Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Ever been stuck at a drawbridge with no idea when it'll come back down? At Tomorrow Lab, we call it getting bridged—and instead of complaining, we engineered a solution.
In this episode of Potentially Genius, created with DigiKey, we put the new Arduino UNO Q to the test by building an AI-powered system that detects whether Brooklyn's Pulaski Bridge is open or closed. Using a USB camera, Arduino App Lab, and 73,000+ training images, we built a computer vision model that runs edge AI directly on the device—no cloud required. Then we designed a weatherproof camera enclosure and a fully functional miniature bridge that mirrors the real one's movement with servos, LEDs, and Wi-Fi.
It's a perfect example of how AI, embedded systems, mechanical engineering, industrial design, and rapid prototyping come together to solve real-world problems with accessible hardware.

Since 2010, Tomorrow Lab has partnered with startups and global brands to turn bold ideas into manufacturable products through our Holistic Innovation™ process. A huge thank you to DigiKey and Arduino for making this project possible.

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COMPONENTS USED:
9g servo digikey.com/en/products/detail/dfrobot/SER0006/7597224
Arducam Camera Module digikey.com/en/products/detail/arducam/B0560/26798616
NeoPixel digikey.com/en/products/detail/adafruit-industries-llc/2858/5878437
Dongle digikey.com/en/products/detail/4xem/4XUSBCHUB01/26654521
Uno Q digikey.com/en/products/detail/arduino/ABX00173/27526618
Github Link to Code: github.com/dylan-tl/potentially-genius-drawbridge-tracker/tree/main

Analog Devices: analog.com
Maker.io - digikey.com/en/maker
DigiKey’s Blog – TheCircuit digikey.com/en/blog
Connect with DigiKey on Facebook facebook.com/digikey.electronics
And follow us on Twitter twitter.com/digikey
Tomorrow Lab: tomorrow-lab.com
Tomorrow Lab YouTube: youtube.com/c/tomorrowlab
Tomorrow Lab IG: instagram.com/tomorrowlabnyc

00:00 Getting Bridged Problem
00:11 Show Intro and Big Questions
00:45 Meet Arduino UnoQ
02:10 Pulaski Bridge Idea
02:57 AI Camera Plan
04:15 Designing Mini Bridge
04:59 Parts and Build List
05:56 Enclosure and Scale Model
07:02 Training the Vision Model
08:02 Programming Servos and Demo
09:17 Results and Next Steps
10:14 Wrap Up with Andrea