Concepts
These are the various concepts that people may need to know while learning a technology tutorial and could be required to complete a ‘hookup’ tutorial. Concepts are most often a general building block that may be built upon other concepts. Concepts can generally be learned without physical objects but are reinforced with a hookup tutorial.
Monitor Sensor Data from Anywhere
August 10, 2022
Using WiFi to send sensor data from an ESP32 to a WiFi network and be able to read it from an IoT Dashboard from anywhere in the world.
Sending Sensor Data Over WiFi
January 16, 2022
This tutorial will show you how setup a simple peer-to-peer connection to send and receive sensor data between two ESP32 WiFi boards.
Configuring the PATH System Variable
March 23, 2021
A simple guide for configuring the PATH variable on Win 10, Mac OSX, and Linux systems.
External IO and Metastability
July 30, 2020
Why external signals can cause metastability and how to use constraint files to manage this
How Does an FPGA Work?
July 30, 2020
The What, How, Why, and When of Field Programmable Gate Arrays, aka FPGAs
First FPGA Project - Getting Fancy with PWM
July 30, 2020
An initial project using Alchitry's onboard FPGA to manipulate PWM
Programming an FPGA
July 30, 2020
Come look at the basics of working with Field Programmable Gate Arrays.
Understanding Thermal Resistance
May 14, 2020
Discussing what thermal resistance is, how it’s used for thermal management, and how to maximize the life of your project.
Basic LED Animations for Beginners (Arduino)
December 3, 2019
Let's have some fun with LEDs! We'll explore LEDs once again with the SparkFun RedBoard Qwiic, making cool effects, and putting those effects to work using a sensor.
Magnetic Levitation
November 20, 2019
This tutorial will show you how to build a magnetic levitation circuit using common parts.
Fuse Breakout Board Hookup Guide
October 3, 2019
Protect your project by adding a fuse in your circuit to save it from molten destruction.
Processor Interrupts with Arduino
December 11, 2018
What is an interrupt? In a nutshell, there is a method by which a processor can execute its normal program while continuously monitoring for some kind of event, or interrupt. There are two types of interrupts: hardware and software interrupts. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will focus on hardware interrupts.
Introduction to DMX
November 14, 2018
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).
Introduction to MQTT
November 7, 2018
An introduction to MQTT, one of the main communication protocols used with the Internet of Things (IoT).
LilyPad Basics: Powering Your Project
September 24, 2018
Learn the options for powering your LilyPad projects, LiPo battery safety and care, and how to calculate and consider power constraints on your projects.
How to Use Remote Desktop on the Raspberry Pi with VNC
July 9, 2018
Use RealVNC to connect to your Raspberry Pi to control the graphical desktop remotely across the network.
Python Programming Tutorial: Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi
June 27, 2018
This guide will show you how to write programs on your Raspberry Pi using Python to control hardware.
AST-CAN485 Hookup Guide
March 1, 2018
The AST CAN485 is a miniature Arduino in the compact form factor of the ProMini. In addition to all the usual features it has on-board CAN and RS485 ports enabling quick and easy interfacing to a multitude of industrial devices.
SparkFun Troubleshooting Tips
October 19, 2017
Not working as expected? In this tutorial, we will be exploring a few general troubleshooting tips and possible solutions that frequently come up with SparkFun's Technical Support.
Introduction to Operational Amplifiers with LTSpice
April 18, 2017
Picking up where we left off in "Getting Started with LTSpice," we delve a little deeper into LTSpice through an introduction of Operational Amplifiers (OpAmps).
Getting Started with LTspice
March 1, 2017
LTspice is a high performance SPICE simulator, schematic capture and waveform viewer with an impressive library of passive devices. Over 1000 models are included in the download but you can also add third party models.
RFID Basics
February 23, 2017
Dive into the basics of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Lessons in Algorithms
December 21, 2016
Learn techniques on how to use Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters and other data-processing tools to turn data into information.
LilyPad Basics: E-Sewing
December 17, 2016
Learn how to use conductive thread with LilyPad components.
Connectivity of the Internet of Things
July 27, 2016
An overview of the different protocols that can be used for the development of Internet of Things (IoT)-based projects.
ASCII
June 13, 2016
A brief history of how ASCII came to be, how it's useful to computers, and some helpful tables to convert numbers to characters.
What is a Battery?
May 3, 2016
An overview of the inner workings of a battery and how it was invented.
Raspberry Pi SPI and I2C Tutorial
October 29, 2015
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.
Raspberry gPIo
October 29, 2015
How to use either Python or C++ to drive the I/O lines on a Raspberry Pi.
Getting Started with OBD-II
October 8, 2015
A general guide to the OBD-II protocols used for communication in automotive and industrial applications.
LogicBlocks & Digital Logic Introduction
March 31, 2014
Introducing fundamental digital logic concepts and LogicBlocks
LogicBlocks Experiment Guide
March 31, 2014
Experiments guide for the LogicBlocks kit. Build oscillators, latches, multiplexers and more with the LogicBlocks.
Hexadecimal
March 20, 2014
How to interpret hex numbers, and how to convert them to/from decimal and binary.
Motors and Selecting the Right One
December 12, 2013
Learn all about different kinds of motors and how they operate.
Data Types in Arduino
November 6, 2013
Learn about the common data types and what they signify in the Arduino programming environment.
Alternating Current (AC) vs. Direct Current (DC)
September 5, 2013
Learn the differences between AC and DC, the history, different ways to generate AC and DC, and examples of applications.
Analog vs. Digital
July 18, 2013
This tutorial covers the concept of analog and digital signals, as they relate to electronics.
Metric Prefixes and SI Units
July 11, 2013
This tutorial will explain how to use and convert between the standard metric prefixes.
I2C
July 8, 2013
An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded communications protocols in use today.
Electric Power
June 26, 2013
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!
Polarity
June 14, 2013
An introduction to polarity in electronic components. Discover what polarity is, which parts have it, and how to identify it.
What is Electricity?
June 13, 2013
We can see electricity in action on our computers, lighting our houses, as lightning strikes in thunderstorms, but what is it? This is not an easy question, but this tutorial will shed some light on it!
Button and Switch Basics
May 7, 2013
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.
Accelerometer Basics
March 28, 2013
A quick introduction to accelerometers, how they work, and why they're used.
Voltage Dividers
February 8, 2013
Turn a large voltage into a smaller one with voltage dividers. This tutorial covers: what a voltage divider circuit looks like and how it is used in the real world.
Light
February 7, 2013
Light is a useful tool for the electrical engineer. Understanding how light relates to electronics is a fundamental skill for many projects.
Analog to Digital Conversion
February 7, 2013
The world is analog. Use analog to digital conversion to help digital devices interpret the world.
What is a Circuit?
February 6, 2013
Every electrical project starts with a circuit. Don't know what a circuit is? We're here to help.
Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohm's Law
February 6, 2013
Learn about Ohm's Law, one of the most fundamental equations in all electrical engineering.
Gyroscope
February 1, 2013
Gyroscopes measure the speed of rotation around an axis and are an essential part in determines ones orientation in space.
Pull-up Resistors
February 1, 2013
A quick introduction to pull-up resistors - whey they're important, and how/when to use them.
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
January 14, 2013
SPI is commonly used to connect microcontrollers to peripherals such as sensors, shift registers, and SD cards.
Serial Communication
December 18, 2012
Asynchronous serial communication concepts: packets, signal levels, baud rates, UARTs and more!
PCB Basics
December 14, 2012
What exactly IS a PCB? This tutorial will breakdown what makes up a PCB and some of the common terms used in the PCB world.
Old Tutorials
Looking for the old, archived tutorials? Head on over to the
archived tutorials on the main
SparkFun site.
Please be aware that the tutorials you find there are no longer
actively maintained.