How To

NEW TUTORIAL: Flying Concertina Accordion Book by Jill Dawson

New tutorial up on our tutorials page by Jill Dawson! In this tutorial, we will show you how to add motion and light to a fun and flashy variation of the traditional accordion book structure! You’ll learn how to use conductive thread as a decorative and conductive element, and how to use a reed switch […]

5 Ways to Make a Paper Battery Holder

Every circuit needs a power supply to turn on, such as a coin cell battery.  These batteries are great because they’re small, flat and thus integrate nicely with paper.  Here are five simple paper battery holder tutorials for you to try out! 1. Foam Tape Battery Holder Tutorial This battery holder is super thin and […]

How to Power your Chibi Chip

You can power your Chibi Chip with any USB power supply!  Here are some examples: If you have a Love to Code powered binder, you can plug in the USB cable directly into the binder. To turn on your binder, slide the power switch to the left like this: The Love to Code book can […]

How to Assemble the Chibi Clip

This tutorial shows you how to turn your Chibi Chip programmable board into a reusable clip! You will need: Chibi Chip programmable microcontroller board Chibi Clip holder Video Tutorial: Step 1: Remove example paper insert Step 2: Remove the adhesive tape from your clip holder Step 3: Flip the clip over so that the flat […]

How to Assemble the Chibi Clip

This tutorial shows you how to turn your Chibi Chip programmable board into a reusable clip! You will need: Chibi Chip programmable microcontroller board Chibi Clip holder Video Tutorial: Step 1: Remove example paper insert Step 2: Remove the adhesive tape from your clip holder Step 3: Flip the clip over so that the flat […]

Programming the Chibi Chip

This tutorial shows you how to program your Chibi Chip microcontroller board!  We will write our code in a browser-based code editor and then transmit code through sound to your board.  Ready?  Let’s get started! You will need: Chibi Chip programmable microcontroller board programming cable with USB and audio connectors USB power supply (such as […]

Measuring Voltage with a Multimeter

Objective: To understand how to use a multimeter to check voltage (power) at various points on your circuit, so you can locate problems and fix them. Overview: So you’ve made a beautiful circuit out of copper tape, but your LEDs are either flickering, or not lighting up at all. What gives? The flickering / dark […]

Flat Double Battery Holder Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to make a flat battery holder that holds two batteries connected in series. Because the batteries are connected in series, they make a higher voltage power supply, so you can have more LEDs in series! To learn more about series circuits, visit this tutorial on series versus parallel circuits. Materials: […]

Battery Power with Variable Voltage using Magnets

This tutorial will show you a nifty way to make a variable power supply using neodymium magnets, coin cell batteries and two alligator clips.  You can also use this as a standard battery holder by using only one coin cell battery. Notice how your LEDs get dimmer when you have many of them? Having multiple […]

Parallel and Series Circuits

Have you ever noticed that the brightness of LEDs change differently when you connect them in different ways? This tutorial explains the differences between series and parallel connections. Series Connections When components are connected to one another in a continuous loop, like beads on a necklace, it is called a series connection. In a series […]

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