Start here!
Welcome to Breadboard! The general flow is simple: design a project, receive a kit, and submit your build.
1. Read the docs first
Submitting your project
- Requirements teaches you everything you need to make a shipped project
- Good Journaling teaches you how to keep track of your progress while working on your project
Resources
- Breadboard Basics covers the fundamental breadboard components
- LED Workshop walks you through building and controlling a basic circuit
- Firmware Guide explains how to write and flash code onto your board
2. Pick an idea and choose your kit
Figure out what you want to build, then decide which kit fits best. Don't just think about what you need, think about what would make it cooler.
A tamagotchi only needs a screen, buzzer, and buttons. But wouldn't a motion detector be SO COOL so it wakes up when there's motion? Or a light sensor so it can sleep in the dark?
Whatever you pick, your design has to clear this bar:
- Combine several ways to interact, one button isn't enough.
- Do more than blink an LED: a screen, LED matrix, motor, or servo.
- Sense multiple things from the real world and react to them.
- One sentence on why it needs a microcontroller at all.
- Your code weighs several inputs, remembers, or changes over time.
- Your own code doing real work: a state machine, control loop, sensor filtering, non-blocking timing, or a protocol like I2C/SPI/serial.
- No AI-assisted coding, write your own code.
For more details, click here.
Check out @alexren's hwdocs.hackclub.dev for extra tips and inspiration.
The two available kits are below. Pick the one that best fits your idea.
Kit B: ESP32 Starter Kit
Components
| Component | Qty |
|---|---|
| ESP32 Development Board | 1 |
| 0.96" OLED Display | 1 |
| DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Module | 1 |
| HC-SR501 PIR Motion Sensor | 1 |
| Obstacle Avoidance Module | 1 |
| Photosensitive Resistor Module | 1 |
| Resistors (220Ω / 1K / 10K) | 30 |
| Potentiometer 10K | 1 |
| Passive Buzzer | 1 |
| Active Buzzer | 1 |
| 5V 2-Channel Relay Module | 1 |
| Button Switch | 6 |
| Red LED | 5 |
| Yellow LED | 5 |
| Green LED | 5 |
| RGB LED | 2 |
| 830 Tie-Point Breadboard | 1 |
| F-M DuPont Cable | 10 |
| F-F DuPont Cable | 10 |
| M-M DuPont Cable | 10 |
| Micro-USB Cable | 1 |
Kit A: Arduino UNO Starter Kit
Components
| Component | Qty |
|---|---|
| UNO MEGA328P R3 | 1 |
| MB-102 Breadboard | 1 |
| LCD1602 (blue) | 1 |
| LCD1602 I2C Adapter | 1 |
| DHT11 Module | 1 |
| LM35DZ | 1 |
| Thermistor | 3 |
| RC522 RFID Module | 1 |
| Water Level Module | 1 |
| Infrared Transmitter | 1 |
| Infrared Receiver | 1 |
| Remote Control | 1 |
| Remote Control LED Module | 1 |
| Resistance 1/6W 220R | 8 |
| Resistance 1/6W 1K | 5 |
| Resistance 1/6W 10K | 6 |
| Potentiometer 5K | 1 |
| Passive Buzzer | 1 |
| 5V Buzzer | 1 |
| 74HC595N Shift Register | 1 |
| HDX Vibration Switch | 2 |
| Tact Switch 12x12 | 4 |
| 4x4 Button Module | 1 |
| Rocker (5-pin) | 1 |
| LED Yellow F5 | 5 |
| LED Red F5 | 5 |
| LED Blue F5 | 5 |
| Dot Matrix Module 8x8 | 1 |
| ULN2003 Module | 1 |
| SG90 Servo | 1 |
| Stepper Motor | 1 |
| Microphone Module | 1 |
| 5V 1-Way Relay Module | 1 |
| 1-Digit Digital Tube | 1 |
| 4-Digit Digital Tube | 1 |
| DS1302 RTC Module | 1 |
| Dupont Line 20cm M-F | 10 |
| 9V Battery Connector | 1 |
| USB Cable | 1 |
| Breadboard Wires | 1 |
Note: Although at first glance the Arduino kit has more, do research to see what you need! For instance, ESP32s are more compact, and have WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities.
3. Create your design
Start making your project! Log in and head to the platform, hit New project, give it a title, and pick your kit. That drops you straight into the editor.
The editor is a full breadboard workbench in your browser. Drag components onto the canvas, wire them up, and write your firmware in the built-in code editor. Compile and check your code, then run it in the live simulator to watch the circuit work before you touch real hardware. You also get a serial monitor, an oscilloscope and logic analyzer, virtual sensor controls, a library manager, and one-click publishing to GitHub.
Everything you do in the editor is timelapsed automatically, but that doesn't replace your journal, you still need to log your progress as you go.
Your time here also earns you bread, the currency you spend in the shop. The design stage pays 5 bread per hour of approved work. Later, once you actually build a project, you earn golden bread, which gets you items from the shop for cheaper! See the requirements for the details.
Do you have other components that aren't in the platform? You can work off platform instead! Design your own custom breadboard in KiCad or any tool you like and submit that. Make sure you timelapse everything you do, and journal your progress! This isn't recommended, but it's an available option :D Create your project for more information, and make sure to include all the requirements.
Got questions? Ask in #breadboard on Slack. If you build something this weekend, post it there too!