Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
Contributors:
Nick Poole,
bboyho
Resources and Going Further
You've made it! You know, like, almost everything... about LEDs. Now go forth and put LEDs on whatever you please! And now... a dramatic reenactment of an LED without a current limiting resistor being over powered and burning itself out:
Yeah... it's not spectacular.
If you'd like to learn more about some LED related topics, visit these other tutorials:
Light
Light is a useful tool for the electrical engineer. Understanding how light relates to electronics is a fundamental skill for many projects.
IR Communication
This tutorial explains how common infrared (IR) communication works, as well as shows you how to set up a simple IR transmitter and receiver with an Arduino.
Das Blinken Top Hat
A top hat decked out with LED strips makes for a heck of a wedding gift.
How LEDs are Made
We take a tour of a LED manufacturer and learn how PTH 5mm LEDs are made for SparkFun.
How to Power a Project
A tutorial to help figure out the power requirements of your project.
Building Large LED Installations
Learn what it takes to build large LED installations from planning to power requirements to execution.
Powering LilyPad LED Projects
Learn how to calculate how many LEDs your LilyPad project can power and how long it will last.
SparkFun Paper Circuit Kits
Learn how to build a simple paper circuit using copper tape, a 5mm LED, and a 3V coin cell battery.
Interested in learning more about LEDs?
See our LED page for everything you need to know to start using these components in your project.
Or check out some of these related blog posts: