Spark
0 XP. 50 to Spark.
Today
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Whether you are just starting out or building on what you already know, each one is chapters of lessons, ending in a project you actually finish.
Electronics basics
7 hA breadboard and a few parts, with one Uno blink at the start and no processor after it. What current, voltage, time and logic really do.
0 of 14 done
Embedded on the Arduino Uno
12 hOne board, twenty pins and a C++ sketch. From a lamp you switch to a game you can play.
0 of 16 done
Embedded on the ESP32-C3
11 hA 32 bit RISC-V board at 160 MHz. Its own peripherals, its own 3.3 V rules, and a console at the end of it.
0 of 13 done
Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico
6 hA dual core Cortex-M0+ at 125 MHz. PWM on every pin, a 64 bit clock, and pins that do not forgive 5 V.
0 of 7 done
Embedded on the STM32F411
6 hA Cortex-M4 at 84 MHz, where a pin is a port and a number and every peripheral starts with its clock switched off.
0 of 6 done
C++ on a board
10 hThe language, one idea per lesson, on a board that shows you what your code did.
0 of 13 done
Digital logic and memory
4 hBuild logic from individual gates, then make a bit persist, count and move through a register.
0 of 4 done
Interactive devices on the Uno
8 hRead people and sensors without blocking, control an output, then finish with two playable builds.
0 of 9 done
From gates to a computer
16 hStart with one NAND gate, package every circuit you build into a chip, and use your chips to build the next one: an adder, memory, a CPU of your own, and a computer that runs your program.
0 of 23 done
The twelve week course
24 hThe classroom course, week by week: a loop on a breadboard through to a board talking over serial.
0 of 12 done
This week
Experience earned since Monday, by the people who checked the box.
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First light
Light an LED. Wire one up, press Run and watch it come on.
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Compiled in the browser
Compile your own code. Press Run on a board with a sketch in the editor.
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555 astable
Get a 555 running. Its output has to go high and low on its own.
Not yet
Found the fault
Fail a Check, work out why, and pass it.
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Every board
Run the Uno, the ESP32-C3, the Pico and the STM32 at least once each.
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Lesson published
Write a lesson in the editor and publish it.
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In a class
Join a class with the code your teacher gives you.
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Seven days
Pass a step on seven days in a row.
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Achievements
First wire
Drag from one pin to another.
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First Run
Press Run.
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Ten parts
Build something with ten parts in it.
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Four families
Place the Uno, the ESP32-C3, the Pico and the STM32.
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Night owl
Run something between midnight and four in the morning.
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Early bird
Run something between four and seven in the morning.
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It spoke
Get a board to print something.
Not yet
Long run
Leave a simulation going for a minute of its own time.
Not yet
Read the basics
Here to meet you wherever you are: the longer tutorials and the roundups each also come as a one-page PDF lesson plan you can download and hand to a class.
Tutorials and explainers
Electronics fundamentals, each with a circuit to poke
Project tutorials
The Arduino projects everybody builds, from a traffic light to an ultrasonic sensor, each one running at the top of its page with the wiring, the code and the common mistakes.
How it works
When does a day end?
At midnight UTC, the same moment for everybody.
What breaks a streak?
A day with no step passed. One missed day is covered if you hold a freeze.
How do I get a freeze?
Seven days in a row earns one, at most one a week.
What is a boss?
The last lesson of a chapter. It opens when the rest of the chapter is done and pays twice.
Where is my progress kept?
In this browser, and on your account as well when you have one. Signing in keeps the higher of the two.
Who sees the leaderboard?
Anyone can see the all-time board at /leaderboard, and only people who check the box are on it. It shows a name, level and XP, never an email. Students in a class are not listed there.