RETIRED - SparkFun Inventor's Kit Experiment Guide - v4.0
This Tutorial is Retired!
This tutorial covers concepts or technologies that are no longer current. It's still here for you to read and enjoy, but may not be as useful as our newest tutorials.
View the updated tutorial: SparkFun Inventor's Kit Experiment Guide - v4.0
Joel_E_B 
The SparkFun RedBoard
The SparkFun RedBoard is your development platform. At its roots, the RedBoard is essentially a small, portable computer, also known as a microcontroller. It is capable of taking inputs (such as the push of a button or a reading from a light sensor) and interpreting that information to control various outputs (like blinking an LED light or spinning an electric motor). That’s where the term “physical computing” comes in; this board is capable of taking the world of electronics and relating it to the physical world in a real and tangible way.
The SparkFun RedBoard is one of a multitude of development boards based on the ATmega328 microprocessor. It has 14 digital input/output pins (six of which can be PWM outputs), six analog inputs, a 16MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, and a reset button. You’ll learn more about each of the RedBoard's features as you progress through this guide.
Check out the guide below to learn more about the SparkFun RedBoard.