6 Home Office Projects That Use An Arduino Uno Rev3 Board

When it comes to performance, there's a world of difference between the Raspberry Pi and Arduino. The former, after all, is technically a fully functional computer that can run games, word processors, and other standard desktop apps simultaneously. The Arduino, on the other hand, is a microcontroller platform capable of only executing a single program at a time. Despite this limitation, the Arduino remains one of the best boards to buy, especially for educators teaching electronics and self-taught hobbyists getting into electronics for the first time. The Uno Rev3, is a great beginner board as it's included in many starter kits. It's also complemented with a host of online resources that even without the official Projects Book from Arduino, you can start building all sorts of projects.

The Uno Rev3 is capable of more than just a board for experimental and education projects. It's versatile enough for real-world applications too. And where better to have an Arduino project than in your home office where electronic gadgets are your best friend? If you're looking to spruce up your workspace at home with an Arduino project, we've compiled six of the best ideas you should consider making.

Most of us find it hard to stay productive while working from home because we either want to start cleaning or scroll TikTok all day long. In that case, you need a Pomodoro timer to keep you motivated and help you accomplish tasks. This productivity technique divides your work hours into more manageable chunks of 25 minutes each. After 25 minutes, you're given a short five-minute break before you get into another 25-minute work session. Every fourth break will be longer at 15 minutes.

This Arduino-based Pomodoro timer project also uses this 25-minute cycle. Once you push the button to start the timer, it will run for 25 minutes, display a count-up timer and a "Study time!" message on the LCD, and turn a green LED on. Afterward, it will clear the screen, turn on a red LED, and display a "Short break!" message with a count-up timer for five minutes. Once you get through a total of four work sessions, you'll then see a "Long break!" message on the LCD and a timer for 15 minutes.

The sketch for this project is about 150 lines long but can be easily understood even if you're a beginner. That said, you can readily modify the duration of the sessions and the messages displayed on the LCD to better fit your needs. You can also add audible indicators like buzzers and speakers if the LED notifications aren't enough.

If you frequently handle paperwork at work, you're all too familiar with the experience of feeding a document into the shredder, only for the machine to jam because it's already full. Then, you have to go through the hassle of opening the shredder and dealing with the mess of paper confetti overflowing onto your floor. Sure, modern paper shredders already have sensors that tell you when the bin is full, but if your machine lacks this feature, you can just build it a custom sensor with an Arduino Uno.

This paper shredder bin monitor is an easy Arduino project for beginners to get into. It uses an ultrasonic sensor, which is placed inside the bin, to detect the trash level. This sensor reads the distance between its height and the current shredded paper level 10 times and averages these values to minimize noise or wonky readings. Once the average goes over the threshold you set (the height of the bin where you think constitutes "full"), the Arduino will send a short message to your Gmail email address. The email contains the location of the paper shredder and a short message saying that the machine is already full and needs emptying. You're free to eliminate the location part if you're only using one shredder.

Aside from the Uno and the ultrasonic sensor, you also need a PHPoC Shield to connect the board to the internet and a power supply to power up your Arduino.

Throughout your workday, there may be times when you don't touch your keyboard just the mouse. Perhaps you're scrolling a long paper. It can be tiring to use your mouse for long periods, so if you don't want to do so, a mouse cursor joystick controller might just be what you need. This Arduino-based cursor controller allows you to rest your hands on your lap while still getting the job done. It works just like your standard computer mouse: moving the joystick around also moves the cursor on the screen and clicking on the joystick's switch left-clicks the menu/button the cursor is hovering over.

To achieve this functionality, the project uses a DIYables joystick module (and yes, there are only two components in this project: the Uno and this joystick). The module is essentially a pair of potentiometers, one oriented in the x direction and the other in the y direction. The Arduino sketch reads the data from the potentiometers and sends the cursor position and switch clicks to your computer through the USB cable. A second program, which is based on Python, is also run on your computer to receive the position data and move the cursor on your screen accordingly. If it reads a switch click instead, it will instruct the mouse to perform a left click.

Unless you live alone, working from home comes with the difficulty of dealing with your family or roommates knocking on your home office door now and again. It's tolerable for the most part, but it can get quite frustrating when you're trying to concentrate on finishing an important report or you're busy talking with clients on a video conference. You can't always step out of the room to personally tell them to keep the noise down a bit, so an electronic Do Not Disturb indicator can come in handy.

This DIY indicator is based on the Spaceship Interface code found in the Starter Kit Projects book, meaning it's one of the easiest Arduino projects for beginner coders. What the sketch does is simple: a green LED, indicating that you're free to talk, is activated as soon as you power up the Arduino. However, when you push and hold the button, this green LED will switch off and two red LEDs, which indicate that you're busy, will start blinking alternatively. You must release the button to turn off the red LEDs and have the green LED light up again.

As the regular LEDs are too small to be noticeable, you can replace them with bigger LEDs or even a light bulb (paired with a relay for the Arduino Uno). Try a toggle switch instead, so you won't have to keep your hands on the push button.

Nothing is nicer than working in the summer in your home office with the air conditioning running. It gets you in the zone and makes you comfortable all day long. However, you might still want additional cooling specifically in your desk area, so building a temperature-based fan speed controller is a great idea.

This Arduino Uno-powered project is designed to automatically change the speed of a DC motor depending on how hot or cool your room is. If your room's temperature is below 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 degrees Fahrenheit), the fan is kept at its lowest speed. Once it reaches 29 degrees, it will increase the speed to the medium setting. At 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the motor speed is raised to the maximum setting.

The project is equipped with a DHT11 sensor to read the room's temperature and an LCD to display this temperature reading and the speed the motor is currently running at. Aside from these components, you'll also need an I2C module to convert your LCD into an I2C device (so it uses fewer pins), a motor driver for your fan, a breadboard to hold the components together, and some jumper wires for connecting everything. Software-wise, the Arduino sketch is pretty straightforward with less than 100 lines. So if you want to modify it to add more fans, change the message on the LCD, or use a different temperature sensor, you can easily give it a go even if you're a beginner at Arduino coding.

Sometimes, when you're on a quick break from work, you just want to keep your eyes off your computer and phone screen for a while. It can be refreshing, but it can also get pretty boring just staring into the void and doing nothing. Fortunately, you can turn your Arduino Uno into a simple gaming device to entertain you during these downtimes.

Even though the board isn't as powerful as a Raspberry Pi that can run complex games like Super Mario Bros, you can still use your Uno for basic games, one of which is the Endless Runner game. It's similar to the Dino game you play on Chrome when you're offline. The goal is to keep your character going for as long as you can (the longer the game runs, the higher your score). You avoid the obstacles on your way by pressing the button to make your character jump.

To build this project, all you need is three main components: an Arduino Uno, a 16x2 LCD, and a push button. You can connect everything to a breadboard to keep it simple. But if you plan to display the project on your work table and play with it frequently, it's better to make a chassis, so it looks more secure and organized. Once you're bored with the Endless Runner, you can opt to upgrade the project to other LCD games like Snake, Space Impact, and the Tank Game.