原创 Ultra-cool new electronics products from SparkFun

I truly love the folks at Sparkfun because of their love for making electronics fun everyone.

You often hear that the days of people building their own electronics projects are over, but this really isn't the case. Take SparkFun, for example, which was founded in 2003, and which is growing from strength-to-strength providing everything from training courses in soldering to electronic parts and kits and ... all sorts of "stuff".

Actually I regard SparkFun as being a real success story, because (a) they have grown to 120 people (b) they are helping folks (from young kids to retirees) learn about electronics and (c) they really enjoy what they are doing.

Anyway, SparkFun recently announced a new line of products designed to help the novice electronics enthusiast ease into the world of programming, prototyping and design.

Each product in the new ProtoSnap line features various input and output boards that are linked together, complete with traces, to form a multiuse prototyping platform. This allows users to experiment with embedded electronics without the burden of soldering, wires or other typical prototyping limitations.

There currently are three different products in the ProtoSnap line—the ProtoSnap Pro Mini, the ProtoSnap LilyPad Development Board, and the ProtoSnap LilyPad E-sewing kit. We'll look at these in more detail in a moment, but first check out this video of Jim from Sparkfun telling us all about it.

The ProtoSnap Pro Mini is an Arduino-compatible development platform aimed at teaching the basics of Arduino programming as efficiently as possible. It requires zero assembly, wiring, or soldering, so you can jump right into programming the ProtoSnap to control LEDs, buzzers, light sensors, and more. There's even a small prototyping space so you can add your own parts! (Click here to see a tutorial)

Once you've gotten a firm grasp of the programming, you can snap off the individual components of the ProtoSnap for use in future projects. Those components include an Arduino Pro Mini microcontroller platform and an FTDI Basic Breakout to program it.

The ProtoSnap LilyPad Development Board is designed to get you started in the world of e-textiles (I hadn't heard anything about this, but the idea is to make things like T-Shirts or Pillows with flashing lights and suchlike). Combining a LilyPad Simple Board with other LilyPad components like a buzzer, a vibration motor, an RGB LED, a button, a switch, five LEDs, a light sensor, and a temperature sensor, the ProtoSnap LilyPad Development Board lets you dive right into wearable electronics. When you've learned how to program the LilyPad Arduino Simple Board, break apart the components and explore the power of the LilyPad platform.

Last but certainly not least, the ProtoSnap E-Sewing Kit pairs a LilyPad coin cell breakout board with a switch, a button, and five LEDs. It comes pre-wired so you can plug in a battery and use the switch and button to turn the LEDs on and off. Once you've mastered using the board together, break off the individual components and use them just like you would with their normal LilyPad counterparts..

"The ProtoSnap line is really designed with the beginner in mind," said SparkFun Engineer Ryan Owens. "We really think it will help introduce people to prototyping in an easy-to-understand and user-friendly way."

While the ProtoSnap line currently has three products, the range of possibilities for expansion is endless. The folks at SparkFun say that they are excited to see the implications this new product holds for beginner electronics enthusiasts, and they hope the ProtoSnap line will introduce a new group of people to the wonders of embedded electronics.

For more information, visit (www.sparkfun.com).