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If you want a high-end robotics platform that is easy to expand with it does not get better than goBILDA! GoBILDA is a complete build system designed for makers, students, and educators. From curated kits, to many structural alum...
The Infinity Mirror Kit V2 is a desktop display that creates a dazzling optical illusion - a tunnel of light that tears through space! The Infinity Mirror Kit V2 entered production in October 2018, and now ships with an Adaf...
Video gaming has evolved tremendously over the last decade, console games produce near real-life graphics, and playing with friends across the globe is easier than sending a text message. This is all well and good, but there are those of us...
The new Gizmos and Gadgets revision 2.0 from littleBits is here and we've decided to review the kit for any budding inventors (or inventor's parents) out there. The v1.0 kit was impressive enough, we were interested to see what littleBits c...
Now that we've taken a look at MakeBlock's beginner kit, the mBot (take a look at the previous article here), let's take our skills to the next level with the Ranger. The Ranger adds much more modularity and customisation to the kit. From e...
The Infinity Mirror Kit is a desk-top display that creates a dazzling optical illusion - a tunnel of light that tears through space! Note: This tutorial is for the Infinity Kit V1. We updated have updated to the Infinity Kit V2 as of ...
So you have just received your OctoPi kit and you are looking to get it up and running. All you need to do is grab out all the parts you received and around 20 minutes of time. To connect your OctoPi to the network you need to decide what ...
We had a lot of fun making this speed build video for the Paris Flyer CarouSol Kit by Solarbotics. If you aren't already familiar, Solarbotics makes a great line of DIY electronics kits made from laser cut materials. They range from quite s...
The Infinity Mirror Kit was made possible by all the people who backed our Kickstarter! Kits are where it's at. With our Desktop Infinity Mirror Kit you'll get to make something wonderful with your hands, all in the span ...
Introduction Welcome to the guide for the Makerverse Load Cell kit. With this hardware you will be able to make a set of scales capable of measuring weights up to 3kg with a precision as low as 0.1g! To follow along you will need: ...
Show of hands, who loves Raspberry Pi? We all do, and one of the most common questions we get asked is which Raspberry Pi kit is going to best suit my project, which one has the right components in it etc. So today we’re going to be l...
Now that we have dipped our toes into the Chibitronics environment, let's take a look at a more in-depth kit and see what kind of projects it offers. The Chibitronics STEM starter kit comes with: 1 Circuit Stic...
The aptly named Ultimate Kit 2.0 is the final kit in the line-up of educational robots from Makeblock. With over 160 independent mechanical parts and modules, the Ultimate Kit 2.0 answers the call for almost limitless creative freedom. Matc...
Who should follow this tutorial? If this is your first experience with Raspberry Pi, and you're using a starter kit for a Raspberry Pi Zero W, then this tutorial is for you. We'll plug everything into where it needs to be, install an ...
"Yes, I would recommend this a friend." That's the verdict of 90% of people who pick up the Rule your Room Kit from littleBits. We love it so much, we're most definitely recommending it to you and your family. But you don't need to take ...
IntroductionWelcome to the guide for the Makerverse Audio Kit. This kit will allow you to build a music player, a musical keyboard, and a sound effect soundboard! To follow along you will need: The Makerverse Audio Kit The Makerverse ...
IntroductionWelcome to the guide for the Makerverse Essentials Kit. This kit provides the fundamental hardware required to construct many of the kits in the Makerverse Kits range along with providing hardware which will continue to be usef...
Makeblock is a company with education at the forefront of its priorities. They introduce mechanical design, and software development to robotics in a way analogous to Lego, that is to say, they aim to educate the student by encouraging crea...
Hey there, are you loving the vintage gaming experience that is RetroPie? Wait, you haven’t heard of RetroPie. No! You’d better go and check out our Gaming Kit for RetroPie tutorial ASAP. Oh good, you now know the awesomeness t...
So, after almost a week of researching, cross-referencing, double checking, and image hunting, I’m excited to show you guys my take on the history of Arduino, and the evolution of the Arduino hardware into what it is today. With so m...
If you’ve ever built a robot with wheels, or any motorised parts really, you’ll have come across the issue of needing to drive it from your microcontroller. Because a standard chip is only able to output a small amount of curren...
Looking for the best way to get into robotics? Checkout Makeblock's mBot. This all in one robot is the perfect introduction to basic robotics, with its simple yet robust design, mBot is built with education in mind. The mBot kits modul...
RetroPie is a fantastic system, and once you map your input device, it will take those mappings and apply them to all of the emulators on RetroPie. If you’re new to RetroPie and want to find out a bit more, take a read of our Gaming ...
In another tutorial we looked at the Photon board from Particle, and whilst Wi-Fi is awesome for many applications, it restricts you to a localised connection. Particle have once again come to rescue and provided us with a cellular solution...
How many young people are able to assemble a computer, from scratch? Sure, adults can do it. There are even IT professionals and avid PC enthusiasts that take it to the next level; customizing everything down to the color of the Power LED a...
A radio transceiver is a device that can both transmit and receive radio signals, making it the perfect tool for communication on the go and remote projects! The PiicoDev Transceiver™ is a 915MHz radio that can send short messages up...
The wires in our circuits are often forgotten when we are planning our next big project, but the right connectors will a make your project look more professional and a lot easier to work with! In this tutorial, we are going to have a quick ...
The :MOVE MINI allows you to turn your micro:bit into a simple robot! In this guide, we will give you some tips and tricks for assembling the :MOVE mini. This is a DIY assembly item and takes 30-60 minutes to fully assemble. There is a grea...
Kits are a pretty nifty idea for someone starting out in maker electronics. For this beginner-friendly article, we are just going to take a look at three of our great kits for the Arduino Uno. All three are all solder-free electronics ...
Time to flex some of the coding muscles we have gained. Using the knowledge we have with Python, this guide will go through the creation of interesting and dynamic graphic animations. The first codes in this tutorial are generators for geo...
What a glorious time we live in, where, as technology continues to evolve, so too does the ability to learn more about it and get hands on with concepts that would otherwise be out of reach, especially for young minds. Today, we’re go...
Educators everywhere are lining up to have the most recent, high-tech teaching tools to introduce STEM learning in the classroom. With the rate that modern technology is advancing, educators can often feel overwhelmed with the sheer number ...
In the Spring of 2012, a tech-gadget company called Evollve Inc. was founded with the goal of creating innovative ways for tech-savvy youngsters to play, learn and interact in a digitally expanding world. There's absolutely nothing wrong wi...
LittleBits have launched a global network of organizations to share and spread the word of littleBits. It's all to put the power of electronics in the hands of everyone. The 'chapters' are simply locations such as maker spaces and libraries...
The Raspberry Pi is an amazing piece of technology, and it’s the platform of choice for all kinds of projects. Something that makes it great is the integration of complex hardware that is taken care of for you. For example, if you wan...
One of the great things about the 8Bitdo controllers is the fact that you can upgrade the firmware as new builds are released by 8Bitdo, allowing for future compatibility with various platforms. The process for updating the 8Bitdo controlle...
Espressif is a constantly ground-breaking company that produces lots of really cool development modules which includes the ESP32. ESP32 Boards, ESP32 Dev-Kits, and ESP32 Modules (the part that gets soldered to the Board/PCB) are all about ...
Welcome to the Sparkfun Inventors Kit (SIK) Ver 4.0 tutorial page. In this beginner’s tutorial, we will explore the basics of microcontroller programming and circuit electronics through a series of projects that are provided in the&nb...
The quality and features in entry-level 'scopes has made a huge jump in recent years - In a nutshell, the 4-channel Rigol DS1054Z oscilloscope delivers tremendous bang for your buck. The DS1054Z is so well outfitted, I'd b...
The 4-channel Rigol DS1104Z oscilloscope is a 100MHz powerhouse. The DS1104Z is almost identical to its little brother, the DS1054Z, but brings to the table twice the bandwidth. The 1000Z line of oscilloscopes from Rigol is one...
Today, we’re looking at the 8Bitdo NES30 Pro. It’s a newer controller from 8Bitdo and one that I’m really excited about. It’s an interesting gamepad, with the styling and form factor taking cues from both the classic...
What good is a robot if it can’t interact with the environment around it? Sensors are the backbone of almost every electronics project as they allow your program to make decisions based on external stimuli. We’ve got sensors for...
Perhaps you’ve read our Gaming Kit for RetroPie tutorial on how to setup a RetroPie console and wondered what’s required to actually build one, or heard about it and not been sure what you need. Well, today is your lucky day bec...
Welcome to the final Project Set of the Sparkfun Inventors Kit! This Project Set focuses on Robotics with the final Circuit being an Autonomously Driving Vehicle! New components introduced in this tutorial are: DC Motor/Gearbox Mo...
A soldering station is a multipurpose power soldering device designed for electronic components soldering and they find homes on any modern makers desk. They also are widely used in electronics repair workshops, electronic laboratories, in ...
Arduino Projects with an LCD (Using Sparkfun RedBoard) Welcome to Project Set 4 in the Sparkfun Inventors Kit Guide! In this tutorial, we will look into using Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD's) to print data. This ability allows us to remotel...
Now that your RedBoard is set up on its baseplate and the Arduino IDE is installed on your computer, we can begin our first Arduino-based Project Set! The First Project Set explores light and the type of electrical component we will be usin...
The Rigol DP-832 is a 3-channel, benchtop power supply suitable for a serious maker, makerspace or product developer. In this video I'll take you on a tour of the supply's operation and give my two cents on things I like and dislike. ...
The 2-channel Rigol DS1052E oscilloscope is beloved by many as a really decent, cheap 'scope for the home electronics lab. While its features pale next to those hosted by more modern offerings, the 1052 packs the basics into a reliable...
A new day is upon us, and it is glorious. After all, it’s not often that a new Raspberry Pi board is released. As you’re probably aware, the current iteration of the popular Raspberry Pi microcomputer is the Raspberry Pi 3. It h...
To better yourself for future programming skylarking let me welcome you to the next step of understanding Python. Loops are among the most basic yet also the most powerful features in programming. Utilised by all modern programming language...
Cameras in combination with artificial intelligence create arguably the most powerful sensor you can ever put on a microcontroller. So that’s exactly what we will do here with an ESP32-CAM Development Board that sports an inbuilt 2MB...
There are a ton of electrical wire connectors, too many to elaborate on in a single guide, however there are a couple of connectors that as a maker you will come across. Often when starting your way into the electronics world all you need ...
One of the swell things about 3D printers is being able to lay fabric onto a build plate and create components directly on top of or embedded with fabric material through them. This lets you easily sew designs onto clothes or create interes...
Welcome to the Python Workshop, where you will learn everything you need to hit the ground running with the worlds most popular programming language Python. My name is Tim and am a passionate maker and cherish free exchange of knowledge. I ...
Welcome to 'Zero to Maker,' a workshop that will walk through and introduce a ton of tools and skills to help Makers of all skill levels! In this series, Jaryd and Liam will be completing projects as a part of the 2024 Fab Academy and...
When you first look at the Photon, it’s staggering that such a small device could possess the incredible functionality that it does, but not only does it bring an impress spec sheet to the table, but the true power is unlocked in the ...
If you’re in the education sector or keep up to date with the latest STEM learning tools, then you’ve most likely heard of Sphero. It’s one of the most popular educational products which fuses robotics with imagination and...
[Update – Until there is correct compatibility of OPEN-CV with the new Raspberry Pi ‘Bullseye’ OS I highly recommend at this stage flashing and using the previous Raspberry Pi ‘Buster’ OS onto your Mi...
In this guide, we'll be learning about sensors that measure inertial movement, how they work, how to choose the right sensor type, and how to get the most out of their readings. Hardware mentioned in this guide: PiicoDev Accelerometer ...
The latest Circuit Playground board, the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express comes equipped with an onboard IR transmitter and receiver! This can be used to communicate with TVs and other household devices. You can also use infrared remote ...
So you’ve got your Raspberry Pi, you’ve got your sensors and external components and you’re ready to build a world-conquering robot beyond compare. But hang on a minute, the sensor you have only operates on 5V and you vagu...
Arduino Projects with Motion (Using Sparkfun RedBoard) Welcome to the Third Project Set from the Sparkfun Inventors Kit V4.0 Guide! In this tutorial, we will explore the operation of a Servo Motor and an UltraSonic Sensor in combination wi...
From breadboarding to soldering, the way we connect our components is critical to ending up with a working circuit. Before the new-age tech startups like littleBits and innoBits came along with their magnetic clip-together building blocks, ...
Infrared (IR) is a great way of using non-visible light to control electronics, and there are a bunch of modules that we can use with our Arduino. However, what do we mean when we are talking about infrared and electronics? Well, IR remotes...
Hi there! If you’re wondering what all the hype and interest surrounding Raspberry Pi is about, you’ve come to the right place. The original Raspberry Pi debuted in 2012, and is a credit card sized computer that has ports for U...
One of the big questions in DIY electronics circles is which DIY platform is going to be the best for me? And the two biggest platforms right now is Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Whilst at first glance they might seem the same; circuit board ...
Geophones are devices that generate electric signals proportional to the particle velocity in a sound/compression wave. More simply a Geophone is a super low frequency microphone for the ground. Geophones are used around the world to measu...
Servo motors are extremely useful in so many different applications; it’d be good to learn how to control them! Solenoid and DC motor control have been shown already; for the most part, they are both pretty straightforward (only powe...
Pimironi Picade Pan-Tilt Hat lets you mount and control a pan-tilt module right on top of your Raspberry Pi palm-sized computer. Setting up a Pan and Tilt system has never been easier with absolutely no soldering required! Pe...
Today we’re going to take a look at how to get started and setup that fancy Raspberry Pi you’ve just bought. If you’re still not sure exactly how the Raspberry Pi works, or what it can do, check out ‘What is a Ra...
Hello and welcome to another tutorial on the joys of RetroPie. Today we’re going to look at making RetroPie even better. If you’ve had the chance to play around with the RetroPie system, you’ll have noticed that whilst it ...
8Bitdo controllers are the best retro-gaming controllers you can buy. You could pick one up for your RetroPie gaming system so you can relax back on your lounge with your wireless gaming controller. We did a great write up on the process of...
Ah prototyping, the backbone of maker electronics, well really all electronics. Any successful device, product, or idea doesn’t just appear as a finished concept, it goes through stages of product and one of those is prototyping. In f...
ECHO…echo…echo…echo… We’ve all had fun shouting into a cave or large space and hearing our voice coming back to us at some point during our childhood. And if you’re like me, a fully grown adult who...
Force-sensitive resistors (FSR) are remarkable electrical components and are proper unsung heroes in the Makers World. Name me a better variable touch input device which has basically no moving parts, all whilst being available in such a t...
With winter currently in full swing, there's a particularly annoying 3D printing problem that is rearing its ugly head, Warping. For those who don't know, warping is what happens when parts of a printed model shrink due to cold drafts acros...
Project Set 2 – Sound Welcome to the second Project Set from the Sparkfun Inventors Kit V4.0 Guide! In our last Project Set, we explored the basics of the Arduino IDE, some electrical and electronic concepts and looked at vario...
Life’s better in colour right? Then why are you still using boring old regular LEDs in your project, when you could be using addressable RGB LEDs. Now LEDS that have Red, Green, and Blue integrated in a single package are nothing new,...
Have you heard of Makey Makey? If not, you’re about to have your mind blown! Makey Makey is an incredible way to bring imagination, creativity, and technology together. If you’re not sure what Makey Makey is, check out our Let's...
This guide will teach you how to control up to 992 5V Servos through the GPIO pins on your Raspberry Pi! But more practically, without stacking multiple HATS (Hardware Attached on Top), this guide will teach exactly how to control sixt...
In case you haven’t heard, the Internet of Things (IoT) is upon us. More and more devices everyday are being connected to the internet to communicate to people and other devices. Particle have seen the DIY/maker community’s desi...
It is long overdue. Time for a table with all the info comparing every generation and style of Raspberry Pi from the genesis to now! We have come a long way to have our hands on the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 8 GB so it is time we give you the ...
This tutorial works great for Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, however if you need a Video Kiosk/Digital Sign for the newer Pi Models, we've written this guide on how to do it. One of the most requested projects for Raspberry Pi is how to set ...
This guide will help you get started with a PiicoDev® Servo Driver module. We'll take a tour of the module and walk through some examples to drive common servos. Servo motors are integrated motors that contain their own power circuitr...
Welcome to the benchmarking arena! We are going to put eleven microcontrollers to the test and see how they hold up against a set of fiendish tasks that we devised to push them beyond their limits. We chose most of our candidates based on t...
Media centres are everywhere nowadays, from smart TV’s with built in media apps, to standalone lounge room boxes to watch all your favourite shows on. With the new features found on the Raspberry Pi 3, it makes sense for it to become...
Part of the joy that is Raspberry Pi is getting stuck into it at a slightly lower level and finding out exactly what you can do with it if you take a look under the hood. One of the most popular experiments to do with your Raspberry Pi is o...
On and Off. It’s the basis for all electronics, from the most sophisticated computer network to a simple circuit. Electronics is all about using one thing, to control another, input and output, on and off. Even the transistors inside ...
The multimeter is one of the essential tools in your electronics toolkit. These battery operated devices combine several measurement functions into one easy to use device. You can get Analog or Digital multimeters, each displaying your meas...
Addressable RGB LED strips are one maker favourite that can really spruce up any project or even be the star attraction of one. These strips allow you to select the colour, brightness and state of any LED in a long strip and can make for ...
After some serious touch time your LulzBot 3D Printer and the quick print options in Cura 2, it's more than likely that you want to make more specific changes to the way 3D Models are printed. Whether it be, changing the support type and st...
By default, FFF/FDM 3D Printers require the 3D Models they print to grow up from the Print bed at an angle of 45 or more. This is by far the biggest limitation of all 3D Printers. To print models that don't follow that rule, and have parts ...
Pycom is a constantly groundbreaking company which produces a lot of really cool development boards and expansion shields. They have a large focus on multiple network connectivity, particularly in regards to low power, long-distance informa...
We get a lot of interest from parents and educators surrounding littleBits and innobits. Especially the difference between the two products. Both are magnetically connected electronic building blocks. Both products empower people to invent ...
In August of 2014 Shanghai-based chip manufacturer, Espressif, released a ultra-cheap Serial to Wi-Fi chip called the ESP-01. At the heart of the ESP01 was an ESP8266 chip broken out into the 8 pins needed to program it via a microcontrolle...
So, you’re looking for the right way to power your breadboard? You’ve found that your Arduino Uno just doesn’t quite have the juice to power up your circuit. It's likely that the microcontroller can output around 400mA whe...
Fused filament fabrication and transparent prints! No, surely you mean SLA prints. And true you can get excellent transparent prints effectively using SLA however consumer-grade fused filament fabrication can be mistaken for glass when corr...
Now I'm not talking about a delivery service - I'm talking about an Uninterruptable Power Supply for your Raspberry Pi 4. So if your Raspberry Pi project needs to be powered all the time relying solely on the mains power system may leave y...
This guide will demonstrate exactly how to control Standard Stepper Motors and DC Motors with a Raspberry Pi Single-Board Computer. To do this as seamlessly as possible we will utilise a HAT. HAT stands for Hardware Attached on Top. HAT bo...
Hello and welcome to our tutorial where we a look at all things LED. Now first of all, what is an LED? LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and is an electronic component used to convert electrical energy to light energy. This process is cal...
In this guide, we'll learn what a Servo is, when we might use one, how to choose a Servo, and finally how to use one with a Raspberry Pi Pico. To follow along you'll need: A Positional Servo, such as the Feetech FS90 Micro Servo A Con...
Makey Makey is a compact circuit board which allows you to create circuits using anything you like and connect them up to a computer. You use alligator clips to connect things to the Makey Makey, and then your Makey Makey connectors to a co...
Raspberry Pi Compute Modules have developed in tandem with the many generations of Raspberry Pi single-board computers. These boards are in every right a microprocessor just like their bigger cousins however they are a very different form f...
This is an update to an older guide done so that we can provide you with the fastest, most modern, and best way to set up your system. Nothing beats bright shiny colourful lights and this guide demonstrates the fastest and most customizab...
Similar to how bats echo-locate and how submarines use sonar, the PiicoDev® Ultrasonic Rangefinder uses sound waves to measure the distance to an object. It sends out a high-pitched sound wave, which bounces off of the object and comes...
The latest Circuit Playground board, the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express comes equipped with an onboard IR transmitter and receiver! This can be used to communicate with TVs and other household devices. You can also use infrared remote ...
[Update – Until there is correct compatibility of OPEN-CV with the new Raspberry Pi ‘Bullseye’ OS I highly recommend at this stage flashing and using the previous Raspberry Pi ‘Buster’ OS onto y...
In this article, we'll program a Micro:bit v2 using a web browser. We'll connect a Micro:bit to our computer, open python.microbit.org and begin coding our first script. Contents What You'll Need Connect your Micro:bit Open the Progr...
If you ever needed a performance boost when running Machine Learnt AI Systems (like facial recognition) with a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer then I have a solution for you. The OAK-D Lite. The Oak-D Lite is the Leatherman Multi-tool o...
This will be an overview, initial setup and first print guide for the Ultimaker 2 and Ultimaker 2 Extended . Quick links for the contents of this guide is seen below. Printer Overview Printer Characteristics ...
Resistors are the hardworking underdogs of the electrical circuit world. You have probably added a 4.7k or 330-ohm resistor into your circuit without thinking about why we use those values, let alone what the resistor is doing. We are going...
The Micro:bit has the ability to measure temperature by sensing the temperature of the silicon die inside the main CPU. This works because the Micro:bit runs cold, and the temperature of the CPU is usually a good approximation of ...
Have you ever used an Arduino board, and wanted to hook it straight up to a JST connected LiPo battery but knew it wouldn’t work? Or maybe you wanted a microcontroller with built-in wireless capabilities? Well, Adafruit has developed...
The ESP8266 is the Serial to Wi-Fi SOC gaining steam back in August of 2014, no doubt you've heard of it; if not used one yourself. Since then, hundreds of IoT devices were built on this originally-undocumented device. With those projects a...
There are so many types of cameras modules and lenses that are plug-and-play for Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers and that number is steadily increasing. From day to night, you can keep track, photograph, and record your surrou...
Let's unlock Biometric Control on our Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers! Biometric Technology uses unique physical or behavioral attributes that are individual to each person and not (easily) replicable. Extraordinarily everyone on Earth...
The Makey Makey introduces the concept of using everday objects like fruit, lead pencil drawings, play dough etc. to interact with your computer via USB. The Makey Makey acts like a HID device over USB, which means that it behaves just like...
Time to create a Little Red Advertisement Devouring Monster. This will be a self-hosted, network-wide, ad-blocking system running on a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer. It will also stop access to malware sites and phishing websites. Fur...
Remote control of your 3D printer is a particularly appealing concept, especially if you've been forced into printing via USB in the past. Using your new 3D printer should be as simple as plugging it in, uploading some G-Code and pressing '...
This guide will teach you exactly how to use a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer to independently control 4 relays. A Relay is an electrically operated switch. This is all possible thanks to the PiRelay V2 HAT from SB Components. These re...
With the newest update to Raspberry Pi OS (Debian Version 11 - nicknamed ‘Bullseye’) there have been some changes to the terminal commands which control attached cameras. This is one of the biggest changes with the new up...
This guide will demonstrate exactly how to control any large DC Motors that we stock with a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer, through code or through a Bluetooth Controller. To clarify (in my mind) a large DC Motors runs at 12+ Volt...
Want to setup a wireless XBee network between some Arduinos and your PC? We're going to show you how. We will be using Series 1 XBee modules alongside some XBee Explorer USB modules from Sparkfun to set up our own Personal Area Network (PAN...
The Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ (I’ll be calling it the Pi 3+ for short) is an update to the existing Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and was released on Wednesday 14th March 2018. It has some very interesting changes: The Broadcom BCM2837 has ...
[Note - Terminal Commands talked about here have been superseded with the new 'Bullseye' Raspberry Pi OS. Link here for new 'Bullseye' camera commands. If you want to use the commands found on this page download and flash the old 'Bu...
The Adafruit Circuit Playground Express comes equipped with an onboard microphone that is capable of sensing both amplitude and frequency. This tutorial will walk through a quick sketch using CircuitPython to turn the lights on the board in...
Welcome to our beginners tutorial on analog electronics. Living in the digital age that we do, it’s easy to disregard the world of discrete analog components, however these concepts form the basis for everything from your mobile phon...
Let's do some creative projects to get familiar with the GlowBit™ rainbow and micro:bit. The animation runs for 10 seconds, and can be started by pressing either of the micro:bit's buttons In this guide we will: Wi...
Layer Exposure Time is the crucial parameter that when dialed in will change average 3D resin printed components into awesome, crispy, final results that capture every single detail of the CAD model. As a general rule for Normal Layer ...
After lovingly crafting your project on a Raspberry Pi, you might want to share it with the world. The easiest way is of course just to publish a list of the commands that you executed to get everything up and running. For complex proj...
Dual-extrusion printing is an absolute treat and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) as a support structure is truly worth a celebration! You can produce immensely detailed models with a ton of supports and not be concerned about removal. Just immerse ...
Interested in creating designs to be laser cut? In this tutorial, we will learn how to use Gimp and Inkscape to convert a graphic image to a vector image that you can cut on a laser cutter! In order for the job control software to turn you...
The Adafruit Circuit Playground Express comes equipped with an analog light sensor, but it can be used for much more than just sensing light or darkness! The light sensor has a similar spectral response to the human eye. Its connected to an...
Introduction This guide covers how to connect the Makerverse Micro SD Card Adapter to a Raspberry Pi Pico and program a basic data logging script in MicroPython. To follow along, it's best to have: A Makerverse Micr...
Every Micro:bit has the ability to measure visible light, but what about UV light? Imagine that you are growing a plant on the window sill in a well-lit room. Does your plant have enough light? Plants need UV light to photosynthesize e...
Each and every day it has become easier to print the natural and human-made world around us. So, if you ever worried that you would run out of things to 3D print fear not! There are many ways of producing 3D models and most of these me...
Hello and welcome to our tutorial on using rotary encoders. Today we’re going to be taking a look at what is a rotary encoder, how does it work, why we would use it over other sensory inputs and creating code to use them. Rotary encod...
The Micro:bit is great for small portable projects like a soil moisture sensor. In this tutorial, we will walk through how to program a Micro:bit to make a reliable and consistent soil moisture sensor that will give consistent readings. The...
In this tutorial, we will look at the basics of Solenoids and how they work. Then we will design a small circuit that can drive a Solenoid from the input/output pins on your Arduino board. We covered a whole bunch of rotational motion co...
How does your workspace look? Could it be tidier? I know that mine always could be, but with the daily addition of different tools, components, boards and general tech, it can be hard to keep on top of it all. Then when it comes to working ...
What is MQTT? MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport) is a simple and ‘lightweight’ way for internet-connected devices to send each other messages. This is important for home-automation because devices need to send messag...
Note: With the rollout of TTNv3, the "Setup" section of this guide no longer works - but we're keeping it here for posterity. Let us know on our forums if you need help getting started with the new method. Since you’ve got your new P...
The Mooshimeter is one of our favorite multimeters here at Core Electronics! If you haven't heard about them before, then take a quick look at our review. One of the most popular features of the Mooshimeter is the ability to log voltag...
Electroluminescent wire, often referred to as EL wire, is a thin copper wire coated in phosphor which will produce light when alternating current is applied to it. The light emits a similar feel as if it were a neon light or ...
8Bitdo have brought joy to many retro-gaming enthusiasts with their SF30 Pro Bluetooth controller. It’s a fantastic piece of gear, and one of our favourite controllers to use with a RetroPie setup. We’ve covered off on our thoug...
What do we mean when we talk about the "Internet of Things"? Mostly we're talking about tiny computers that have access to the internet and do some useful work. Unlike the computers we're used to holding in our hands, they don't have a touc...
NiMH is an abbreviation for Nickel-Metal Hydride. NiMH batteries are some of the most common rechargeable batteries we see in consumer electronics. Due to their superior chemistry, NiMH batteries have taken over Nickel Cadmium Battery appli...
It’s always a fun day when you get hands-on with a device as cool as the 8Bitdo Zero Bluetooth gamepad. 8Bitdo are known are for their re-creations of classic gaming controllers such as the SFC30 and NES30 which bring the magic of NES...
Note: With the rollout of TTNv3, the "Setup" section of this guide no longer works - but we're keeping it here for posterity. Let us know on our forums if you need help getting started with the new method. The two main standards at work in...
Alright, so we know that Bluetooth is awesome, and if you don’t, take a read of our Introduction to Bluetooth tutorial. But how exactly do we go about implementing Bluetooth communication in our projects? Well, fortunately for us, th...
What We'll AchieveThis guide will help you set up a Plant_io controller to automatically irrigate a plant of your choice. This example focuses on germinating seeds, but this is only one option. Along the way we'll: Assemble a hardware pl...
So, you might have the best project in the world, an amazing idea and design, but no matter how clever your circuitry or how advanced your prototype is, unless you can power your project correctly, it all counts for nothing. Often you will ...
In November of 2017, our friends over at LulzBot released a major software update to their Slicing software, Cura. In this tutorial, we will look at what Cura is and does, the process of installing Cura 2 onto a PC already running Cura 21.x...
Well hello there, if you’ve been looking at the amazing line-up of Saleae gear and wondered how to get started with it all, then you’ve come to the right place. Today we’re going to take a look at getting your Saleae setup...
Whenever you want to print larger than your 3D printer build space you are going to find yourself wanting to combine 3D printed parts together. Furthermore, as you wrap your head around 3D printing, you learn to save on filament by printing...
Flawless high-quality audio output on a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer! All is achieved by the IQaudio DAC+ HAT. This dedicated DAC lets you enjoy high-quality, distortion-free, artifact-free, low noise, and high-bitrate audio playback...
One of the most critical parts of a successful 3D print is the correct material choice and through its careful consideration you will get the best result for the final component you had in mind. Ultimaker has a wide range of 3D printi...
It has finally happened, they figured it out! The new frontier of Colour Electronic Paper is here and I'm very impressed. People have been demanding this ever since the first E-Paper readers hit the market in the noughties. That black and ...
Is it hot in here, or is it just my Raspberry Pi? A Raspberry Pi sitting on a desk doing nothing is kind of boring. However, a Raspberry Pi that can measure the temperature and make decisions based off that information is awesome! The Rasp...
This guide is all about doing clever things in a software to get the best results out of a 3D printer. The main focus is turning intricate CAD files into a format that you can print without small details or thin walls being neglected b...
Welcome to the Arduino Workshop, where you'll be able to follow our guided course which covers everything you'll need to know in order to create your own Arduino projects and become a leveled up maker. My name is Sam and along with being ...
Raspberry Pi right? It’s amazing! Raspberry Pi has taken the world by storm and changed the way that people think about computing. The Raspberry Pi 3 builds on this with some amazing new features, however one feature that is still ab...
Amid all the new controllers that 8Bitdo have brought out and the mountain of Raspberry Pi cases and accessories that are available, we’ve bundled everything together to create the ultimate RetroPie gaming console. If you’ve bee...
Of the many great objects you can create using any 3D printer lithophanes are definitely up there. Traditionally lithophanes were an etched or moulded artwork created on a very thin translucent porcelain that can been seen clearly only...
So we’ve taken a look at what Bluetooth is in our Introduction to Bluetooth tutorial, and hopefully, you’ve found our Choosing a Bluetooth Module For Your Project tutorial useful in deciding which Bluetooth module is right ...
The Micro:bit is a feature-packed development board that’s perfect for the classroom or the beginner programmer. Each Micro:bit has a built-in radio that can transmit and receive signals sent from other Micro:bits. The radio has a ran...
So you have a 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) file and you want to 3D print it with a resin printer. Then look no further, you have come to the right place. So before you can print your CAD model we are going to need a sliced file of th...
Welcome to the 3D Printing Workshop! I'm Aidan from Core Electronics and in this workshop we are going to take a hands-on journey into the exciting technology that is 3D printing. I have personally spent the past 12 months immersing mysel...
Let's get started with the PiicoDev® OLED Module SSD1306. In this guide, we'll connect the PiicoDev OLED to our Raspberry Pi Pico and get it working with some example code to display text, shapes, and animations. To f...
The Raspberry Pi 5 was announced just a few weeks ago and across the internet, we have seen some recurring questions, so in this article, we tried our best to answer some of them. Contents: Overclocking Questions Cooling Quest...
This is going to be easier than you thought (or at least much easier than I thought)! Today we will create a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B UPS PiJuice System that will be completely powered by a Solar Panel. It's coming up to winter over here so I...
Introduction The Makerverse Motor Driver has been updated to a v20 design which now features a 5V output pin instead of the VM pin. Some images and in-video descriptions in this guide may be outdated This guide covers the use of the Maker...
Let's get started with the PiicoDev® OLED Module SSD1306. In this guide, we'll connect the PiicoDev OLED to our Raspberry Pi Pico and get it working with some example code to display text, shapes, and animations. To ...
Let's get started with the PiicoDev® OLED Module SSD1306. In this guide, we'll connect the PiicoDev OLED to our Raspberry Pi and get it working with some example code to display text, shapes, and animations. To follo...
Welcome to the C Programming Workshop for Makers! Here you'll be able to follow along with our series of easily digestible videos that cover everything you'll need to know to on your way with C programming and start making awesome projects....
Speed or Perfection? That choice is what an understanding of Layer Heights whenever Resin 3D printing is going to provide you. Any Traditional Resin 3D Printer worth its salt will let you print with Layer Heights between 10 Micron to 100 Mi...
It is time for an Airplane Tracking Raspberry Pi! The final setup here will let you personally collect data on the exact whereabouts of airplanes over 400km away. It will update one to four times each minute. Be passenger planes, cargo air...
Welcome to the MicroPython for micro:bit workshop! This workshop is aimed at makers who want to start programming with MicroPython, we will be using the micro:bit as it is very easy to use so we can cover the important concepts that will ap...
Welcome to the Raspberry Pi Workshop for Beginners! Here you'll be able to follow along with our series of bite-sized videos that cover everything you'll need to know to get started with your Raspberry Pi, and start making awesome project...
This project has been a long and tricky one for me, I purchased my robot arm kit from Jaycar many years ago with the intention of controlling it from the start. I used to work with industrial robots, so when I saw this robot kit for sale I...
Introducing to you today, the Quadbeest, the next evolutionary step in the Strandbeest genealogy. It seemed to be about time for Strandbeests to evolve to take over the air, so I made it happen. Able to be controlled over a kilometre in the...
My son really wanted one of the mini NES when they were released, however he missed out. I already knew that you could use a raspberry pi as an arcade emulator, so I thought why not build him one.
I grew up playing old arcade machi...
I grew up playing old arcade machi...
This was an attempt to build a autonomous robot that could follow a person or bike while carrying tools, equipment or water. This project used a Raspberry Pi3 and Wild Thumper All-Terrain Chassis.Here's a video of the build: There's a re...
Since I was young, I've always loved to explore. Over the years, I've tinkered with RC cars and played with planes, which were always plenty of fun. But I always dreamed of going out further - out into the real world, far beyond the confine...
The UNITRAC (UNIversal TRACtion system) is a simple 3D printable conversion for the Black Gladiator-Tracked chassis, It’s designed to transform the large wheelbase platform into a self-contained propulsion system that has all the torq...
In preparation for some Maker Faire's we were heading to last year, I wanted to combine the awesomeness of the Makey Makey platform, with the fun that is RetroPie. For those who don't know the Makey Makey, it's a fantastic platform that all...
[Update – Until there is correct compatibility of NPM with the new Raspberry Pi ‘Bullseye’ OS I highly recommend at this stage flashing and using the previous Raspberry Pi ‘Buster’ OS onto your Micro-...
Converting a Mule into an articulated 4 wheel vehicle. A 'Mule' is/was a hand trolley with a motorised elevatable platform. What for? Just for fun, want to be able to control it using the R2D2 droid inventor app via LittleBits boards, why ...
The concrete body of the lamp (which, to my eye look a bit like a leek) is made is two halves. The 1st and 2nd halves are cast in 2 steps using the same mould twice. I had a few failed attempts at making the mould entirely from sta...
The concrete body of the lamp (which, to my eye look a bit like a leek) is made is two halves. The 1st and 2nd halves are cast in 2 steps using the same mould twice. I had a few failed attempts at making the mould entirely from sta...
We wanted to make a interactive display of the fun that can be had with DIY projects to take to Sydney Mini Maker Faire. We decided to do so by utilising the TinkerKit Braccio from Arduino.org, alongside some 3D Printing ingenuity, for an e...
Do you want a quick, easy, cheap RF remote control for your Raspberry Pi projects? Well, look no further than the front door! As you've probably got a half-duplex RF setup you've never considered using in a project before. Try this simple h...
As part of a larger home automation project, I wanted the ability to control some mains power outlets remotely. To achieve this, I interfaced the transmitter from an inexpensive 433MHz mains remote control kit with a raspberry pi zero w (vi...
The idea was to leverage the light transmitting properties of clear acrylic sheeting and pass LED light through it; interfering the transmission using laser cut edges which would cause the light to highlight the lines thereby creating a pai...
Now that we have decked out our Lulzbot Taz 6 3D Printer with a really nice looking acrylic enclosure, I'm just about ready to turn on some serious 3D printing work. But before I dive into that endless pool of fun, it's a good time to take ...
How-to guides are very useful, but while “do this, then do that” is great to reproduce exactly what is in the guide, it’s less helpful if you want or need to modify the project. This is especially true with technology proj...
Wands are cool, right? That's what Trinity, Adele, and April were thinking of our recent littleBits Workshop, down at the Core Electronics Knowledge Factory. Their inspiration for this project came straight from the films, in particular, th...
This project uses an ESP8266-01 WiFi module to send an alert to my phone if the fridge door is left open or ajar.
After ordering a few of the ESP8266 board variations I found myself with an ESP8266-01 variant which wasn't very usefu...
After ordering a few of the ESP8266 board variations I found myself with an ESP8266-01 variant which wasn't very usefu...
Who says you can't have it all? Good looks and a great sound! My name is 'Holman" and I'm a Bluetooth speaker in the form of mans best friend - a dog of course! Why is my name Holman? Well, that's the name of the manufacturer of the PVC pi...
Making a dumb coffee grinder slightly less dumb. This is a programmable timer tethered to a Rancilio Rocky coffee grinder. The Rocky is a "dumb" grinder and electrically very simple. Basically it's an ac motor with an on/off switch and a m...
Introduction Searching for solar panels and related items on the Core Electronics website; I came across the Solarbotics GraviTrack Marble Machine Kit. I thought the kit would be a good educational tool for the grandkids. The kit was a hit...
Update: Community member Chris has had a go at remaking this project after the original project contributor Denver made the original code repository private. GitHub links below will not work but the original project has been kept here for...
Hey, My son is turning 1 and I wanted to setup a retro gaming station for him to learn to game through the ages. I went with RetroPie as it is well documented and supports a range of emulators - and it's easy to setup.My RetroPie Gaming Ki...
Remote Controls are magical enough to recreate this awesome Death Eater Skull. You can switch it on from across the room and make it glow an evil green! Jake and Nathan built this invention at a littleBits Workshop down at the Core Electron...
The aim of my project was to make a small display to show information such as the clock, weather, calendar, etc. I liked the idea of making a magic mirror, but wanted to try something more unique, less expensive, and easier to assemble (no ...
Hi all. Thought I'd share with you my modded Spirit Halloween proton pack. It's about 80% scale, which is plenty big enough for my 7-year-old son, and still looks decently sized on adults. As soon as I learned of this pack, 5-year-old me ju...
After seeing how much fun people had using the Makey Makey as a gaming controller for our RetroPie setup, I decided that more fun, simple projects that can be made using household materials were in order. So today I present to you the piano...
This project uses a Raspberry Pi and TFT display panel to provide a desk clock that also monitors our Home Solar and Battery system, and the weather, in one neat unit.
We recently installed a Solar Panel system and a Tesla Powerwall...
We recently installed a Solar Panel system and a Tesla Powerwall...
We made a Pi Zero W retro-games console! The nostalgia is making me dizzy! If you'd like to build your own, we've put together a couple of wishlists to make things easier: For the Pi Zero W build, like in this project, check out the PiG...
I wanted to build a weather station. After some googling I found a great ‘how to’ guide using a raspberry pi.
I was also interested in learning Python, so I decided to dive right in...
I wanted to build a weather station. After some googling I found a great ‘how to’ guide using a raspberry pi.
I was also interested in learning Python, so I decided to dive right in...
This project started due to the smoke haze that enveloped our area during the 2019 and 2020 bushfires. I wanted something to check the air quality of my home and maybe find areas where it needed better sealing. In addition, the BMP280 senso...
Ever wanted to know exactly what bird is near you by only the sound but simultaneously have zero ideas about birds? Fear not, here is the solution for you! A fully fletched Bird Call AI System that runs completely on a Raspberry Pi Single ...
The motivation behind this project came from a robotics and engineering club that I've been going to. I've been saving my money and building up an understanding of raspberry pi and electronics. The reason I chose this project was to get use...
I had been captivated by the sound levels of trains I could hear passing by Metford throughout the day/night. I wondered if a sound level sensor reporting data back over LoRa would help me understand when a train was noisy. I also like the ...
I was looking for something educational to 3D-Print for my child in Thingiverse and came across the concept of the Math Spinner. I found the models lacked a method of checking the answer so I wanted to automate it. The core design is inspir...
Hyperweb is a collaborative interactive sculpture installation at Vivid in Sydney. I designed and built a crowd sensing weather station that is used to control an audio "soundscape" within the piece. It also triggers light show events that ...
A smaller version of our amazing Infinity-Mirror Table - the Desktop Infinity Mirror compresses all the colourful goodness into a picture frame-sized display. The entire design is made from laser-cut acrylic that we cut in-house. Check out ...
Wow - this is one monstrous sounding and great looking speaker - even if I do say so myself! This is basically a 2.1 (stereo + subwoofer) system made with 3D plastic parts. Both the full range and subwoofer speakers are based on closed (se...
I want to make a portable music box that my 2 year old kid can operate intuitively on her own. So, Spotify or any other on-demand music platform with tablets and Bluetooth speakers are out of the question. Remember the good old days of putt...
The Raspberry Pi Microscope was put together to help with soldering PCBs that have small surface mount components. Its main function is to verify the quality of solder joints and ensure there aren’t any short circuits. With the addition of...
The purpose of this project is to design a system that will automatically track stars or satellites. The first version, described here, is specifically to track stars and operate a Raspberry Pi HQ camera to take a series of long-exposure im...
The inspiration for this project stems back to my childhood when I was curious to find out how the mechanical barometer worked.
The inspiration for this project stems back to my childhood when I was curious to find out how the mechanical barometer worked.
This project creates a functional 12-volt portable battery case for camping or other outdoor activities.The battery box provides a 12V cigarette lighter socket for running lights with an on/off switch for ease of use. There is also an Ander...
This project is about adding a wireless Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 or ESP32 v2 with Adafruit Featherwing 128x64 OLED to interface with the self-assembled MightyOhm Geiger Kit.
It is real and here it is! Including everything you need to make one a Luma 1 for yourself! So allow me to introduce you properly to the Luminator Mark 1. I'm talking all the ins and outs of this inside-out neo disco ball so you can ...
I really love the reliability of my Fuji wireless mono laser printer. Best printer I've ever owned. However, it was released without Google Cloud Print. This required constant driver installation on new devices and the inconvenience of not ...
This project is a simple stopwatch with a little bit of a twist! It operates like a conventional stopwatch… you can start and stop it, you can record lap times and you can review the lap times once you hit stop. The twist is th...
Getting letters and parcels is awesome, what’s not so awesome though is when you miss the postman and you don’t know if that important bit of mail arrived or not. Such a frustrating, yet mundane problem can be solved by creating...
Tunnels are a critical part of road infrastructure and they feature some pretty cool tech. This Smart Tunnel project demonstrates some of the technology involved and how some real-world problems might be solved. Features RFID Trip...
This project is to allow remote control of my pool and associated lights with a dedicated display inthe house, a phone application and Amazon Alexa. Any and/or all of these input devices may be usedto control the pool. The pool temperature ...
I was wanting to know what the water temperature was without having to physically go and check and I was curious about how warm the water would get during a sunny day and how much heat was lost overnight. I am interested in the idea of home...
Introduction This began as an idea after building a very basic single-channel unit. Commercial smart watering systems use a Wifi connection to the internet and get weather reports to determine the level of watering required. These systems...
Summary A Raspberry Pi 3B is used to collect digital counts from an electronic rain gauge (1mm of rain per reed switch closure by magnetic see-saw). It has been running without issues for over 12 months. A UPS powers the Pi so it is immune...
Although there are commercially available lighting kits for Lego models, we found those that are available for this Hogwarts Castle can seem a little garish and don’t do the best job at concealing the wires. We felt that with t...
This project uses a US100 ultrasonic distance sensor to detect instances of a garage tilt door being left open and sends an alert via the IFTTT mobile app. Additionally, the device logs temperature and pressure to a Thingspeak channel using...
Introduction My passion hobby is night-time time-lapse photography and astrophotography/nightscapes. This means a lot of time spent outside in the dead of winter overnight and an issue that I faced was dew condensing on the lens. This is...
IntroductionI wanted to bring ageing, and failing, Home Automation infrastructure into the modern age whilst retaining hardware investments already made. Our house had Universal Power Bus (UPB) dimmers and switches installed at build time...
Introduction So now everything is available in this day and age, and all those childhood dreams can now come true as parts, technology and software has come a long way. I had recently taken up the hobby, RC planes. Eventually I learnt ho...
After experimenting with automatic blue light filters on my electronic devices I wanted to replicate the idea with the lighting around the house so that it would gradually transition to warmer colours as the night progresses. I believe this...
I’ve always been fascinated by LED screens and seeing beautiful colours mix and merge to create vibrant displays. I also love games, so what better way to combine the two than a giant LED pixel matrix which can play games, display aud...
Do you love your Wii and its ability to play all GameCube games perfectly but wish you could take it on the go like a Gameboy?
Well, I definitely did and if you're like me so do you. And here is the right place...
Do you love your Wii and its ability to play all GameCube games perfectly but wish you could take it on the go like a Gameboy?
Well, I definitely did and if you're like me so do you. And here is the right place...
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