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.
LED Robot Pop Up Card
August 19, 2015
Craft a paper circuit pop up card with a cycling RGB LED, battery, and copper tape.
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!
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.
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.
Light-Up Valentine Cards
January 27, 2015
Light up your love with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Light Up Your 3D Printer's Bed
June 27, 2018
Having issues viewing your print in a dark lit room? In this tutorial, we will be using LED strips to light up a print bed's area on a LulzBot 3D printer!
LilyPad Pixel Board Hookup Guide
September 16, 2015
Add changing colors to your wearable projects using LilyPad Pixel Boards.
LilyPad RGB LED Hookup Guide
July 18, 2019
Learn how to hook up the LilyPad RGB LED and use a common cathode RGB LED in e-textile projects.
LilyPad Safety Scarf
November 21, 2017
This scarf is embedded with a ribbon of LEDs that illuminate when it gets dark out, making yourself more visible to vehicle and other pedestrians.
LilyPad Tri-Color LED Hookup Guide
April 20, 2018
Learn how to hook up the LilyPad Tri-Color LED and use a common anode RGB LED in e-textile projects.
Live Spotify Album Art Display
January 23, 2019
Learn how to turn our 64x64 RGB LED Matrix Panel into a display for your current Spotify album art using an ESP32.
LP55231 Breakout Board Hookup Guide
November 3, 2016
Get to know the LP55231 9-channel LED driver., and learn how to configure and program this surprisingly flexible IC.
Lumenati Alien Garden
November 3, 2017
Use Lumenati LED boards to add glow to your own alien garden.
Lumenati Hookup Guide
October 12, 2017
Lumenati is our line of APA102c-based addressable LED boards. We'll show you how to bring the sparkle to your projects!
LumiDrive Hookup Guide
January 17, 2019
The LumiDrive LED Driver is SparkFun’s foray into all things Python on micro-controllers. With the SparkFun LumiDrive you will be able to control and personalize a whole strand of APA102s directly from the board itself.
LuMini 8x8 Matrix Hookup Guide
January 24, 2019
The LuMini 8x8 Matrix (APA102-2020) are the highest resolution LED matrix available.
LuMini Ring Hookup Guide
January 17, 2019
The LuMini Rings (APA102-2020) are the highest resolution LED rings available.
Marquee Party Bag
June 2, 2017
This tutorial provides everything you need to know to make your own Marquee Party Bag!
MAX30105 Particle and Pulse Ox Sensor Hookup Guide
December 1, 2016
The SparkFun MAX30105 Particle Sensor is a flexible and powerful sensor enabling sensing of distance, heart rate, particle detection, even the blinking of an eye. Get ready. Set. Shine!
Mean Well LED Switching Power Supply Hookup Guide
June 28, 2018
In this tutorial, we will be connecting a Mean Well LED switching power supply to an addressable LED strip controlled by an Arduino.
micro:bit Breakout Board Hookup Guide
June 17, 2021
How to get started with the micro:bit breakout board.
Motion Controlled Wearable LED Dance Harness
January 30, 2019
Control LEDs based on your movement using an accelerometer! Make your LEDs breathe by fading in and out when laying on the floor, turn off the LEDs when moving to your side, or make the LEDs blink in a headstand!
Nintendo Switch Macro Recording on the Raspberry Pi
July 8, 2020
Learn how to record and playback controller 'macros' for your Nintendo Switch using a Raspberry Pi, SparkFun Top pHAT, and Joycontrol.
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.