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SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon
The SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon is a great way to get started in the fresh IoT world and WiFi development. The SparkFun Inventor’s Kit for Photon provides you not only with the Photon RedBoard but everything you need to hook up and experiment with multiple electronic circuits! With the Photon SIK you will be able to complete circuits that will teach you how to read sensors, drive motors, and more.
The SparkFun Inventor’s Kit for Photon is the latest and greatest in Internet of Things kits. Whether you’re a software developer just getting in to hardware, an EE learning software, or somewhere in between, this kit will help you get your projects hooked up to the Internet in no time.
The kit does not require any soldering and is recommended for intermediate users. We have provided a complete Experiment Guide in the Documents section below for you to utilize and learn more about the Photon! If you are comfortable reading code libraries or if you have used the original SparkFun Inventor’s Kit and are looking for the next step in programming education the Photon SIK is a perfect kit for you!
- SparkFun Photon RedBoard
- Arduino and Breadboard Holder
- White Solderless Breadboard
- Pocket Screwdriver Set
- Small Servo
- 9V Alkaline Battery
- 9V to Barrel Jack Adapter
- USB microB Cable - 6 Foot
- Jumper Wires
- JST Right Angle Connector - Through-Hole 3-Pin
- SparkFun Soil Moisture Sensor (With Screw Terminals)
- SparkFun Micro OLED Breakout (with Headers)
- SparkFun Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - MMA8452Q (with Headers)
- PIR Motion Sensor (JST)
- RHT03 Humidity and Temperature Sensor
- Magnetic Door Switch Set
- Photocell
- Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green LEDs
- Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Tactile Buttons
- 10K Trimpot
- Piezo Speaker
- 330 Ohm Resistors
- Experiment Guide
- Photon Development Guide
- GitHub (Experiment Code)
- Circuit 1: Hello World, Blink an LED
- Circuit 2: With a Touch of a Button
- Circuit 3: Houseplant Monitor
- Circuit 4: Color Selector
- Circuit 5: Music Time
- Circuit 6: Environment Monitor
- Circuit 7: Automatic Fish Feeder
- Circuit 8: Activity Tracker
- Circuit 9: Home Security
- Circuit 10: Pong!
- Circuit 11: OLED Apps - Weather & Clock
SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon Product Help and Resources
Photon RedBoard Hookup Guide
August 27, 2015
Your guide to commissioning, tinkering, and programming the SparkFun Photon RedBoard.
Photon Development Guide
August 20, 2015
A guide to the online and offline Particle IDE's to help aid you in your Photon development.
SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon Experiment Guide
September 3, 2015
Dive into the world of the Internet of Things with the SparkFun Inventor's Kit for Photon.
Photon Remote Temperature Sensor
March 1, 2016
Learn how to build your own Internet-connect, solar-powered temperature collection station using the Photon from Particle.
Core Skill: Robotics
This skill concerns mechanical and robotics knowledge. You may need to know how mechanical parts interact, how motors work, or how to use motor drivers and controllers.
Skill Level: Noob - You will be required to put together a robotics kit. Necessary parts are included and steps will be easy to follow. You also might encounter basic robotics components like bearings, mounts, or other hardware and need a general idea of how it goes together.
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Core Skill: DIY
Whether it's for assembling a kit, hacking an enclosure, or creating your own parts; the DIY skill is all about knowing how to use tools and the techniques associated with them.
Skill Level: Noob - Basic assembly is required. You may need to provide your own basic tools like a screwdriver, hammer or scissors. Power tools or custom parts are not required. Instructions will be included and easy to follow. Sewing may be required, but only with included patterns.
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Core Skill: Programming
If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.
Skill Level: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
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Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
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Customer Reviews
4.7 out of 5
Based on 15 ratings:
2 of 2 found this helpful:
Awesome introduction to IoT!
I've been playing with this for a couple weeks now, and I'm having a blast! The Experiment Guide is what really makes it work for me. I keep mixing and matching the experiments in the guide to create fun, new things on the Internet.
Great kit, great tutorials!
I'm having a lot of fun inventing, programming and learning about the Photon API.
Thanks SparkFun! I can't wait to purchase more shields :)
Fun!
Everything in this little package is full of fun - what a great way of getting familiarized with the IoT. I can highly recommend it.
EMBEDDED PROTOTYPE FOR TIMING PRACTICES RECTILINEAR MOTION IN BASIC PHYSICS LABORATORY
This product is currently used for a physics laboratory prototype, which uses servos, and the accelerometer sensor to demonstrate some laws of Newton. The kit engages a mechanical system developed Actobotis parts.
Really Enjoying this Kit
The kit has everything that you need to explore a number of different projects. I love the integration with the Particle Build IDE.
Excellent IoT introduction!
Nice work, SparkFun! I have really enjoyed this kit so far as an excellent introduction to IoT and services like IFTTT. The experiments and tutorials are great. Particle Photon's cloud environment works surprising well and to me, it's much smoother than the Arduino programming environment. Good companion items include the Make: Getting Started with the Photon book, DLI's IoT relay, and the Blynk app.
Its totally easy to start!
I am really beginner for this things. But really impress about how easy to start the project with this kit. Looking forward to do more complicated project in the future.
I love it!
It was simple to use and the projects were great for learning how to use the Photon.
Easy setup
I thought the Sparkfun kits would be fun for my kids. I purchased the Photon kit for my home. The instructions for adding the Photon board to my home's wifi network was easy using the photon app on my iphone. My 9 year old and 12 old sons were better at plugging the resistors, led lights, wires, etc into the bread board than me. I have had the kit for a couple of weeks, and we were able to do most of the exercises. This is a fun kit to see the lights change based on the simple c code changes in the IDE. I like educating my kids about electronics and some simple programming.
Just what I needed
This is a good collection of starter pieces for someone who has no idea where to start. But I think the best part are all the online resources that sparkfun provides -- the tutorials are awesome, and their tech support shines too.
Love it!
Very fun! If I could change a few things, it would be: 1. Include the URL to the list of experiments on the web page 2. If items are going to be changed/or substituted, it should be noted.
A little research, and I was back on track. A great way to get your foot in the door for microprocessors! Thanks so much!
Photon SIK
This is the second SIK that I have purchased (the other one was for the arduino). So far, have made it to Lesson 5 in the tutorial. It has been a great and enlightening journey so far! The tutorial has been well written, the experiments have gone well, and the explanations have been good. Looking forward to getting back and doing the remaining experiments. I do miss the nice case that the other SIK, but the screwdriver was a really nice touch. Notes for the product development team: - You need to have "SparkFun" engraved on the screwdriver! - Maybe (at some point) have supplemental (add-on) kits with new (advanced) tutorials/experiments to guide one even further.
Nice
Good kit to get ideas and show potential
Not impressed with the Photon integration
It’s a pain to set up and communicate with. Just buy the red board and add the photon for 19 bucks. Would not buy again
This product blows me away! It took a little bit to get it sorted out (Particle's issue, not SparkFun's.) Once you get it up and running you will be amazed at what you can do with this little device. Welcome to the connected world! Also, great support from SparkFun helping me sort through the issues.
I'm asking here because I can't comment your Electron review: can you share what humidity/temp sensor you connected to the Electron (I imagine same story for the Photon), and what tweaks if any were required for software support? My go-to would be a dual I2C sensor, but I don't want to discover a rabbit hole of I2C library troubleshooting to successfully port the code... Thanks!
Which kit is better for beginners? This redboard with photon or just the redboard?
Depends on what you want to do. If you are looking specifically to get into Wireless and IoT then probably the Photon Redboard kit. The Photon Redboard is a Wifi based board programmed over the cloud, so it works well for IoT stuff. If you are just looking to get into microcontrollers the SparkFun Redboard is probably a better option as it is basically an Arduino clone. If you want to do IoT stuff but the Photon seems like a big jump you can get the Photon kit as well as a SparkFun Redboard. The manual for the SIK (based on the SparkFun Redboard) is available on the product page and the Photon SIK has parts for a lot of the experiments.
Somewhere I saw that you will be selling this soil moisture sensor by itself. Any idea when we can expect that product?
I don't know if you have seen it already, but if not, the soil moisture sensor can be found here.