Motors

Motors provide a way for our devices to interact with us and the environment. They can provide haptic feedback for notification, add movement to your robot, help 3D print a model, or CNC mill a material. Some basic motors types include DC brush, servos, brushless, stepper, linear motors. Not sure what motor to select? Check out Motors and Selecting the Right One and the hobby servo tutorial for more information to start.

Light-Seeking Robot

November 28, 2017

We use parts from the SparkFun Inventor's Kit v4.0 to create a light-seeking robot that mimics the behavior of single-celled organisms.

SparkFun Inventor's Kit Experiment Guide - v4.0

November 15, 2017

The SparkFun Inventor's Kit (SIK) Experiment Guide contains all of the information needed to build all five projects, encompassing 16 circuits, in the latest version of the kit, v4.0a.

SparkFun 5V/1A LiPo Charger/Booster Hookup Guide

September 28, 2017

This tutorial shows you how to hook up and use the SparkFun 5V/1A LiPo Charger/Booster circuit.

Pi Servo Hat Hookup Guide

September 14, 2017

This hookup guide will show you how to connect and use the Pi Servo Hat in a project.

Setting Up the Pi Zero Wireless Pan-Tilt Camera

September 14, 2017

This tutorial will show you how to assemble, program, and access the Raspberry Pi Zero as a headless wireless pan-tilt camera.

Wireless Motor Driver Shield Hookup Guide

August 17, 2017

Get started with the SparkFun Wireless Motor Driver Shield!

SparkFun Inventor's Kit for micro:bit Experiment Guide

July 21, 2017

This guide contains all the information you will need to explore the twelve circuits of the SparkFun Inventors Kit for micro:bit.

ESP32 Thing Power Control Shield Hookup Guide

June 9, 2017

This tutorial shows you how to get started with the ESP32 Thing Power Control Shield.

Spectacle Example: Super Mario Bros. Diorama

May 4, 2017

A study in building an animated diorama (with sound!) using Spectacle electronics.

Ardumoto Kit Hookup Guide

April 14, 2017

Learn how to assemble and drive DC motors using the v2.0 Ardumoto Shield.

Building a Safe Cracking Robot

March 29, 2017

How to crack an unknown safe in under an hour.

Haptic Motor Driver Hook-Up Guide

January 19, 2017

Good vibes only. Getting started with the Haptic Motor Driver.

Building an Autonomous Vehicle: The Batmobile

December 6, 2016

Documenting a six-month project to race autonomous Power Wheels at the SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition (AVC) in 2016.

Red Box Robot Hookup Guide

November 23, 2016

Turn an iconic SparkFun red box into an obstacle-avoiding robot.

ReconBot with the Tessel 2

October 13, 2016

Build a robot with the Tessel 2 that you can control from a browser on your phone or laptop.

TB6612FNG Hookup Guide

September 29, 2016

Basic hookup guide for the TB6612FNG H-bridge motor driver to get your robot to start moving!

Getting Started with the AutoDriver - v13

September 15, 2016

SparkFun's AutoDriver is a powerful tool for controlling stepper motors. Here's how to use it.

Experiment Guide for the Johnny-Five Inventor's Kit

June 28, 2016

Use the Tessel 2 and the Johnny Five Inventors kit to explore the world of JavaScript enabled hardware through 14 awesome experiments!

Electret Mic Breakout Board Hookup Guide

June 23, 2016

An introduction to working with the Electret Mic Breakout Board.

How to Build a Remote Kill Switch

May 31, 2016

Learn how to build a wireless controller to kill power when things go... sentient.

GPS Differential Vector Pointer

May 31, 2016

Use GPS to have two objects, a base and a target, point towards one another. This can be used to aim a directional antenna (or in the case of this project, a laser) from one object to the other object at a distance that is only limited by your ability to provide the base station with the target's GPS location.

Servo Trigger Programming Guide

May 26, 2016

Looking under the hood of the Servo Trigger -- using the development environment and some finer details of the firmware.
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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.