LEDs
Addressable LED Neon Flex Rope Hookup Guide
April 19, 2018
The addressable (UCS1903) LED neon flex rope adds cool lighting effects for outdoor and indoor uses including in hallways and stairs, holiday lighting, and more! In this hookup guide, you will learn how to connect, power, and control the LED segments with an Arduino and the FastLED library.
Addressable LED Strip Hookup Guide
November 23, 2016
Add blinking lights to any holiday decoration with our Holiday Lights Kit.
Boss Alarm
March 30, 2016
Build a Boss Alarm that alerts you of anyone walking into your office and automatically changes your computer screen.
Bubble Display Hookup Guide
March 7, 2014
Need a small, cheap, and easy display? These bubble displays are what you've been looking for. Learn how to use them in this hookup guide.
Building Large LED Installations
July 16, 2015
Learn what it takes to build large LED installations from planning to power requirements to execution.
Button Pad Hookup Guide
January 7, 2016
An introduction to matrix scanning, using the SparkFun 4x4 Button Pad.
Cherry MX Switch Breakout Hookup Guide
April 21, 2016
How to assemble and use the Cherry MX Switch Breakout, allowing you to turn a matrix of mechanical switches into a full-size keyboard!
Craft a Holiday Greeting with Love to Code
March 23, 2018
Craft your own paper circuit holiday greeting using the LEDs, a Chibi Chip, Love to Code!
Customizing LilyPad LED Colors
May 19, 2014
A short guide to creating a rainbow of new LilyPad LED colors at home!
Das Blinken Top Hat
January 22, 2014
A top hat decked out with LED strips makes for a heck of a wedding gift.
DIY Heated Earmuffs
January 31, 2018
Embedded with heating pads and four Neopixel rings, these earmuffs do more than your average winter accessory to keep you warm while still looking good.
DIY Light-Up Shoes
September 28, 2017
This tutorial provides everything you need to know to make your own light up high top sneakers!
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.
FemtoBuck Constant Current LED Driver Hookup Guide V12
December 10, 2015
The FemtoBuck board is a high-efficiency, single-channel constant-current LED driver.
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.
Hackers in Residence: The Sound Visualizer Pt. 2
May 7, 2015
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.
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.
Interactive 3D Printed LED Diamond Prop
April 19, 2018
In this tutorial, we will learn about how to create an interactive theatrical prop for a performance by 3D printing a translucent diamond prop using a non-addressable RGB LED strip and AT42QT1011 capacitive touch sensing.
Interactive Hanging LED Array
April 10, 2014
Learn how we converted 72 lightbulbs into an interactive LED array for our conference room.
Interactive LED Music Visualizer
May 31, 2016
Use an Arduino and the SparkFun Sound Detector to create visualizations on Addressable RGB LED strips.
IR Control Kit Hookup Guide
October 2, 2013
How to get the most out of the IR receivers and transmitters included in the IR Control Kit.
Large Digit Driver Hookup Guide
June 25, 2015
Getting started guide for the Large Digit display driver board. This tutorial explains how to solder the module (backpack) onto the back of the large 7-segment LED display and run example code from an Arduino.
LED Butterfly Pop Up Card
August 19, 2015
Craft an illuminated butterfly pop up card with copper tape, two LEDs, and a battery.
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.