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.

Introduction to MQTT

November 7, 2018

An introduction to MQTT, one of the main communication protocols used with the Internet of Things (IoT).

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).

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.

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.

LilyPad Basics: E-Sewing

December 17, 2016

Learn how to use conductive thread with LilyPad components.

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.

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.

Logic Levels

June 3, 2013

Learn the difference between 3.3V and 5V devices and logic levels.

Magnetic Levitation

November 20, 2019

This tutorial will show you how to build a magnetic levitation circuit using common parts.

Metric Prefixes and SI Units

July 11, 2013

This tutorial will explain how to use and convert between the standard metric prefixes.

MIDI Tutorial

October 8, 2015

Understanding the Musical Instrument Digital Interface.

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.

Motors and Selecting the Right One

December 12, 2013

Learn all about different kinds of motors and how they operate.

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.

Polarity

June 14, 2013

An introduction to polarity in electronic components. Discover what polarity is, which parts have it, and how to identify it.

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.

Programming an FPGA

July 30, 2020

Come look at the basics of working with Field Programmable Gate Arrays.

Pull-up Resistors

February 1, 2013

A quick introduction to pull-up resistors - whey they're important, and how/when to use them.

Pulse Width Modulation

February 27, 2013

An introduction to the concept of Pulse Width Modulation.

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.

Raspberry gPIo

October 29, 2015

How to use either Python or C++ to drive the I/O lines on a Raspberry Pi.

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.

RFID Basics

February 23, 2017

Dive into the basics of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
Viewing 59 Concepts Tutorials. View All Tutorials.

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.