Communication
Embedded electronics is all about interlinking circuits (processors or other integrated circuits) to create a symbiotic system. In order for those individual circuits to swap their information, they must share a common communication protocol. Hundreds of communication protocols have been defined to achieve this data exchange, and, in general, each can be separated into one of two categories: parallel or serial. Serial UARTs, SPI, and I2C are used with many products in the SparkFun catalog to pass data. They can be used with a serial terminal to help troubleshoot issues or display data. However, there are other methods of communication some of which include IR, RS-232, RS-485, CAN, MIDI, and DMX. Check out the tutorials below to start relaying data between your devices!
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
SPI is commonly used to connect microcontrollers to peripherals such as sensors, shift registers, and SD cards.
Adding More SERCOM Ports for SAMD Boards
How to setup extra SPI, UART, and I2C serial ports on a SAMD-based boards.
Industrial Fiber Optics Hookup Guide
Learn how to get started with our fiber optics breakout boards
MIDI Tutorial
Understanding the Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
SparkFun QwiicBus Hookup Guide
Build a long-range, noise-isolated I2C bus with the SparkFun QwiicBus Kit featuring the QwiicBus EndPoint and MidPoint following this Hookup Guide.
MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board Hookup Guide
A short hookup guide to get started with the SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board.
Raspberry Pi SPI and I2C Tutorial
Learn how to use serial I2C and SPI buses on your Raspberry Pi using the wiringPi I/O library for C/C++ and spidev/smbus for Python.
Simultaneous RFID Tag Reader Hookup Guide
A basic guide to getting started with the RFID Tag Reader breakout and how to read and write multiple RFID tags over multiple feet!
MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Function Board - ADIN1110 Hookup Guide
With the SparkFun MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Function Board - ADIN1110 you can prototype and create 10BASE-T1L Ethernet connections that work in noisy environments and over exceptionally long distances of over 1 kilometer! Follow this guide to get started with this Function Board.
SparkFun gator:log Hookup Guide
The gator:log is a serial communication based data logger. This tutorial will get you started using the gator:log with the micro:bit platform.
SparkFun Serial Basic CH340C Hookup Guide
SparkFun Serial Basic Breakout takes advantage of USB-C and is an easy-to-use USB-to-Serial adapter based on the CH340C IC from WCH. With USB-C you can get up to three times the power delivery over the previous USB generation and has the convenient feature of being reversable.
Serial Basic Hookup Guide
Get connected quickly with this Serial to USB adapter.
USB Type A Female Breakout Hookup Guide
An above-and-beyond example using the USB Type A Female Breakout board.
IOTA (ARTIC R2) Satellite Communication Module Hookup Guide
A hookup guide for the SparkFun IOTA - Satellite Communication Module (ARTIC R2) (SPX-17984)
ARGOS ARTIC R2 Satellite Transceiver Shield Hookup Guide
A hookup guide for the ARGOS Satellite Transceiver Shield - ARTIC R2 (SPX-17236)
Hack Your Roshamglo Badge
Learn how to customize and program your Roshamglo badge.
Roshamglo Project: TV-B-Gone
Turn your Roshamglo board into a (nearly) universal TV power button.
Roshamglo Hookup Guide
This tutorial provides everything you need to know to get started with the Roshamglo badge.
ARGOS (ARTIC R2) Satellite Communication Guide
A guide describing the ARGOS satellite network - as used by our ARTIC R2 satellite communication products
OBD II UART Hookup Guide
How to start working with the OBD-II Uart board.
Serial Terminal Basics
This tutorial will show you how to communicate with your serial devices using a variety of terminal emulator applications.
I2C
An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded communications protocols in use today.
SparkFun Satellite Transceiver Kit - Swarm M138 Hookup Guide
A hookup guide for the SparkFun Satellite Transceiver - Swarm M138 (KIT-21287)
Introduction to DMX
DMX512 is an industry standard in lighting and stage design, whether it be controlling lights, motors, or lasers, DMX512 has many uses. In this tutorial we’ll cover DMX512 (Digital Multiplex with 512 pieces of information).