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.
Pi Servo pHAT (v2) Hookup Guide
July 11, 2019
This hookup guide will show you how to connect and use the Pi Servo pHAT.
IoT Weight Logging Scale
May 9, 2018
This tutorial will show you how to make a scale that logs your weight to a custom website on the Internet. The principles can be extrapolated to any type of data.
Vox Imperium: Stormtrooper Voice Changer
October 25, 2016
Add some flair to your Imperial uniform by changing your voice using a Teensy 3.2 and Prop Shield.
Origami Paper Circuits
May 26, 2015
A quick tutorial to get you started in the world of light up origami flowers.
Hackers in Residence - The ElectricBone
June 25, 2014
Drum machines and keyboards have been the standard for making digital music, but how do you make electronic music if you're trained to play the trombone? One of our Hackers in Residence, Carlos Mello, took it upon himself to find a solution to that very question.
Building Large LED Installations
July 16, 2015
Learn what it takes to build large LED installations from planning to power requirements to execution.
Modifying Your EL Wire Inverter
July 18, 2019
In this tutorial, we will modify the 12V EL wire inverter to power the EL Sequencer/EL Escudo Dos off a single power supply.
Qwiic Kit for Raspberry Pi Hookup Guide
July 4, 2019
Get started with the CCS811, BME280, VCNL4040, and microOLED via I2C using the Qwiic system and Python on a Raspberry Pi! Take sensor readings from the enviroment and display them on the microOLED, serial terminal, or the cloud with Cayenne!
EL Wire Pants
July 18, 2019
In this tutorial, we will sew standard electroluminescent (EL) wire to a pair of pants.
3D Printed Illuminated Wand Prop
November 29, 2018
In this tutorial, we will learn about how to create a theatrical prop for a performance by 3D printing a wand and adding an LED.
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!
Endless Runner Game
November 28, 2017
We make a simple side-scrolling endless runner game using parts from the SparkFun Inventor's Kit v4.0.
Clap On Lamp
November 28, 2017
Modify a simple desk lamp to respond to a double clap (or other sharp noise) using parts from the SparkFun Inventor's Kit v4.0.
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.
Measuring Internal Resistance of Batteries
May 5, 2016
Classroom STEM activity that has students build a battery from a lemon, measure the open and closed circuit voltages, and determine the battery's internal resistance.
EL Wire Hoodie
October 24, 2018
In this tutorial, we will sew standard electroluminescent (EL) wire to a hoodie.
Photon Remote Water Level Sensor
June 2, 2016
Learn how to build a remote water level sensor for a water storage tank and how to automate a pump based off the readings!
Displaying Your Coordinates with a GPS Module
April 30, 2019
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).
Wireless RC Robot with Arduino and XBees
March 12, 2019
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.
Arduino Wireless Communication via the Electric Imp
April 8, 2014
How to communicate between an Electric Imp and Arduino using serial.
Keyboard Shortcut, Qwiic Keypad
April 25, 2019
A simple project using the Qwiic Keypad and the RedBoard Turbo to create your own custom hotkey-pad.
OpenScale Applications and Hookup Guide
July 22, 2016
OpenScale allows you to have a permanent scale for industrial and biological applications. Learn how to use the OpenScale board to read and configure load cells.
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.