Using our muscles to control things is the way that most of us are accustomed to doing it. We push buttons, pull levers, move joysticks… but what if we could take the buttons, levers and joysticks out of the equation? This is the MyoWare Muscle Sensor, an Arduino-powered, all-in-one electromyography (EMG) sensor from Advancer Technologies. The MyoWare board acts by measuring the filtered and rectified electrical activity of a muscle; outputting 0-Vs Volts depending the amount of activity in the selected muscle, where Vs signifies the voltage of the power source. It’s that easy: stick on a few electrodes (not included), read the voltage out and flex some muscles!

The MyoWare Muscle Sensor is the latest revision of the Muscle Sensor of old, now with a new wearable design that allows you to attach biomedical sensor pads directly to the board itself getting rid of those pesky cables. This new board also includes a slew of other new features including, single-supply voltage of +3.1V to +5V, RAW EMG output, polarity protected power pins, indicator LEDs, and (finally) an On/Off switch. Additionally, we have developed a few shields (Cable, Power, and Proto) that can attach to the Myoware Muscle Sensor to help increase its versatility and functionality!

Measuring muscle activity by detecting its electric potential, referred to as electromyography (EMG), has traditionally been used for medical research. However, with the advent of ever shrinking yet more powerful microcontrollers and integrated circuits, EMG circuits and sensors have found their way into all kinds of control systems.

Note: Biomedical sensor pads can be found in the Recommended Products section below to be purchased separately.

Get Started with the MyoWare Muscle Sensor Guide

Features

Wearable Design

Single Supply

+2.9V to +5.7V

Polarity reversal protection

+2.9V to +5.7V

Polarity reversal protection

Two Output Modes

EMG Envelope

Raw EMG

EMG Envelope

Raw EMG

Expandable via Shields

LED Indicators

Specially Designed For Microcontrollers

Adjustable Gain

0.82" x 2.06"

The Intel® Edison is an ultra small computing platform that will change the way you look at embedded electronics. Each Edison is packed with a huge amount of tech goodies into a tiny package while still providing the same robust strength of your go-to single board computer. Powered by the Intel® Atom™ SoC dual-core CPU and including an integrated WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and a 70-pin connector to attach a veritable slew of shield-like “Blocks” which can be stacked on top of each other. It’s no wonder how this little guy is lowering the barrier of entry on the world of electronics!

Since the Edison offers a large number of GPIO and communication bus pins, these pins can be mapped to the exact same footprint as the Raspberry Pi B’s GPIO header. The Pi Block lets you use your existing Raspberry Pi B peripherals and expansion boards with your Edison while still providing level-shifted access to basic GPIO, PWM, UART, I2C, and SPI communication! This block combines the functionality of the GPIO Block and I2C Block with additional features to streamline development.

This is the newest revision of our FTDI Basic. We now use a SMD 6-pin header on the bottom, which makes it smaller and more compact. Functionality has remained the same.

This is a basic breakout board for the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC. The pinout of this board matches the FTDI cable to work with official Arduino and cloned 5V Arduino boards. It can also be used for general serial applications. The major difference with this board is that it brings out the DTR pin as opposed to the RTS pin of the FTDI cable. The DTR pin allows an Arduino target to auto-reset when a new Sketch is downloaded. This is a really nice feature to have and allows a sketch to be downloaded without having to hit the reset button. This board will auto reset any Arduino board that has the reset pin brought out to a 6-pin connector.

The pins labeled BLK and GRN correspond to the colored wires on the FTDI cable. The black wire on the FTDI cable is GND, green is CTS. Use these BLK and GRN pins to align the FTDI basic board with your Arduino target.

This board has TX and RX LEDs that make it a bit better to use over the FTDI cable. You can actually see serial traffic on the LEDs to verify if the board is working.

This board was designed to decrease the cost of Arduino development and increase ease of use (the auto-reset feature rocks!). Our Arduino Pro boards and LilyPads use this type of connector.

One of the nice features of this board is a jumper on the back of the board that allows the board to be configured to either 3.3V or 5V (both power output and IO level). This board ship default to 5V, but you can cut the default trace and add a solder jumper if you need to switch to 3.3V.

Note: We know a lot of you prefer microUSB over miniUSB. Never fear, we’ve got you covered! Check out our FT231X Breakout for your micro FTDI needs!

This is the newest revision of our FTDI Basic. We now use a SMD 6-pin header on the bottom, which makes it smaller and more compact. Functionality has remained the same.

This is a basic breakout board for the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC. The pinout of this board matches the FTDI cable to work with official Arduino and cloned 3.3V Arduino boards. It can also be used for general serial applications. The major difference with this board is that it brings out the DTR pin as opposed to the RTS pin of the FTDI cable. The DTR pin allows an Arduino target to auto-reset when a new Sketch is downloaded. This is a really nice feature to have and allows a sketch to be downloaded without having to hit the reset button. This board will auto reset any Arduino board that has the reset pin brought out to a 6-pin connector.

The pins labeled BLK and GRN correspond to the colored wires on the FTDI cable. The black wire on the FTDI cable is GND, green is DTR. Use these BLK and GRN pins to align the FTDI basic board with your Arduino target.

There are pros and cons to the FTDI Cable vs the FTDI Basic. This board has TX and RX LEDs that allow you to actually see serial traffic on the LEDs to verify if the board is working, but this board requires a Mini-B cable. The FTDI Cable is well protected against the elements, but is large and cannot be embedded into a project as easily. The FTDI Basic uses DTR to cause a hardware reset where the FTDI cable uses the RTS signal.

This board was designed to decrease the cost of Arduino development and increase ease of use (the auto-reset feature rocks!). Our Arduino Pro and LilyPad boards use this type of connector.

Note: We know a lot of you prefer microUSB over miniUSB. Never fear, we’ve got you covered! Check out our FT231X Breakout for your micro FTDI needs!

The Teensy is an amazing development platform that allows you to get more computing power than an Arduino Uno, and in less space. The Teensy 3.1 XBee Adapter allows you to connect your Teensy with the tried and true XBee series to provide you with a great solution to any project that requires a decently ranged no-frills wireless serial link.

Not only does the Teensy 3.1 XBee Adapter connect a XBee and Teensy together, it also acts as a breakout board for both. Each pin on the Teensy and XBee has been broken out to standard 0.1" spaced through-hole soldering points that allow you to connect any additional parts that you would like to incorporate with the adapter.

Though the adapter design interfaces best with the Teensy 3.1, the Teensy LC can be utilized as well. Paired with the XBee you can get a great long distance serial connection, and with the 72MHz of processing speed (48MHz for the Teensy-LC) you can do a lot with the information.

Note: The only headers pre-soldered onto this board as the ones designed to attach your XBee. Additional headers and wires to hook up your Teensy, breadboard, additional circuits, etc will need to be purchased separately.

TRRS connectors are the audio-style connectors that you see on some phones, MP3 players and development boards. TRRS stands for “Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve,” which reflects the fact that, unlike a standard stereo connector, this actually has three conductors and a ground. Some devices use the extra conductor for a microphone (like hands-free headsets) or to carry a video signal (like in some MP3/MP4 players). This breakout board makes it easy to add a TRRS jack to your prototype or project by breaking out each conductor to a standard 0.1" spaced header.

The SparkFun OpenLog is an open source data logger that works over a simple serial connection and supports microSD cards up to 64GB. The OpenLog can store or “log” huge amounts of serial data and act as a black box of sorts to store all the serial data that your project generates, for scientific or debugging purposes.

The SparkFun OpenLog runs on an onboard ATmega328, running at 16MHz thanks to the onboard crystal. The OpenLog draws 6mA when recording a 512 byte buffer, but as that process takes a fraction of a second, the average current draw is closer to 5mA. Keep in mind though that if you are recording a constant data stream at 115200bps, you will approach that 6mA limit. All data logged by the OpenLog is stored on the microSD card that involve the features of 64MB to 64GB capacity and FAT16 or FAT32 file type.

Features

VCC Input: 3.3V-12V (Recommended 3.3V-5V)

Log to low-cost microSD FAT16/32 cards up to 64GB

Simple command interface

Configurable baud rates (up to 115200bps)

Preprogrammed ATmega328 and bootloader

Four SPI pogo pins

Two LEDs indicate writing status

2mA idle, 6mA at maximum recording rate

The SparkFun Soil Moisture Sensor is a simple breakout for measuring the moisture in soil and similar materials. The soil moisture sensor is pretty straight forward to use. The two large exposed pads function as probes for the sensor, together acting as a variable resistor. The more water that is in the soil means the better the conductivity between the pads will be and will result in a lower resistance, and a higher SIG out.

To get the SparkFun Soil Moisture Sensor functioning all you will need is to connect the VCC and GND pins to your Arduino-based device (or compatible development board) and you will receive a SIG out which will depend on the amount of water in the soil. One commonly known issue with soil moisture senors is their short lifespan when exposed to a moist environment. To combat this, we’ve had the PCB coated in Gold Finishing (ENIG or Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold). We recommend either a simple 3-pin screw pin terminal or a 3-pin jumper wire assembly (both can be found in the Recommended Products section below) to be soldered onto the sensor for easy wiring.

Note: Check the Hookup Guide below for assembly and weatherproofing instructions as well as a simple example project that you can put to together yourself!

Get Started with the Soil Moisture Sensor Guide

It’s blue! It’s thin! It’s the Arduino Pro Mini! SparkFun’s minimal design approach to Arduino. This is a 5V Arduino running the 16MHz bootloader. Arduino Pro Mini does not come with connectors populated so that you can solder in any connector or wire with any orientation you need. We recommend first time Arduino users start with the Uno R3. It’s a great board that will get you up and running quickly. The Arduino Pro series is meant for users that understand the limitations of system voltage (5V), lack of connectors, and USB off board.

We really wanted to minimize the cost of an Arduino. In order to accomplish this we used all SMD components, made it two layer, etc. This board connects directly to the FTDI Basic Breakout board and supports auto-reset. The Arduino Pro Mini also works with the FTDI cable but the FTDI cable does not bring out the DTR pin so the auto-reset feature will not work. There is a voltage regulator on board so it can accept voltage up to 12VDC. If you’re supplying unregulated power to the board, be sure to connect to the “RAW” pin and not VCC.

The latest and greatest version of this board breaks out the ADC6 and ADC7 pins as well as adds footprints for optional I2C pull-up resistors! We also took the opportunity to slap it with the OSHW logo.

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Arduino LLC to help fund continued development of new tools and new IDE features.

Features

ATmega328 running at 16MHz with external resonator (0.5% tolerance)

0.8mm Thin PCB

USB connection off board

Supports auto-reset

5V regulator

Max 150mA output

Over current protected

Weighs less than 2 grams!

DC input 5V up to 12V

On board Power and Status LEDs

Analog Pins: 8

Digital I/Os: 14

0.7x1.3" (18x33mm)

The SparkFun ESP8266 Thing is a breakout and development board for the ESP8266 WiFi SoC – a leading platform for Internet of Things (IoT) or WiFi-related projects. The Thing is low-cost and easy to use, and Arduino IDE integration can be achieved in just a few steps. We’ve made the ESP8266 easy to use by breaking out all of the module’s pins, adding a LiPo charger, power supply, and all of the other supporting circuitry it requires.

Why the name? We lovingly call it the “Thing” due to it being the perfect foundation for your Internet of Things project. The Thing does everything from turning on an LED to posting data with datastream, and can be programmed just like any microcontroller. You can even program the Thing through the Arduino IDE by installing the ESP8266 Arduino addon.

The SparkFun ESP8266 Thing is a relatively simple board. The pins are broken out to two parallel, breadboard-compatible rows. USB and LiPo connectors at the top of the board provide power – controlled by the nearby ON/OFF switch. LEDs towards the inside of the board indicate power, charge, and status of the IC. The ESP8266’s maximum voltage is 3.6V, so the Thing has an onboard 3.3V regulator to deliver a safe, consistent voltage to the IC. That means the ESP8266’s I/O pins also run at 3.3V, you’ll need to level shift any 5V signals running into the IC. A 3.3V FTDI Basic is required to program the SparkFun ESP8266 Thing, but other serial converters with 3.3V I/O levels should work just fine as well. The converter does need a DTR line in addition to the RX and TX pins.

Get Started with the ESP8266 Thing Guide

Features

All module pins broken out

On-board LiPo charger/power supply

802.11 b/g/n

Wi-Fi Direct (P2P), soft-AP

Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack

Integrated TR switch, balun, LNA, power amplifier and matching network

Integrated PLLs, regulators, DCXO and power management units

Integrated low power 32-bit CPU could be used as application processor

+19.5dBm output power in 802.11b mode

The Photon is a $19 tiny Wi-Fi development kit for creating connected projects and products for the Internet of Things. It's easy to use, it's powerful, and it's connected to the cloud.

The tools that make up the Photon's ecosystem (and come along with the board) are designed to let you build and create whether you're an embedded engineer, web developer, Arduino enthusiast or IoT entrepreneur. You'll be able to write your firmware in our web or local IDE, deploy it over the air, and build your web and mobile apps with ParticleJS and our Mobile SDK.

The board itself uses a Broadcom WICED Wi-Fi chip (one that can be found in Nest Protect, LIFX, and Amazon Dash) alongside a powerful STM32 ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller. It's like the Spark Core, but better! The WICED chipset is much faster than the original CC3000 in the 'Core and also supports SSL and Soft-AP mode.

This is the Photon with breadboard headers connected. We also have the Photon without headers.

If you're looking for a version with a breadboard and USB cable, click here for the Photon Starter Kit.

The MicroView is the first chip-sized Arduino compatible module that lets you see what your Arduino is thinking using a built-in OLED display. With the on-board 64x48 pixel OLED, you can use the MicroView to display sensor data, emails, pin status, and more. It also fits nicely into a breadboard to make prototyping easy. The MicroView also has a full-featured Arduino library to make programming the module easy.

In the heart of MicroView there is ATMEL’s ATmega328P, 5V & 3.3V LDO and a 64x48 pixel OLED display, together with other passive components that allow the MicroView to operate without any external components other than a power supply. Additionally, the MicroView is 100% code compatible with Arduino Uno (ATmega328P version), meaning the code that runs on an Arduino Uno will also be able to run on the MicroView if the IO pins used in the code are externally exposed on the MicroView.

Note: The MicroView programmer is sold separately. Check the recommended products below. Also, unlike the Kickstarter campaign, this does not come with the breadboard and USB cable. You only get the bare module.

Get Started with the SparkFun MicroView Guide

Features

64x48 Pixel OLED Display

ATmega328P

5V Operational Voltage

VIN Range: 3.3V - 16V

12 Digital I/O Pins (3 PWM)

6 Analog Inputs

Breadboard Friendly DIP Package

32KB Flash Memory

Arduino IDE 1.0+ Compatible

The MicroView is the first chip-sized Arduino compatible module that lets you see what your Arduino is thinking using a built-in OLED display. This USB programmer connects directly to the MicroView and lets you not only program the module, but use it to interface with your computer, Rapsberry Pi, or other USB device. The programmer has both male and female headers which allow it to be plugged into a MicroView module and a breadboard at the same time, making prototyping quick and easy.

If you want to learn more about the MicroView, check out the Kickstarter page.

Note: A MicroView OLED Arduino Module is NOT included with this USB Programmer. Check the Recommended Products section below to find one!

The Teensy is a breadboard-friendly development board with loads of features in a, well, teensy package. Each Teensy 3.1 comes pre-flashed with a bootloader so you can program it using the on-board USB connection: No external programmer needed! You can program for the Teensy in your favorite program editor using C or you can install the Teensyduino add-on for the Arduino IDE and write Arduino sketches for Teensy!

The processor on the Teensy also has access to the USB and can emulate any kind of USB device you need it to be, making it great for USB-MIDI and other HID projects. The 32 bit processor brings a few other features to the table as well, such as multiple channels of Direct Memory Access, several high-resolution ADCs and even an I2S digital audio interface! There are also 4 separate interval timers plus a delay timer! Oh yeah, and all pins have interrupt capability. Also, it can provide system voltage of 3.3V to other devices at up to 250mA.

All of this functionality is jammed into a 1.4 x 0.7 inch board with all headers on a 0.1" grid so you can slap in on a breadboard and get to work! The Teensy 3.2 adds a more powerful 3.3 volt regulator, with the ability to directly power an ESP8266 Wifi, WIZ820io Ethernet, and other 3.3V add-on boards that require a little more power. Additionally, if it is used within the Teensy 3.1 limits of operation, the Teensy 3.2 and 3.1 are interchangeable!

Note: This does not come with a USB cable, please check below for an appropriate one.

Features

32 bit ARM Cortex-M4 72 MHz CPU (M4 = DSP extensions)

256K Flash Memory, 64K RAM, 2K EEPROM

21 High Resolution Analog Inputs (13 bits usable, 16 bit hardware)

34 Digital I/O Pins (5V tolerance on Digital Inputs)

12 PWM outputs

7 Timers for intervals/delays, separate from PWM

USB with dedicated DMA memory transfers

3 UARTs (serial ports)

SPI, I2C, I2S,CAN Bus, IR modulator

I2S (for high quality audio interface)

Real Time Clock (with user-added 32.768 crystal and battery)

16 DMA channels (separate from USB)

Touch Sensor Inputs

1.4 x 0.7" (~35 x 18 mm)

This is a simple pack of five White LilyPad LEDs that are still attached to one another, letting you snap the LEDs apart at your leisure to sew into clothing or whatever else you can dream up.

LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Dr. Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad piece was creatively designed with large sew tabs to allow them to be sewn into fabric. Various input, output, power and sensor boards are available. They’re even washable (with special care)!

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Buechley for continued development and education in e-textiles.

Features

5.5mm x 12.5mm

Thin 0.8mm PCB

This is the LilyPad revision of our FTDI Basic. It is the same as our other FTDI Basic, but has a purple LilyPad board which is half the thickness.

This is a basic breakout board for the FTDI FT232RL USB to serial IC. The pinout of this board matches the FTDI cable to work with official Arduino and cloned 5V Arduino boards. It can also be used for general serial applications. The major difference with this board is that it brings out the DTR pin as opposed to the RTS pin of the FTDI cable. The DTR pin allows an Arduino target to auto-reset when a new Sketch is downloaded. This is a really nice feature to have and allows a sketch to be downloaded without having to hit the reset button. This board will auto reset any Arduino board that has the reset pin brought out to a 6-pin connector.

The pins labeled BLK and GRN correspond to the colored wires on the FTDI cable. The black wire on the FTDI cable is GND, green is CTS. Use these BLK and GRN pins to align the FTDI basic board with your Arduino target.

This board has TX and RX LEDs that make it a bit better to use over the FTDI cable. You can actually see serial traffic on the LEDs to verify if the board is working.

This board was designed to decrease the cost of Arduino development and increase ease of use (the auto-reset feature rocks!). Our Arduino Pro boards and LilyPads use this type of connector.

One of the nice features of this board is a jumper on the back of the board that allows the board to be configured to either 3.3V or 5V (both power output and IO level). This board ship as 5V, but you can cut the default trace and add a solder jumper if you need to switch to 3.3V.

Note: We know a lot of you prefer microUSB over miniUSB. Never fear, we’ve got you covered! Check out our FT231X Breakout for your micro FTDI needs!

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Leah Buechley for continued development and education of e-textiles.

This is a simple to use light sensor that outputs an analog value from 0 to 5V. With exposure to daylight, this sensor will output 5V. Covering the sensor with your hand, the sensor will output 0V. In a normal indoor lighting situation, the sensor will output from 1 to 2V.

LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. Various input, output, power, and sensor boards are available. They’re even washable!

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Leah Buechley for continued development and education of e-textiles.

Features

20mm outer diameter

Thin 0.8mm PCB

We designed this board to give the user a low profile button without any sharp edges. Button closes when you push it and opens when you release (momentary push button).

LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. Various input, output, power, and sensor boards are available. They’re even washable!

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Leah Buechley for continued development and education of e-textiles.

Features

8x16mm

Thin 0.8mm PCB

Detecting temperature changes has never been easier. The MCP9700 is a small thermistor type temperature sensor. This sensor will output 0.5V at 0 degrees C, 0.75V at 25 C, and 10mV per degree C. Doing an analog to digital conversion on the signal line will allow you to establish the local ambient temperature. Detect physical touch based on body heat and ambient conditions with this small sensor.

LilyPad is a wearable e-textile technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. Various input, output, power, and sensor boards are available. They’re even washable!

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Leah Buechley for continued development and education of e-textiles.

Get Started with the LilyPad Temperature Sensor Guide

Features

20mm outer diameter

Thin 0.8mm PCB

Apply 5V and be shaken by this small, but powerful vibration motor. Works great as an physical indicator without notifying anyone but the wearer. This version uses a surface mount motor which is less likely to be damaged during use.

LilyPad is a wearable technology developed by Leah Buechley and cooperatively designed by Leah and SparkFun. Each LilyPad was creatively designed to have large connecting pads to allow them to be sewn into clothing. Various input, output, power, and sensor boards are available.

Note: A portion of this sale is given back to Dr. Leah Buechley for continued development and education of e-textiles.

Features

20mm outer diameter

Thin 0.8mm PCB