So, you’ve spent hours reading about all the awesome and creative contraptions being created by your peers all over the globe and perhaps it’s got you just a little green-eyed. Maybe it’s about time you got into the DIY electronics game yourself. After all, you’re a dab hand with a soldering iron, you’ve got some free time on your hands and mechanical sympathy that could rival Brunel. Now all you need is a bit of guidance to help get you going in the right direction. If that sounds at all like you, then you’ve definitely come to the right place!
We’ve trawled the very best of the internet to create this list of the finest guides and tools to help you build your skills, learn new code and plan your projects better to help transform you from a novice script-kiddy to a Tesla-esque electronics savant. Even if you’re not new to the scene, with this list of resources detailing cutting edge tech and the fresh, innovative and increasingly high-quality builds they make possible; you’ll have everything you need to take your do-it-yourself electronics game to the next level.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.