door.
This project uses some security features like fingerprint sensor and RFID. The fingerprint sensor allows authorized users in the car and RFID will confirm the user’s license. In this project, we use an EM18 RFID reader, Arduino Nano & fingerprint sensor like R305
Arduino based Capacity Tester for Li Battery
Day by day, electronic devices are becoming portable and available in small size including more functional as well as complex applications. Because of the complexity, the circuit uses huge power. So designing the devices in a small size is mandatory. To provide a huge current, the battery is required for a long period with less size.
There are different kinds of batteries available in the market where Ni-MH, Ni-Cd & Lead Acid batteries are not useful for portable devices because they cannot supply the required power due to heavyweight. To overcome this, Li-Ion batteries are used because these batteries provide huge current and its size is compact but weight is less. This project is used to test the Li battery using an Arduino nano board.
Please refer to this link to know more about Arduino Uno Projects for Beginners and Engineering Students
The list of IoT projects using Arduino or Arduino projects using IoT is discussed below.
IoT & Arduino based Gas Leakage Detector
Day by day, many fire accidents have been occurred because of a gas explosion. To overcome this, we need to check before. For that, the proposed system is used to detect LPG gas using an MQ5 gas sensor using an Arduino and Raspberry Pi. In this project, the gas leakage detector is connected to the Wi-Fi module, so that the smallest and highest parameter can be placed consequently. This project is applicable where LPG gas detection is required like homes, stores, etc.
The MQ5 gas sensor continuously checks the LPG gas level present within the air. If the value is in the set limit then the green LED will blink to give a safe sign. Similarly, when the gas exceeds above the set limit then the red LED will blink. This project helps in sensing gas leakage within the surrounding.
Protection System for Industries using IOT & Arduino
The protection system of the industry using IOT & Arduino is designed to guard industries from different losses like fire leakage, gas leakage, low lighting, etc. When gas leakage occurs, then it leads to huge industrial loss, fire detection is also required whenever furnace blasts occur and low lighting in the industries can cause an improper work environment.
The proposed system is used to detect the temperature, light, and gas to avoid losses and accidents in industries using different sensors. These sensors can be interfaced through the Arduino board as well as LCD. The sensor data continually scans for gas leakage, check the fire, low light to record values, then this sensor data can be transmitted through online. The internet function can be achieved using the Wi-Fi module and the IoT server displays the data online to get the required output.
Pet Feeder using IoT & Arduino
This project is implemented with the IoT & Arduino board. This project is used to provide food for pets. In this project, the PIR sensor informs once the bowl is empty then it fills automatically to feed the pet. This project is suitable for pets to feed them.
Conversion of Text to Speech
This project is used to design a TTS system to convert the text into speech. This system allows the commands by using a keyboard and converts then into a speech with the help of an inbuilt speaker.
To build this project, there are some simple steps like symbols conversion, numbers into words, text to phonetic scripts conversion, and after that converting into spoken voice. Once the setup is ready then we can use this system.
Smart Street Light using IoT & Arduino
This project designs a smart street light using an Arduino board & IoT. This project is used to reduce energy consumption. In this project, street light projects can be developed using IoT. The intensity of the street light can be changed automatically based on the environment. The lights intensity will be high at the night time whereas the intensity will be low in the daytime. This can be monitored using smart gadgets.
Management System for Water Quality using Arduino & IoT
This project is used to design & develop a system with a low cost to monitor the quality of water in real-time. In this project, IoT and Arduino play a key role to measure chemical as well as physical parameters within the water like pH, temperature, and turbidity.
The values which are measured using the sensor can be processed through the microcontroller. The core controller used in this project is Nodemcu esp8266. At last, the sensor data can be uploaded using the Wi-Fi module on the internet.
Arduino & IoT based Wireless Biometric Lock
This project is used to replace the traditional keys by placing wireless biometric locks with IoT & Arduino. If we use a traditional key-based lock then there is a chance of losing the keys or else theft problem so there is a change of high risk.
Consequently, now many people are using biometric locks to provide security for their houses. These biometric locks don’t use any keys to lock or unlock the door but it can be built with a fingerprint sensor. The design of this project can be done at less cost.
Air Pollution Meter Enabled by IoT through Digital Dashboard
This project is used to monitor air quality by allowing an air pollution meter on your phone. This project uses a Blynk application along with an Arduino board. This application is an IoT( Internet of Things) platform for controlling an Arduino board as well as Raspberry Pi through the Internet. The Blynk application within the project can provide a digital dashboard on the smartphone to exhibit the readings of air quality in real-time for the surroundings.
Students highly prefer Arduino for designing projects as it is cost-effective and easy to program. Arduino is also preferred by professionals to design prototypes. Thus, this is all about Arduino projects and simple Arduino projects using LEDs for engineering students. We hope that you have got a better understanding of these projects. Furthermore, any queries regarding this concept or electrical and electronic projects, please give your valuable suggestions by commenting in the comment section below. Here is a question for you, what is the main function of an Arduino microcontroller?
