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SparkFun Electronics - Recent News Posts

1. New Product Friday: Will Spark for Fun

   This week is a special one. Not only is Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend, but we had our first demo for the product video that could probably kill someone. We've made a treadmill with a mind of its own, a game of Jenga that plays YOU, and an off-road vehicle with an attitude. But this week, we decided to use some of the new spark gap igniters for an idea I had and it just turned into something scary. Check out the video below.

   
   Vimeo version found here.

   I wish everyone could just experience what this thing was like in person. My ears were ringing the whole evening when we were first testing it. It's loud. Loud enough that you can hear it pretty much anywhere upstairs in our building when it's on. And not only that, but the sparks are erratic and after it's been on for a little bit, the whole room smells like ozone and burning plastic. It's, well, just wonderful.

   

   You asked for it, and here it is. This spark gap igniter is very similar to the one used in the SCOPRION. Feed it 5 volts and it spews out bolts of electricity. We didn't get a datasheet, so I can only speculate how it actually works. My guess is something to do with the fusion of unicorn tears and Leprechaun blood, but I'm not an engineer. I can say that it can easily spark across a 0.5"gap and will ignite combustible gasses just fine. You have to love a product when it's primary objective is explosive detonation.

   

   And now for something less painful. This little speaker is designed to be mounted to a PCB. With 0.1"spacing, it also works well in a breadboard. It's just small enough to fit into that embedded board your designing. Speakers can be problematic because there's not a great way to mount them. With this one, just mount it directly to your board and you're good to go. It's not terribly loud, but perfectly adequate as a buzzer, warning system, etc.

   

   Sugru now comes in 8 packs instead of 12! You don't have to buy as much and there's less of a risk of expiration with smaller packages. It comes with 2 packs each of red, blue and yellow, and one each of black and white. It has a lot of uses and should be in your tool box if you build a lot of stuff (or break a lot, either way).

   

   And lastly we have a new version of the LilyPad Vibe Board. This one uses an SMD vibe motor which is much easier to solder, making it much easier to produce. Use it as a (nearly) silent alert system, feedback mechanism, or, well, you have an imagination.

   That's all we have for this week. Have fun at Maker Faire if you're going. Be sure to check back next week as we're already planning a demo and are getting some other stuff ready for the site. Thanks for reading and see you next week.

2. Maker Faire eTextile Lounge

   Today we have a guest post from Ally Seeley, one of the leaders in the world of eTextiles, who would like to talk about an event taking place at Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend:

   This year the eTextile Lounge is returning to Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 to bring together fashion designers, engineers, makers and more to present their projects.  These projects focus on electronic textiles, wearable computer and craft tech makers.  The event will take place May 19th to May 20th as part of Maker Faire Bay Area at the San Mateo Event Center.

   

   The eTextile Lounge and accompanying Wearable Tech Showcase will not only provide makers with the chance to show their projects, but will also provide a meeting place for fashioning technology makers, various workshops to get you started and will be a central place to learn from one another. Presenters include Lynne Bruning, Lara Grant, Shannon Henry of PolyMath Designs, and SparkFun's own Dia Campbell.

   

   For more information on the eTextile Lounge at Maker Faire Bay Area please go here. For information on the Wearable Tech Show Case visit here. Hope to see you this weekend!
   
   
    

3. Maker Faire Reminder

   Just wanted to post a quick reminder about Maker Faire Bay Area taking place this weekend! While we won't have our usual presence (meaning, we won't have soldering workshops this year), we are going to be there representing SFE! We have a few cool things planned, so make sure to stop by our booth (#66) and say hello!

   
   At Maker Faire, this is completely normal.

   This year, we are going to be bringing along several SparkFun original projects. These include an electronic guitar made from the ProtoSnap Pro Mini, an 8-legged robot as a nod to AVC, an Arduino-based computer that plays text-based adventure games, and the Quad Buddy Ball Balancer - an awesome 4-person balancing game. I would tell you more but I just don't want to spoil the surprise before Maker Faire.

   
   Look for the folks in the red SparkFun shirts.

   So if you're in the area, be sure to stop by and talk shop! Feel free to bring your projects, questions, or just come by to say hey. The faire takes place at the San Mateo Event Center on Saturday the 19th (10 a.m. - 8 p.m.) and Sunday the 20th (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.). Hope to see you there!

4. MaKey MaKey

   MaKey MaKey is a collaboration project between SparkFun and Jay Silver/Eric Rosenbaum of the MIT Media Lab. They dreamed up the idea, prototyped it, ran it through workshops, and guided it to its current home on Kickstarter. We've been working with them along the way helping where we can with PCB and firmware design, part sourcing, and manufacturing. Let's just start by watching their awesome video:

   Description for the less-technical (but, still awesome makers): MaKey MaKey allows you to turn almost any common object into an input-device for your computer. The front side of the MaKey MaKey board has six inputs: up/down/left/right arrow keys, spacebar and a mouse left-click. Using alligator clips you can hook those inputs up to anything that's even slightly conductive - fruit, play-dough, water, pencil drawings, whatever you can dream up - which becomes a keyboard or mouse input to your computer. So you can play a banana piano, play-dough Mario, or even create custom webcam triggers. When you flip the board over, and plug into the attached headers, you'll have access to six more keyboard keys, mouse-movement, and left and right mouse clicks.

   

   Hardware description for the more-technical: The MaKey MaKey uses an ATmega32U4 processor, which has a built-in USB transceiver allowing us to emulate common USB HID devices like keyboards and mice. Even through high resistances (like skin resistance), you can close switches to ground using a combination of really, really weak pull-up resistors (think 10's of MΩ), and smart digital filters. The board can also be reprogrammed in the Arduino IDE, so you can totally customize its behavior.

   
   I play a mean banana piano.

   If you're headed to Maker Faire this weekend, you'll be able to see the MaKey MaKey live, in action at their booth. There will also be MaKey MaKey giveaways at Maker Faire for teachers, maker space organizers, etc. (limited supplies). We're really excited to be part of this awesome new project - the idea that "everyone is an inventor" is right up our alley. Check out their webpage for more information!

5. SparkFun Goes to USASEF

   A couple of weeks ago, a handful of SparkFun employees headed out to the USA Science and Engineering Festival (or USASEF) in Washington D.C.. The festival was an awesome experience that we'd recommend for anyone interested in science, technology, or engineering. We really had no idea just how big the event was going to be, but we were one of many booths ranging from local high schools to a huge exhibit by NASA. Check out the video below (Vimeo version found here) for some highlights.

   While at the event, we hosted our popular soldering workshops and ran in the neighborhood of 1,000 kids and adults through the booth, teaching them how to do basic through-hole soldering. It is always awesome to watch as people take their first step down the path of embedded electronics. We were very happy to have a chance to teach people about the wonderful world of DIY electronics.

   

   We also were able to check out some of the other projects and booths at the faire. There were some really amazing projects at the festival, and it was both humbling and inspiring to see some of the high-level work being done. Even Bill Nye (the Science Guy) was there...and he looks exactly the same as he did when I was in 4th grade. It's mind-boggling.

   
   Gigantic mechatronic snake and Mondo Spider. Just another day at USASEF.

   We had a great time meeting and interacting with customers both new and old. If you stopped by the booth for a chat, thanks! It was great to meet so many interesting people who are passionate about electronics and science. To see more photos, check out the SparkFun Flickr page. We had a great time at USASEF and are hoping to return in the future!