Projects
Need inspiration? Find it here! These tutorials feature special projects broken down into steps to illustrate how you can use various concepts, skills, and technologies to build awesome stuff.
RFID Beginners Tutorial
Make a remote work logger using an RFID reader and a GPS module. Scan a card and get ID, location, and time. All the perfect data to punch in and punch out from the middle of Nowhere!
Wireless Remote Weather Station with micro:bit
Monitor the weather without being exposed to it through wireless communication between two micro:bits using the radio blocks! This is useful if your weather station is installed in a location that is difficult to retrieve data from the OpenLog. We will also explore a few different ways to send and receive data.
Jetson Nano + Sphero RVR Mash-up (PART 1)
We took two of our biggest robotics partnerships from the previous year and shazamed them together into one robot to rule them all!
Raspberry Pi Safe Reboot and Shutdown Button
Safely reboot or shutdown your Raspberry Pi to avoid corrupting the microSD card using the built-in general purpose button on the Qwiic pHAT v2.0!
Temperature Sensor Comparison
A comparison of analog and digital temperature sensors. Which is better?
Secure DIY Garage Door Opener
Did you know that most garage doors are at risk of a roll jam attack? Here we make a DIY garage door remote-control system that is much more secure than most commercial-ready products using the latest in ECC cryptography.
Getting Started with the Autonomous Kit for the Sphero RVR
Want to get started in robotics? Look no further than the SparkFun autonomous kit for the Sphero RVR! Whether you purchased the Basic or Advanced kit, this tutorial will get you rolling...
Magnetic Levitation
This tutorial will show you how to build a magnetic levitation circuit using common parts.
Qwiic Pro Kit Project Guide
The Qwiic Pro Kit was designed to allow users to get started with Arduino without the need for soldering or a breadboard. We've included three inputs (a joystick, accelerometer, and proximity sensor) and one display that can be daisy chained to the RedBoard Turbo (SAMD21) Development Board.
Wireless Controlled Wearable EL Wire Dance Suit
In this tutorial, we will build an EL wire dance suit that can be controlled by a wireless glove controller!
Fuse Breakout Board Hookup Guide
Protect your project by adding a fuse in your circuit to save it from molten destruction.
GPS Geo-Mapping at the Push of a Button
Let's ramp up our GPS tracking skills with KML files and Google Earth. We'll make a tracker that logs location and allows us to visualize our steps with Google Earth.
ESP32 Relay Web Server
The goal of this project is to have a website hosted on an ESP32 that controls any relay controlled device connected to a local network and keeps a dynamically updated state of those devices.
EL Wire Pants
In this tutorial, we will sew standard electroluminescent (EL) wire to a pair of pants.
Modifying Your EL Wire Inverter
In this tutorial, we will modify the 12V EL wire inverter to power the EL Sequencer/EL Escudo Dos off a single power supply.
Using Home Assistant to Expand Your Home Automations
An introduction to Home Assistant, an open source home automation hub.
Displaying Your Coordinates with a GPS Module
This Arduino tutorial will teach you how to pinpoint and display your GPS coordinates with a press of a button using hardware from our Qwiic Connect System (I2C).
Keyboard Shortcut, Qwiic Keypad
A simple project using the Qwiic Keypad and the RedBoard Turbo to create your own custom hotkey-pad.
Wireless Gesture Controlled Robot
Control the RedBot wirelessly based on the movement of your hand using an accelerometer, Arduino, and XBees!
Wireless Glove Controller
Build a wireless glove controller with Arduinos to trigger an LED using XBees!
LED Gumball Machine
Hacking gumball machines to make the world a happier, blinkier place.
Build a Qwiic Jukebox that is Toddler Approved!
Follow this tutorial to build your own custom jukebox. Note, this is designed simple and tough for use primarily with toddlers. It's also a great introduction to SparkFun's Qwiic products!
Wireless RC Robot with Arduino and XBees
In this tutorial, we will expand on the SIK for RedBot to control the robot wirelessly with XBee radios! We'll explore a different microcontroller and wirelessly control the RedBot at a distance.
Computer Vision and Projection Mapping in Python
Use computer vision to detect faces and project images on top of them.
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.