LEDs
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are small, powerful lights that are used in many different applications. Blinking an LED is the classic starting point for learning how to program embedded electronics. It's the "Hello, World!" of microcontrollers. We recommend looking at the LED tutorial and SIK experiment guide to get started.
Light Up Silk Flower Corsage
April 20, 2015
Combine a silk flower with a built-in RGB LED and some LilyPad Switches to create a customizable accessory.
Hackers in Residence: The Sound Visualizer
March 23, 2015
A fun project that uses a Raspberry Pi and a custom Java app to create your own sound visualizer using a RGB LED matrix.
Light-Up Valentine Cards
January 27, 2015
Light up your love with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Let It Glow Holiday Cards
November 20, 2014
Craft a glowing card for friends and family this holiday season with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Humidity-sensing LED Flower
October 28, 2014
How about that humidity? This tutorial shows how to add sensing capability to the 21st Century Fashion Kit's RGB flower project.
How LEDs are Made
May 28, 2014
We take a tour of a LED manufacturer and learn how PTH 5mm LEDs are made for SparkFun.
Customizing LilyPad LED Colors
May 19, 2014
A short guide to creating a rainbow of new LilyPad LED colors at home!
Interactive Hanging LED Array
April 10, 2014
Learn how we converted 72 lightbulbs into an interactive LED array for our conference room.
Sound Detector Hookup Guide
February 27, 2014
The Sound Detector is a microphone with a binary output. This guide explains how it works and how you can use it in your projects.
Das Blinken Top Hat
January 22, 2014
A top hat decked out with LED strips makes for a heck of a wedding gift.
Dot/Bar Display Driver Hookup Guide
January 16, 2014
How to hook up the LM3914 or LM3916 to drive a 10-LED display with a lone analog signal.
Quick Illuminated Boxes
December 16, 2013
A quick tutorial to show you how to add LEDs to gift or holiday bags or boxes.
RGB Panel Hookup Guide
December 12, 2013
Make bright, colorful displays using the 32x16, 32x32, and 32x64 RGB LED matrix panels. This hookup guide shows how to hook up these panels and control them with an Arduino.
IR Control Kit Hookup Guide
October 2, 2013
How to get the most out of the infrared receivers and transmitters included in the IR Control Kit.
LED Light Bar Hookup
September 24, 2013
A quick overview of SparkFun's LED light bars, and some examples to show how to hook them up.
Using the Serial 7-Segment Display
August 13, 2013
How to quickly and easily set up the Serial 7-Segment Display and the Serial 7-Segment Display Shield.
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
August 12, 2013
Learn the basics about LEDs as well as some more advanced topics to help you calculate requirements for projects containing many LEDs.
WS2812 Breakout Hookup Guide
July 24, 2013
How to create a pixel string with the WS2812 and WS2812B addressable LEDs!
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!
Using OpenSegment
April 1, 2013
How to hook up and use the OpenSegment display shield. The OpenSegment is the big brother to the Serial 7-Segment Display. They run on the same firmware, however the OpenSegment is about twice as big.
How to Power a Project
February 7, 2013
A tutorial to help figure out the power requirements of your project.
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.
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.