The “Arduija” is an Arduino controlled Ouija board. It uses an x-y gantry made from Actobotics parts and stepper motors to spell out spooky phrases. Just in time for Halloween, this project combines some Actobotics parts, a couple of stepper motors, an Arduino dev board, some magnets (how do they work?!) and some other bits and pieces to create an X-Y table that is guaranteed to spook your friends.
This is the SparkFun RGB and Gesture Sensor, a small breakout board with a built in APDS-9960 sensor that offers ambient light and color measuring, proximity detection, and touchless gesture sensing. With this RGB and Gesture Sensor you will be able to control a computer, microcontroller, robot, and more with a simple swipe of your hand! This is, in fact, the same sensor that the Samsung Galaxy S5 uses and is probably one of the best gesture sensors on the market for the price.
This is the FLiR Dev Kit, a small and easy to assemble breakout for the Lepton® longwave infrared (LWIR) imager. With this kit you will be able to be able to bring FLiR’s thermal imaging reliability and power to your Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any ARM based development tool all in an easy to access breadboard friendly package. All you need to do to get this kit setup, simply attach the Lepton® imager module into the provided breakout, connect the headers, and you will be seeing in full darkness in no time!
The mbed Starter Kit (mSK) is a great way to get into user created projects created by ARM to assist with rapid prototyping on microcontrollers. The mSK, which utilizes the LPC1768 by ARM, includes everything you need to complete 10 circuits that will teach you how to create a USB host, draw text and shapes on an LCD, log temperature data, and more. We recommend that you do have some previous programming or electronics experience before using this kit.
In this week’s thrilling demo, Creative Technologist Nick Poole uses the LIDAR Lite – a compact, high performance laser range finder – to navigate a treacherous obstacle course that is at least 30% ceramic cats. The LIDAR Lite is a compact high performance optical distance measurement sensor from PulsedLight. The LIDAR Lite is ideal when used in drone, robot, or unmanned vehicle situations where you need a reliable and powerful proximity sensor but don’t possess a lot of space. All you need to communicate with this sensor is a standard I2C or PWM interface and the LIDAR Lite, with…
Behold the SparkFun Claw Machine! Focused around the Actobotics gripper claw, this contraption uses two camera slider modules and a few motors to dispense Valentine’s Day gifts and libations.
The MicroView is an amazingly small, Arduino compatible, OLED display module that everyone seems to be clamoring for. The SparkFun Inventor’s Kit for MicroView provides you not only with the MicroView module and its programmer but everything you need to hook up and experiment with multiple electronic circuits! With the MicroView SIK you will be able to complete 11 circuits that will teach you how to write code, read sensors, drive motors, and more while still being able to display information on the MicroView’s built in OLED screen. You won’t need any previous programming or electronics experience to use this…
The uArm is an Arduino-powered, 4-axis robot arm that has been modeled after industrial pallet packing and car building robots which can be set up and used straight off of your desktop. Each uArm is equipped with three digital servos at the base to control the basic movement of the arm and an additional mini servo attached to the end-effector that moves and rotates the object you are lifting with your chosen manipulator. We all know how much of a pain building robotic equipment can be, that’s why we have made sure to provide you with fully assembled versions of…
The SparkFun Servo Trigger is a small robotics board that simplifies the control of hobby RC servo motors. When an external switch or logic signal changes state, the Servo Trigger is able to tell an attached servo motor to move from position A to position B. To use the Servo Trigger, you simply connect a hobby servo and a switch, then use the on-board potentiometers to adjust the start/stop positions and the transition time. You can use a hobby servos in your projects without having to do any programming!
This large 8×32 pixel flexible WS2812 LED matrix is a great way to add an impressive amount of color while still being able to individually control each LED. We aren’t kidding around, that’s 256 individually addressable LEDs on a 320mm x 90mm flexible panel. You can create animations, games, or even incorporate them into a fun e-textiles project. On top of all that, thanks to its flexible backing, this LED Matrix can be bent and bowed to fit onto almost any curvy surface.
The SparkFun BlackBerry Trackballer Breakout gives you easy access to a trackball which measures up, down, left, and right movements, clicks on the board, as well as adding a bit of flair to your project with four built-in LEDs. The trackballer breakout can be hooked into an Arduino compatible device to provide you with an intuitive direction controller.
The CryptoShield is a dedicated security peripheral for the Arduino and was made in collaboration with a previous Hacker In Residence, Josh Datko. This shield adds specialized ICs that perform various cryptographic operations which will allow you to add a hardware security layer to your Arduino project. It also is a nice device for those performing embedded security research. Needless to say this is a great product for those of you who are interested in computer security!
The MiP Robotic Platform is the first self-balancing robot that you can drive, dance, plays games, battle with other MiPs, and that you can control via a compatible iOS or Android device. But did you know you can hack it? With the SparkFun ProMini-Pack you can access the robot’s built-in hacking port to add increased functionality and a miniature Arduino to your MiP. All you will need to do to get this pack integrated into your MiP are a few simple hardware modifications to the robot’s chassis. Once those modifications are complete you will have your very own ProMini attached…
The EdiBot is an Intel Edison-powered robot that uses a webcam to detect red objects and follows them. It uses SimpleCV in Python to filter images and look for patches of red. The Edison is attached to an Arduino Block, which controls the motors on the Rover 5 chassis, and a Base Block, which provides a USB port for the webcam. The EdiBot will turn and face red objects and then drive toward them until the object takes up a certain number of pixels in the image. If the red object is too large (in the image), the EdiBot will…
The digital multimeter (DMM) is an essential tool in every electronic enthusiasts arsenal.
SparkFun’s Creative Engineer, Shawn Hymel, teaches us how to solder castellated vias.