Bringing Matter to the People: Join the Matter Developer Challenge Presented by Silicon Labs, Arduino, and Mouser

Registration is open for the first-ever Silicon Labs Matter Challenge, featuring the Arduino Nano Matter Board. The latest addition to the Nano family, the Arduino Nano Matter, is designed specifically for embedded IoT device development and allows users to develop for the world’s most popular smart home connectivity standard.

Since its launch in October 2022, Matter has set out to improve interoperability and compatibility among different device manufacturers. This makes it easier for consumers to adopt new IoT devices without worrying about them not working with their existing home ecosystem—less fragmentation, improved security, and fewer obsolete devices.

“The Matter Challenge featuring the Arduino Nano Matter board will unlock a universe of possibilities for engineers. Its seamless integration with the Matter standard heralds a new era of IoT connectivity, where the complexities of networking are simplified, and the time to market is significantly reduced,” said Gehrig Castles, Director of Supplier Management at Mouser Electronics. “We believe this board is not just a component; it’s a catalyst for innovation, empowering engineers to create, connect, and command the smart devices of tomorrow."

As an open-source connectivity standard, the effectiveness of Matter is directly related to its level of adoption. It represents a paradigm shift in the industry where device manufacturers look beyond the protocol and instead focus on the features they can deliver to consumers. Interoperability was Matter’s big promise when it was introduced as a concept, and now that we’re well into the specification, that unification is becoming a reality. But despite Matter’s emergence as a popular smart home standard, it can be an intimidating technology to work with. Interoperability is complex, but the Arduino Nano Matter Board simplifies the process of setting up and simulating a Matter network.

“Arduino brings a ‘let’s build stuff’ philosophy to everything it does,” said Rob Shane, Vice President of Mass Market Sales and Applications at Silicon Labs. Their DNA is very developer-first, and working with Arduino and Mouser on this challenge is an opportunity to bring that approach to Matter and Silicon Labs projects.”

Despite its emergence as a popular smart home ecosystem, Matter development is difficult. We want to lower the intimidation factor by making the technology more accessible and allowing users of all skill levels to get hands-on experience in a collaborative way. 

“One thing we really like about working with Silicon Labs is embracing the open ecosystems of multiple approaches and not being locked in,” said Guneet Bedi, Senior Vice President at Arduino. “Then, having a robust technology to go from proof of concept to a full-scale deployment makes this a great partnership.”

This vision for what’s possible with end products, coupled with Silicon Labs’ focus on putting the right devices into the hands of developers, is a perfect match. This collaboration combines the ease of use of Arduino’s popular Nano platform and its popular integrated development environment with Silicon Labs’ MGM240S multiprotocol module to offer one of the smallest development boards available. Participants in the Matter Challenge will also compete for prizes, including a $500 Mouser e-gift card and be featured during Works With.

For more information and registration details, check out our announcement on the Silicon Labs Community. 

Mouser is the preferred e-tailer for the Matter Challenge and its extensive developer audience makes it an ideal distribution partner. If you’re considering a Matter project, this is your opportunity to start your development journey. Together with Arduino and Mouser, we’re setting the standard for making IoT development easier, more accessible, and user-friendly.