Boards and essentials
Solderless breadboard
Connect a small circuit without soldering.
What it does
Metal strips join groups of holes. The center trench separates the two sides; long power rails may be split partway along the board.
Connections and compatibility
Place DIP chips across the center trench. Use a continuity meter to learn which holes connect before applying power.
Choosing one
A small reusable board is enough. Look for firm contacts rather than the greatest number of holes.
Common mistakes
Rows with matching printed numbers are not necessarily connected across the trench. Do not use breadboards for mains wiring or high-current motor paths.
Use it in a tutorial
- Analog and PWM signals — Use a potentiometer to control an indicator, and learn how analog measurements differ from PWM outputs.
- Buttons and switches — Wire a button with an internal pull-up, debounce it, and toggle an indicator once per press.
- Blinking an LED — Wire a low-current status indicator and blink it without blocking the rest of your program.
- Infrared receiver modules — Decode an old remote with a 38 kHz receiver and distinguish new presses from held-key repeats.
- Servo motors — Move a lightweight pointer with two buttons while powering a micro servo independently of the controller.
- Shift registers — Use a 74HC595 to drive eight low-current indicators with three controller pins.
- Transistors — Build a low-side transistor switch, then learn what changes when the load becomes a motor or relay.
- Using an RFID module — Read an RC522 tag identifier with correct voltage translation, and understand why a UID is not a secure key.