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.

Hookup Guide for the Qwiic Motor Driver

September 19, 2019

Drive things "qwiic"-ly with the SparkFun Qwiic Motor Driver!

How to Build a Remote Kill Switch

May 31, 2016

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

LED Gumball Machine

April 24, 2019

Hacking gumball machines to make the world a happier, blinkier place.

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.

LilyPad Vibe Board Hookup Guide

January 16, 2019

The LilyPad Vibe Board is a small vibration motor that can be sewn into projects with conductive thread and controlled by a LilyPad Arduino. The board can be used as a physical indicator on clothing and costumes for haptic feedback.

micro:bit Educator Lab Pack Experiment Guide

May 8, 2018

A quickstart guide for the micro:bit educator lab pack.

micro:bot Kit Experiment Guide

February 20, 2020

Get started with the moto:bit, a carrier board for the micro:bit that allows you to control motors, and create your own robot using this experiment guide for the micro:bot kit.

Motors and Selecting the Right One

December 12, 2013

Learn all about different kinds of motors and how they operate.

MP3 Player Shield Music Box

January 21, 2013

Music Box Project based on the Dr. Who TARDIS.

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.

Pi Servo pHAT (v2) Hookup Guide

July 11, 2019

This hookup guide will get you started with connecting and using the Pi Servo pHAT on a Raspberry Pi.

Pulse Width Modulation

February 27, 2013

An introduction to the concept of Pulse Width Modulation.

Qwiic Haptic Driver DA7280 Hookup Guide

April 29, 2021

The Qwiic Haptic Driver includes an itty-bitty, Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) vibration motor and Dialog Semiconductor's DA7280 motor driver IC for applications that require haptic feedback.

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.

Red Box Robot Hookup Guide

November 23, 2016

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

Servo Trigger Hookup Guide

March 26, 2015

How to use the SparkFun Servo Trigger to control a vast array of Servo Motors, without any programming!

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.

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.

Shapeoko Assembly Guide

April 21, 2016

A guide for attaching the Stepoko Add-on kit to a Shapeoko Mechanical kit.

Shapeoko Coaster Project

November 20, 2015

A step-by-step guide to cutting and engraving a coaster with the Shapeoko.

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.

SparkFun Auto pHAT Hookup Guide

April 16, 2020

The pHAT to get your projects moving. This guide will help you get started using the Auto pHAT.
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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.