When editor David Groom had early access to the Arduino UNO Q, we all wondered what the Q meant. There was some speculation that is stood for Qualcomm, but we weren’t sure. This week we learned that Arduino has agreed to be acquired by Qualcomm, which entirely settled the matter.

Table of Contents

• Arduino to become part of Qualcomm

• V95: Boards Guide

• Strawbees acquired by BirdBrain Technologies

• Maker Faire in West Africa in 2026

Arduino to become part of Qualcomm

David Groom was in Turin, Italy for the announcement that Arduino agreed to be acquired by Qualcomm and wrote about the new Arduino UNO Q on Makezine.

The Arduino UNO Q sells for $44 and will be available in 3-4 weeks.

Here’s a link to a recording of the Qualcomm/Arduino announcement, which starts at 14 minutes in. Arduino UNO Q has a “dual-brain architecture.”

Artie Beavis on LinkedIn wrote that Qualcomm pointed out that “community was the common denominator” in a number of recent acquisitions. The Qualcomm press release, which gives the size of the Arduino community at 33M+, said that the acquisition combines “Qualcomm’s leading-edge products and technologies with Arduino’s vast ecosystem and community to empower businesses, students, entrepreneurs, tech professionals, educators, and enthusiasts to quickly and easily bring ideas to life.” Co-founder of Arduino Massimo Banzi was quoted in the press release:

Arduino is an original, now twenty years old (same as Make:). There are plenty of copies and clones, many adding their own name plus “duino” but there is only one Arduino. Manufactured originally in Italy in facilities first used by the Olivetti personal computer, Arduino became a standard processor for the maker community because it could be used for so many purposes and projects. Arduino found its way into the hands of many people who had problems to solve or designs they wanted to create. They also found each other. Congratulations to the team of five founders, the current management team, and the team integrating it into Qualcomm. Let’s hope that they are able to make the future for Arduino better and brighter.

V95: Boards Guide

This week, we sent our next issue off to the printer, featuring the Raspberry Pi+ and the Arduino UNO Q on the cover as well as a round-up of more than 39 new boards including hardware for AI, LEDs, music, and more. It should be coming to subscribers in a few weeks.

Amazing things are happening in low-cost computing, and Make: is all over it! Volume 95 brings you 49 of our favorite new microcontrollers (MCUs) and single-board computers (SBCs) for creating all kinds of smart projects. In our special pull-out 2026 Guide to Boards, we’ll tell you which are best for AI projects, LEDs, cosplay and wearables, music, and more.  Some highlights:

• The big names Arduino and Raspberry Pi are pairing SBCs with MCUs in new products like we’ve never seen before

• Small is beautiful too — what’s new from independent board makers BeagleBoard and IceWhale

• Get connected with the Meshtastic off-grid communications network — how it works, and how to build a “walkie-textie” handset node using LoRa radio boards

• Electronics guru Charles Platt’s homage to the cheap but mighty Picaxe microcontroller

• CircuitPython and MicroPython compatibility are becoming a feature, not an afterthought. We’ll show you how to run CircuitPython on Make’s own Oxocard ESP32 microcontroller, and how to build University of Michigan’s time-tested wheeled robot powered by MicroPython on the RP2040 microcontroller

• AI that just works: How one maker automated his solder station, microscope, and mag visor using ESP32s and their open source voice recognition toolkit. Just like in Blade Runner: “Track left, move in, and enhance!”

• More ESP32 tricks: Lee Wilkins shows how to make these affordable boards talk to each other directly without Wi-Fi networks, using their own ESP-Now protocol

• Build a go-anywhere, RP2040-based pocket video synthesizer to generate wild video art and throw it to screens or projectors

• How to speak airplane, using the ADSBee decoder board for aircraft transponder ADS-B signals

Of course boards aren’t the be-all, end-all — as always, Make: brings you all kinds of different projects to build. Try knitting a plushie breadboard with conductive thread (yes, it really works!), or 3D printing on fabric to make an elegant origami-folding handbag. Sharpen your reflexes with a laser-cut toy Pocket Pickleball game, or an easy-to-make Reaction Race game with micro:bit. Get hands-on with ROS 2, the Robot Operating System for complex robotics projects, or show beginners how to level-up their electronics chops with “skill trees”  from our new book Skill Seeker: Young Maker Edition. 

Plus: meet the musician who built a 13-foot-tall robot drummer; Woz tells us tales of the first Apple computer; Open Labs Starter Kit shares a full suite of lasers, 3D printers, and other digital fabrication tools you can build from scratch; and our team reviews new tools like the exciting TwoTrees desktop CNC router.   

As usual, it’s a magazine you can’t find anywhere else, absolutely stuffed with amazing makers sharing their know-how, their tricks, and their projects to inspire you. We’re proud of it and we can’t wait to hear how you like it.

Strawbees acquired by BirdBrain Technologies

Last month, the Swedish company Strawbees was acquired by BirdBrain Technologies, which itself was bought by RW Thrive in July. RW Thrive is a holding company with a set of education-related companies. BirdBrain Technologies, which spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, are makers of the Hummingbird Robotics Kit, and creator of a Robot Petting Zoos at Maker Faires.

Strawbees, known for its free-form construction kits made of plastic straws and various connectors, has been a popular activity at many Maker Faires. Kids always knew what to do and just started building structures. The Strawbees area at the end of the day was always pleasantly messy. I wrote about Strawbees activities taking place at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2015.

While Strawbees is an easy-to-understand construction kit a la LEGO, I was amazed at all the different things that could be built with it, including drones and hovercraft. Erik Thorstensson, a co-founder of Strawbees, wrote how to build a DIY R/C Hovercraft:

Maker Faire in West Africa in 2026

This, from the good news department: A Maker Faire will return in May 2026 to Lomé, Togo (West Africa). The last one was in 2018. When Make:’s Jen Blakeslee asked why they were bringing it back (last event 2018), the producer said: “Because the community keeps asking for it.” The event will be organized by the Ishango Foundation. “Given the intervening years, it says a lot at how memorable an experience a Maker Faire can be,” said Jen.

Make Things is a weekly newsletter for the Maker community from Make:. This newsletter lives on the web at makethings.make.co

I’d love to hear from you if you have ideas, projects or news items about the maker community. Email me - [email protected].