Uladzislau Bayouski

Both are under $10. Both have Wi-Fi. Both have dual cores and thriving communities. Both are sitting in the parts drawers of every serious IoT maker on the planet. So which one do you actually reach for? The Short Version The ESP32 and the Raspberry Pi Pico W are the two microcontrollers that dominate budget IoT — but they have genuinely different personalities, and the right choice depends entirely on what you're building. ESP32 is the veteran. Feature-packed, battle-tested, and wireless-first: Dual-core Xtensa processor with FreeRTOS baked in Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (classic + BLE) 📶 30+ GPIOs with analog input, PWM, I2C, SPI, UART Deep sleep modes that stretch battery life for years Arduino, ESP-IDF, PlatformIO, MicroPython — pick your stack Best for: smart home controllers, wireless sensor nodes, wearables, anything needing Bluetooth or real-time RTOS tasks. Raspberry Pi Pico W is the precise one. Efficient, predictable, Python-friendly: Dual-core ARM Cortex-M0+...

You've written your code. You've flashed it to the board. The LED blinked. Victory! And then… nothing. Welcome to IoT debugging — where things almost work, and then don't. This moment isn't failure. It's your first clue. 🔦 The Short Version Every IoT maker hits the post-blink void. Here's the checklist that gets you out of it: 1. Open the serial monitor first. Insert Serial.println("Here!") debug prints to track where your code gets stuck. Don't forget Serial.begin() and the correct baud rate — without those, your messages disappear into the void. More than half of "mysterious" failures are solved here. 2. Check the hardware before touching the code. Loose jumper wires. Wrong GPIO pin declared. Sensor not getting enough voltage. These cause the majority of IoT failures. Many sensors won't run on 3.3V logic, and some draw more current than a microcontroller pin can supply — add a separate power source with common ground and watch ...

  What do you get when a new dad with an engineering obsession builds a baby mobile? 🤖 A stepper-motor-powered, Arduino-controlled, 3D-printed masterpiece that could probably launch satellites. Okay, maybe not — but it does rock the crib. In this project, Pavel Korshunov shows how he brought together a NEMA17 stepper motor, Arduino Nano, Fusion 360, carbon fiber rods, and pure dad energy to create the ultimate crib mobile. Is it overkill? Absolutely. Is it awesome? You bet. Perfect mix of DIY, IoT, and dad jokes. 💡👶 Tools & Materials: NEMA17 steeper motor TMC2209 Stepper motor driver Noctua Premium Quiet Fan to keep driver cool Arduino (Elegoo) UNO board during prototyping Arduino NANO in a final product Step-down DC/DC voltage converter to use 12 volt for motor and 5v for logic board 608zz bearings 8 mm Carbon Fiber tubes 5/16" OD Vinyl-Flex PVC tubing Creality Ender 3 3D printer 📡 Stay Connected with IoT Forge: ▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/...

  In this episode of IoT Forge Unplugged, we dive into the dynamic world of connected robotics and embedded innovation. From the quirky struggles of humanoid robots at the Beijing half-marathon to the exciting future of bio-based PCBs and cloud-connected devices, this session explores how the Internet of Things is transforming motion, automation, and intelligence. We cover the major stories shaping the IoT and robotics landscape, including: A full-stack Golioth cloud demo and its real-world industrial implications Reolink’s integration with Home Assistant for smarter surveillance Arduino’s bold step toward eco-friendly, bio-based PCB manufacturing Hugging Face’s acquisition of Pollen Robotics and its vision for open-source AI robots Surprising ways Roombas are being reprogrammed to tackle household tasks Stumbling and Overheating, Most Humanoid Robots Fail to Finish Half-Marathon in Beijing Repurposed Roombas: Scientists program domestic robots for additional household tasks ...

You've decided to build something connected. You've heard two names more than any others:  Arduino  and  Raspberry Pi . Both are affordable. Both are beginner-friendly. Both show up in every "getting started with IoT" article on the internet. But they are fundamentally different tools — and picking the wrong one can cost you time, money, and a weekend of frustration. The Short Version Arduino is a microcontroller. It does one thing at a time, does it reliably, and does it with almost no power. Perfect for reading sensors, controlling outputs, and anything that needs precise real-time timing. Raspberry Pi is a full single-board computer. It runs a full OS, supports Python and JavaScript out of the box, and handles complex tasks like data processing, networking, and even machine learning. The quick breakdown: Programming : Arduino uses C/C++ via its own IDE — lightweight, real-time. Raspberry Pi supports Python, JS, C++ and more — feels like coding on a regular compu...