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.
BadgerHack: Gaming Add-On Kit
February 16, 2016
Make a Breakout clone with the BadgerHack Gaming Add-On Kit.
Using an LCD on the Edison
February 8, 2016
How to connect an LCD controlled by an ILI9341 driver to the Intel® Edison.
Interactive Smart Mirror
February 8, 2016
Build a smart mirror that displays weather data using the Intel® Edison.
Electronic E-craft Terrarium
January 21, 2016
A guest tutorial on an Electronic Terrarium from the Performative Sculpture class of Parsons DT.
Sound Reactive EL Wire Costume
December 31, 2015
Learn how to make your EL wire costumes sound reactive in this project tutorial.
Shapeoko Coaster Project
November 20, 2015
A step-by-step guide to cutting and engraving a coaster with the Shapeoko.
EL Wire Light-Up Dog Harness
October 30, 2015
Learn how to create a light-up dog harness using EL wire for when you need to take your four-legged friend for a walk in the dark.
Light Up Pennant with E-Textiles
September 17, 2015
Show your school spirit, geek pride, or fandom with a light up pennant using the LilyTwinkle or LilyPad Arduino.
LED Butterfly Pop Up Card
August 19, 2015
Craft an illuminated butterfly pop up card with copper tape, two LEDs, and a battery.
LED Robot Pop Up Card
August 19, 2015
Craft a paper circuit pop up card with a cycling RGB LED, battery, and copper tape.
Making Music with the FreeSoC2
August 14, 2015
Create a synth keyboard with the FreeSoC2 from SparkFun.
Planning a Wearable Electronics Project
August 13, 2015
Tips and tricks for brainstorming and creating a wearables project.
Adding a Timed Button to a Project
July 29, 2015
This tutorial will walk you through making a timed power controller for interactive projects. You will learn how to add an on button that will provide power to your project for an amount of time and then turn off again.
Building Large LED Installations
July 16, 2015
Learn what it takes to build large LED installations from planning to power requirements to execution.
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.
Origami Paper Circuits
May 26, 2015
A quick tutorial to get you started in the world of light up origami flowers.
Sound Page Guide
May 22, 2015
How to use the Lilypad MP3 Player and some Bare Conductive Paint to make a fandom silhouette sound trigger page.
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.
Bare Conductive Musical Painting
May 5, 2015
Learn how to make a musical painting using the Bare Conductive Touch Board and Conductive Paint.
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.
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.
LilyTiny Plush Monster
January 27, 2015
Craft a stuffed monster while exploring the LilyTiny preprogrammed microcontroller. This is a project based on the Plush Monster Activity created at MIT's High-Low Tech Lab by Emily Lovell, Jie Qi, and Natalie Freed.
Light-Up Valentine Cards
January 27, 2015
Light up your love with paper circuits - no soldering required!
Hacker in Residence: The Harmonic Skew Zoetrope
January 27, 2015
Check out Hacker in Residence, Jesse's awesome Harmonic Skew Zoetrope in this project tutorial.
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.