LED Gumball Machine
Contributors:
Nate
Resources and Going Further
We hope you've enjoyed reading about our LED dispensing gumball machine. If you liked this one, there's tons more!
Button and Switch Basics
A tutorial on electronics' most overlooked and underappreciated component: the switch! Here we explain the difference between momentary and maintained switches and what all those acronyms (NO, NC, SPDT, SPST, ...) stand for.
Electric Power
An overview of electric power, the rate of energy transfer. We'll talk definition of power, watts, equations, and power ratings. 1.21 gigawatts of tutorial fun!
RFID Basics
Dive into the basics of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Python Programming Tutorial: Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi
This guide will show you how to write programs on your Raspberry Pi using Python to control hardware.
Wake-on-Shake Hookup Guide
A basic hookup guide for getting started with the SparkFun Wake-on-Shake. The board gives you the ability to put your project into hibernation until bumped or shaken awake using the ADXL362 accelerometer. This means you can design projects meant to stay inert for long periods of time, possibly even several years, depending on the battery type used to power the project.
QRD1114 Optical Detector Hookup Guide
Use this IR LED/phototransistor fusion to sense objects in close proximity or even the color of a surface!
Qwiic Distance Sensor (VL53L1X, VL53L4CD) Hookup Guide
The Qwiic Distance Sensor - VL53L1X is a time of flight sensor that is capable of several modes, as well as having a range of 4M. It's cousin VL53L4CD is also a time of flight sensor with similar characteristics but it has a range of about 1.3M. Let's hook it up and find out just how far away that thing over there is.
Wireless Remote Weather Station with micro:bit
Monitor the weather without being exposed to it through wireless communication between two micro:bits using the radio blocks! This is useful if your weather station is installed in a location that is difficult to retrieve data from the OpenLog. We will also explore a few different ways to send and receive data.