What you’ll learn:
- The history of Arduino Day.
- What's new with Arduino hardware:
Arduino Days 2025 has finally arrived this March 21st and 22nd. It's also Arduino's 20th anniversary—they launched in 2005. Typically, the event recognizes contributions made to education, prototyping, and hardware production. It falls on these days to reflect Arduino's founding and showcase its achievements each year.
First introduced in 2014, Arduino Day celebrates the growing community of engineers, makers, and hobbyists who love and own Arduino software and hardware. Enthusiasts around the world have used this day to demonstrate and explore open-source electronic projects.
See more about Arduino
Every year, attendees from around the globe come together to showcase projects, attend workshops and talks, and explore the latest advancements in Arduino technology. Events for 2025 are geared towards industrial advancements, AI at the Edge, rapid prototyping and building automation. As with last year, Arduino Day 2025 will be held online on from March 21 to the 22nd, with events beginning at 3:00 PM CET (UTC+1).
Here are some of the recent hardware and software releases for Arduino:
Introducing the Arduino Nano ESP32
Versatile, powerful, and compact, the Arduino Nano ESP32 development board has a lot to offer. It runs on an ESP32-S3 chip with a dual-core Xtensa 32-bit LX7 microprocessor (up to 240 MHz). The board also has plenty of memory, including 512-kB on-chip SRAM, 384-kB ROM, 16-kB SRAM (RTC for low-power mode), 16-MB external flash, and 8-MB external RAM.
Users can leverage its connectivity capabilities, such as Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 5.0 LE. In addition, it features 14 digital I/O pins that can be expanded to 21 pins (including analog), eight analog pins, and SPI, I2C, I2S, CAN (TWAI), and UART communication interfaces.
Arduino's Nano ESP32 board has a low power consumption setting for deep-sleep mode, running on 7 μA of power. Loaded with a USB-C connector, built-in LED, and compatibility with the Arduino IoT Cloud and MicroPython, the board is ideal for various applications. For example, it can support IoT devices, wearables, compact sensor applications, and remote-monitoring and control systems.
For the Pros: Pro Portenta Proto Kit
Arduino’s Pro Portenta Proto Kit is designed for motion sensing, machine vision, and environmental monitoring applications. It comes with the Portenta H7 board that incorporates a dual-core STmicroelectronic's STM32H747XI microcontroller, 2 MB of flash memory, 1 MB of SRAM, 16-MB NOR flash (external), and varying connectivity options.
It also features the Portenta Mid Carrier with Ethernet, mPCIe, CAN, USB-A, etc. Users can choose either the Motion Environment (ME) or Vision Environment (VE) variants; the kit includes the Nicla Sense ME (motion detection) or Nicla Vision (machine vision).
In addition, the kit comes with Modulino nodes (rapid sensing and actuation), 4G GNSS Module Global (cellular and GPS), and a Proto shield that fits different form factors. It’s even bundled with Arduino IDE, cloud services, and a three-month voucher for Arduino Cloud for Business. The versatile kit can be used to quickly develop IoT prototypes, taking days or hours to complete a project.
Plug and Play with the Arduino Plug and Play Make Kit
This Plug and Play Make Kit's main board is the Arduino UNO R4. It runs on a Renesas RA4M1 microcontroller with a 48-MHz Arm Cortex-M4 CPU. For Wi-Fi connectivity, it uses the Espressif ESP32-S3. Arduino's kit comes with seven Modulino nodes for certain functionalities, including distance measurement, movement detection, temperature monitoring, and user input/output.
Each node uses the I2C Qwiic cables for connectivity, running on 3.3 V of power. The kit also has sensors and microcontrollers, such as the LSM6DSOXTR, VL53L4CDV0DH/1, and an STMicroelectronics STM32C011F4. The UNO R4 WiFi board features 14 digital I/O pins, six PWM pins, six analog pins, and communication interfaces. With this kit, users can rapidly develop prototypes and expand their circuit projects.
Arduino Nano Matter
Arduino's Nano Matter is a compact, powerful development board for IoT and smart home uses. It incorporates a Silicon Labs MGM240SD22VNA with a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 processor at 78 MHz. The board also packs 1536-kB flash memory and 256-kB RAM.
For connectivity, it uses 802.15.4 Thread, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3, and Bluetooth Mesh, and can be integrated within a smart home as it's compatible with Matter. For I/O, Nano Matter has 22 digital pins, 19 analog inputs, and five PWM pins. Also in the mix are several communication interfaces.
In addition, the board includes an on-board RGB LED, user pushbutton, and Secure Vault for extra security. At 45 x 18 mm, Arduino Nano Matter is suitable for prototyping Matter-based devices and improving Nano projects for smart home purposes.
The Opta PLC and Easy IoT
The Arduino Opta will be highlighted at this year's Arduino Day 2025 for the company’s Industrial Automation event. The Opta PLC is designed for industrial IoT applications and comes equipped with an STM32H747XI microcontroller with dual-core Arm Cortex-M7 +M4 MCU, which allows users to perform real-time control monitoring and implement predictive-maintenance applications.
The Opta also packs four 10-A, 250-V relays. The relay capabilities are especially impressive, and having analog functionality built-in is a nice bonus, though some might prefer the current measurement here. Connectivity options for the Opta include USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Low Energy, as well as RS-485 for industrial applications.
Arduino UNO but with an LED Matrix
Arduino’s Uno R4 WiFi is another great development board that’s designed for wireless projects and touted as a learning tool for those looking to familiarize themselves with the Uno platform. The board is a wireless variant that comes equipped with an ESP32-S3 module for Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
The board packs the same Renesas RA4M1 MCU as the other variants, which includes a USB Type-C port for power and programming, 14x digital I/Os, 13x LED pins, 6x PWM, 6x UART, I2C, SPI, and CAN Bus support. Best part - a 12x8 LED matrix on the PCB!
According to Arduino, pinout, voltage, and form factor have remained the same since the UNO R3 to provide maximum hardware and electrical compatibility with existing shields and projects.
Arduino also stated that they’ve been working on retro compatibility of the most popular Arduino libraries so that users can reuse existing sketches developed for the R3.
The Beast: Arduino GIGA R1 w/76 DIO & 14 AIO
Arduino’s GIGA R1 WiFi brings the STM32H7 to the same form factor as the popular Mega and Due, but it includes onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Beyond the STM32H7, the Giga R1 Wi-Fi offers 76 digital inputs/outputs (12 with PWM capability), 14 analog inputs, and two analog outputs (DAC), all accessed via headers. Connection options include a USB Type-A port, USB Type-C port (power and programming), JTAG connector, Arducam camera connector, 4x UARTs (hardware serial ports), 3x I2C ports, and a pair of SPI ports.
