[TriEmbed] Arduinos and the TSA

[Glen Smith]

Lauren,

Though I don't travel extensively, I frequently take my Arduino kit with me
in my carry on baggage when I do fly. I found a small cardboard box that a
NetGear adapter of some sort came in. I put pink static free foam in it and
custom cut it to go around my tiny breadboard. Various discrete components
are stuck in the foam for whatever I may be working on at the time, and a
few jumper wires as well. Also inside the box is some packing tape that I
can peel apart and several Liberty Bell forever stamps. On the outside of
the box, I wrote my name and address with a sharpie marker. I also try very
hard to have an Arduino textbook with a picture of an actual Arduino on the
cover in my bag as well. When I go through security, I put the Arudino box
in its own separate tray. I make eye contact with a TSA agent and point at
the tray and say "Just wanted to let you know, I have some electronics in
here."

Sometimes the agent will tell the screener, sometimes not. The most
attention I have ever received has been entirely positive. "Thank you for
letting us know." "It looks like you have done this before." Never really a
second look. In the event that there is a problem, I am sure to be in the
airport in plenty of time to back out, tape up the package and ship it home
USPS.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. I'm thrilled to be able to
travel with it, but with the proper components, it would make a marvelous
trigger. I will leave that discussion for others to debate.

When I get home, Ill try to take a picture and send it out.

Glen


On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 2:45 PM, Lauren Putvin <lewoods at ncsu.edu> wrote:

>  Hello all,
>
>
>
> I’m a grad student and using an Arduino with some sensors attached as part
> of my grad school project.  I’d like to take it with me on vacation to work
> on it some and was hoping some of you had experience in this area.  I don’t
> think they are specifically disallowed by the TSA, but do you get the back
> room special treatment for taking a microcontroller with you as a carry on
> or in your luggage?  I’d like to minimize the pain since I will have to
> make connections and don’t want to miss those because of hours of security
> BS.
>
>
>
> Lauren Putvin
>
> Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student
>
> Center for Robotics and Intelligent Machines http://www.crim.ncsu.edu/
>
> North Carolina State University
>
> 919-599-1727 (mobile)
>
> 919-515-7016 (lab)
>
>
>
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