SparkFun Electronics
Encyclopedia
SparkFun Electronics is an electronics
retailer
in Boulder
, Colorado
, United States
. It manufactures and sells microcontroller
development boards and breakout boards.
s.History of SparkFun Electronics. The name 'SparkFun' came about because one of the founders of SparkFun was testing a development board, and sparks flew out; Fun was chosen because the company's self-stated aim is to educate people about electronics.
On 7 Jan, 2010 SparkFun gave away $100,000 worth of merchandise during "SparkFun Free Day", where each customer had a chance to get $100 worth of free items. This popular event lasted 1 hour 44 minutes and 47 seconds, and was widely reported in the news. Additionally, a contest was held to guess how long "Free Day" would last; the winning guess was a mere three seconds off from the actual duration, at 1:44:44.
On November 24, 2010 SparkFun announced Free Day II. It will be held on January 13, 2011. SparkFun said "We grew by over 50% from 2009 to 2010 so we figured we’d increase the pool by as much. We are going to be giving away $150,000 to users and potentially $30,000 to charity.". Participants will have the chance to win up to $100 of credit on an order after answering 10 questions correctly. For every question answered correctly, they receive $10 and for every incorrect answer $3 are deducted from credit already earned. For every question answered correctly on Free Day, SparkFun will give $2 to a charity. Alternatively, participants can receive $10 of credit for every year since their first order.http://www.sparkfun.com/news/487
" community, particularly for the Arduino
and related devices.
Whilst the majority of products sold by SFE are from other manufacturers, it does manufacture and sell some of its own products:
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
retailer
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
in Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It manufactures and sells microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
development boards and breakout boards.
History
SparkFun Electronics was founded in 2003 by Nathan Seidle. Its first products were Olimex printed circuit boardPrinted circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
s.History of SparkFun Electronics. The name 'SparkFun' came about because one of the founders of SparkFun was testing a development board, and sparks flew out; Fun was chosen because the company's self-stated aim is to educate people about electronics.
On 7 Jan, 2010 SparkFun gave away $100,000 worth of merchandise during "SparkFun Free Day", where each customer had a chance to get $100 worth of free items. This popular event lasted 1 hour 44 minutes and 47 seconds, and was widely reported in the news. Additionally, a contest was held to guess how long "Free Day" would last; the winning guess was a mere three seconds off from the actual duration, at 1:44:44.
On November 24, 2010 SparkFun announced Free Day II. It will be held on January 13, 2011. SparkFun said "We grew by over 50% from 2009 to 2010 so we figured we’d increase the pool by as much. We are going to be giving away $150,000 to users and potentially $30,000 to charity.". Participants will have the chance to win up to $100 of credit on an order after answering 10 questions correctly. For every question answered correctly, they receive $10 and for every incorrect answer $3 are deducted from credit already earned. For every question answered correctly on Free Day, SparkFun will give $2 to a charity. Alternatively, participants can receive $10 of credit for every year since their first order.http://www.sparkfun.com/news/487
Projects
SparkFun has become one of the favoured suppliers for the increasingly popular "MakerMaker Faire
Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset".-Past events:The first was held April 22 – 23, 2006, at the San Mateo Fairgrounds...
" community, particularly for the Arduino
Arduino
Arduino is an open-source single-board microcontroller, descendant of the open-source Wiring platform, designed to make the process of using electronics in multidisciplinary projects more accessible. The hardware consists of a simple open hardware design for the Arduino board with an Atmel AVR...
and related devices.
Whilst the majority of products sold by SFE are from other manufacturers, it does manufacture and sell some of its own products: