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.
Hackers in Residence: The Sound Visualizer Pt. 2
An addition to a previous project, this time using a PC and a custom Java app to create your own music visualizer using a RGB LED matrix.
Light Up Silk Flower Corsage
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
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
Light up your love with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Let It Glow Holiday Cards
Craft a glowing card for friends and family this holiday season with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Humidity-sensing LED Flower
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
We take a tour of a LED manufacturer and learn how PTH 5mm LEDs are made for SparkFun.
Customizing LilyPad LED Colors
A short guide to creating a rainbow of new LilyPad LED colors at home!
Interactive Hanging LED Array
Learn how we converted 72 lightbulbs into an interactive LED array for our conference room.
Sound Detector Hookup Guide
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
A top hat decked out with LED strips makes for a heck of a wedding gift.
Dot/Bar Display Driver Hookup Guide
How to hook up the LM3914 or LM3916 to drive a 10-LED display with a lone analog signal.
Quick Illuminated Boxes
A quick tutorial to show you how to add LEDs to gift or holiday bags or boxes.
RGB Panel Hookup Guide
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
How to get the most out of the infrared receivers and transmitters included in the IR Control Kit.
LED Light Bar Hookup
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
How to quickly and easily set up the Serial 7-Segment Display and the Serial 7-Segment Display Shield.
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
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
How to create a pixel string with the WS2812 and WS2812B addressable LEDs!
Electric Power
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
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.
Pulse Width Modulation
An introduction to the concept of Pulse Width Modulation.
How to Power a Project
A tutorial to help figure out the power requirements of your project.
Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohm's Law
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.