Getting Started with The SparkFun Blynk Board!

SparkFun Arduino Day April Fools Projects!

SparkFun Shapeoko Deluxe Kit Update

SparkFun Cherry MX Chorded Keyer

Cherry MX Blue mechanical keyboard switches are robust, reliable and have a really satisfying click. In this video, Creative Technologist Nick Poole shows you how he built a one-handed chord keyer with a handful of Cherry MX switches, a SparkFun Pro Micro, and some 3D-Printed parts.  

SparkFun E-Textile Fabric Origami!

In this video Creative Engineer Sarah using smocking to create three unique fabric origami E-Textiles projects; a light up Space Invader, a light up sound sensor, and some Xbee buzzer paging pins.  

Lulzbot Taz 6 Unboxing

In this video, SparkFun Creative Tech Nick Poole opens up and assembles the new Lulzbot Taz 6. Want to know exactly what comes in the box? Then this video is for you!   The LulzBot® TAZ 6 is the most reliable, easiest-to-use desktop 3D printer ever, featuring innovative self-leveling and self-cleaning, and a modular tool head design for flexible and multimaterial upgrades. This 3D printer is able to facilitate more consistent, higher-quality prints than ever.  

Google Science Journal App Kit from SparkFun!

What is Science Journal? Science Journal, a digital science notebook that helps kids and adults explore the world around them. With this app, you can record data from sensors on your Android phone or connected to an Arduino, take notes, and learn scientific processes like predicting, observing, and interpreting data. What are Science Journal kits? Science Journal kits are kits that support activities developed by Google together with the Exploratorium. Each kit includes supplies to build and measure your own wind spinners using the Science Journal app. You can also use the same kit for a new activity coming this…

Enginursday: Handheld Raspberry Pi FLiR Camera!

I’ve created a mobile, Pi-based FLiR camera for our engineering team to use for testing and troubleshooting. Really, I want to show the process of engineering rather than the product, so this week it’s a video!  

Make Your Own Printed Circuit Boards with SparkFun!

Making your own Printed Circuit Boards is fun and easy! Follow along as SparkFun creative technologist Nick Poole build a simple, single sided Arduino board using simple materials! Check out the link above for a detailed explanation and step by step instructions. Happy hacking!  

SparkFun Tinker Kit!

The SparkFun Tinker Kit (STK) is a great way to get started with programming and hardware interaction with the Arduino programming language. The STK is our newest version of the former SparkFun Mini Inventor’s Kit, blended with elements of our educator MESA kit. Each SparkFun Tinker Kit includes everything you need to complete 11 circuits that will teach you how to blink an LED, read sensors, drive servos, and more. You don’t need any previous programming or electronics experience to use this kit.   The online STK Experiment Guide (in the Documents section below) contains step-by-step instructions of how to…

Pi-Top Assembly Guide!

In this video, creative engineer Shawn takes you through the unboxing and setup of the green pi-top! The pi-top is a DIY laptop you build yourself that helps you start learning how to code, create awesome devices and take your knowledge to the next level. This Raspberry Pi powered laptop is an excellent resource to any budding hobbyist, student or intrigued user wanting to learn more about the capabilities of the credit card-sized development board. The only thing this kit doesn’t include is a speaker and its own Raspberry Pi; you’ll need to supply that on your own. We purposefully…

Enginursday Teensy Boom Drum Machine

The Teensy Boom is a drum machine built around the Teensy 3.2 microcontroller. The hardware is fairly simple. The heart of it is a Teensy 3.2 with the Audio adapter. The buttons and LEDs are attached to the processor via the SPI bus, using daisy-chained shift registers. Every otherwise unused ADC channel has a potentiometer on it, for a total of sixteen.   The enclosure is a combination of technologies. The control panels are made from laser-cut acrylic, while the wooden ends were milled with a Shapeoko.   The signal processing in TeenyBoom is built out of Teensy Audio modules….

SparkFun Battery Babysitter

The SparkFun Battery Babysitter is an all-in-one single-cell Lithium Polymer (LiPo) battery manager. It’s half battery charger, half battery monitor, and all you’ll ever need to keep your battery-powered project running safely and extensively.   The Battery Babysitter features a pair of Texas Instruments LiPo-management ICs: a BQ24075 battery charger and a BQ27441-G1A fuel gauge. The charger supports adjustable charge rates of up to 1.5A, as well as USB-compliant 100mA and 500mA options. It also features power-path management, guaranteeing power to your project even if the battery has died. The self-calibrating, I2C-based BQ27441-G1A measures your battery’s voltage to estimate its…

Johnny Five Inventor’s Kit!

The Johnny-Five Inventor’s Kit (J5IK) is your go-to source for developing projects using the Tessel 2 and the Johnny-Five programming framework. With the J5IK you will be able to build JavaScript-powered hardware by marrying common software language with powerful hardware. This kit includes everything you need to complete 14 circuits that will teach you how to control and read external sensors and displays, control motors, learn JavaScript, and much more. With the J5IK, you won’t need any previous programming or electronics experience to use this kit though if you do possess such skills they will certainly aid you. After using…

SparkGear 3D Printer Filament Test!

With all the different filaments on the market for consumer grade 3D Printers like the TAZ 6 from Lulzbot, it can be a real challenge choosing the right one for your application. Sure, you could read data sheets all day long, but wouldn’t you like to see some real world testing? Well look no further! Our crack team of “experts” have concocted a test to determine, beyond a shadow of a doubt, which material is truly fit to print!  

SparkFun MyoWare Muscle Sensor Kit

This is the MyoWare Muscle Sensor Development Kit, an Arduino-powered, electromyography (EMG) sensor kit that provides you with a MyoWare Muscle Sensor, each shield developed here at SparkFun, and everything you need to connect them all together.   The MyoWare LED Shield is designed to pair with the MyoWare Muscle Sensor. The blue 10-segment bar graph shows the magnitude of the measured signal. The more muscle activation measured, the higher up the board the lit LEDs will go. With this shield you will be provided with a visual representation of the signals provided by the MyoWare Muscle Sensor and an…

Raspberry Pi Network Stereo System

In this video, Nick takes us through the process of building a Raspberry Pi network stereo entirely from scratch! From stretching goat skins, to making stereo coils, to programming multiple Raspberry Pis to work in unison, this is one build you’ll want to check out!  

SparkFun Open Scale

The SparkFun OpenScale is a simple-to-use, open source solution for measuring weight and temperature. It has the ability to read multiple types of load cells and offers a simple-to-use serial menu to configure calibration value, sample rate, time stamp and units of precision.  

SparkFun MPU-9250

The SparkFun MPU-9250 IMU Breakout features the latest 9-axis MEMS sensor from InvenSense. Each of these 9DoF breakouts feature an MPU-9250 with a System in Package (SiP) that combines two chips: the MPU-6500, which contains a 3-axis gyroscope as well as a 3-axis accelerometer, and the AK8963, which features a 3-axis magnetometer. This breakout has been designed to be smaller than some of our other offerings to fit in smaller projects. However, if you plan to use a breadboard, or secure the IMU board to a project with something like epoxy, the mounting holes can be easily snapped off.  …

Pokemon Go Patches with SparkFun!

Show your team pride by building one of these Pokemon Go EL patches! Follow the link to the tutorial for all the parts and instructions you need to get started!