LEARN BY DOING – ONE PROJECT AT A TIME
Each nLab project is designed to teach you something new, whether it's lighting your first LED, wiring a motion detector, or coding a robot. With beginner, intermediate, and advanced tracks, you'll always know what's next and how to keep progressing.
LIGHT AN LED
Turn on your very first circuit by powering an LED. In this beginner project, you'll learn how current flows through a simple loop, how resistors control voltage, and why polarity matters when working with electronic components. By the end, you'll have a working light – and the confidence to build your next circuit.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
- How to use a breadboard to connect components
- Why resistors are essential to protect LEDs
- How to identify polarity and orient components correctly
- The basics of current and voltage in a circuit
LIGHT AN LED
Turn on your very first circuit by powering an LED. In this beginner project, you'll learn how current flows through a simple loop, how resistors control current, and why polarity matters when working with electronic components. By the end, you'll have a working light – and the confidence to build your next circuit.
MAKE YOUR FIRST CIRCUIT BETTER
Extend your circuit with wire. Learn how the breadboard works, and use wire stripping tools to spread the components of your LED circuit around the breadboard.
CIRCUIT BUILDING SKILLS
A deep dive into the breadboard and wire. Where did the breadboard come from, and how does it work? Learn about the different types of wire and the best way to use it in a breadboard.
HOW TO USE THE NLAB AND APP
A look at the nLab: an oscilloscope, a power supply, and a function generator. Using the nLab app, you can see you signal, power it, and create signals to work with.
CODING WITH NLAB
Using Python, you can get access to your nLab to build your own interface. Read voltages and set outputs for your specific project, like a data logger, a game, or a control system.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND ELECTRONICS
What is electricity? In this video, explore the concepts of voltage, current, and power, using easy to understand analogies.
SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS
Circuit components are wired in ways that share voltage and current. The properties of voltage, "across", and current, "through", are used to design circuits with just a few easy rules. In this video, see how resistors, LEDs, and buttons can be placed for different effects.
OHM'S LAW AND CIRCUIT DESIGN
Resistors obey Ohm's Law, a simple equation relating voltage, current, and resistance. Combined with series and parallel rules, you can find the voltage at every point and the current through every component!
BUILD A SENSING CIRCUIT
Design circuits that detect light, temperature, and sound.
DESIGN CIRCUITS BY STACKING THEM LIKE BLOCKS
We've designed a few small circuits. By stacking them, we can build more complicated functions. But sometimes this doesn't work, unless we consider how they interact with each other.
CAPACITORS IN CIRCUITS
See how charging capacitors can be used to change how circuits react over time
OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER CIRCUITS
It is time to super charge our circuits with chips! Operational amplifiers are integrated circuits that use power to solve many of the design challenges we've seen in circuit design. Op amps are used to make decisions, fix impedance problems, and perform math. In this video, see how they are used and add to your list of circuit blocks.
TRANSISTOR CIRCUITS
Learn how transistors created the electronics revolution. In this video, use transistors as switches and amplifiers.
RECORD AND PLOT NLAB DATA
Sometimes you want to get your data into a file for use later. In the nLab app, you can save your data as a screenshot and as a .csv file. See how to use the file to plot your data in a spreadsheet and in Python.
DESIGN YOUR OWN GAME WITH NLAB
Circuits are way more fun when you get to interact with them. Now that you can design functional circuits, let's get their data into the computer and do something. Let's make a game! Pygame Zero is a great platform to use with the nLab api to quickly get going.
BUILDING A MICROPHONE
Project: how to detect sound with a circuit
AN OPTICAL PULSE SENSOR
Project: use light to detect your pulse, the way a smart watch does
MAKE AN ECG
Project: detect your pulse with electrodes
BUILD A THERMOMETER
Project: design a circuit to sense temperature and display the data to a user
BUILD A MOTION DETECTOR
Project: use light to detect when people are in a room
INVENT A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Project: invent a new way to make music
MAKE AN EMG CONTROLLER
Project: detect your muscle activity level with EMG
LIGHT AN LED
Turn on your very first circuit by powering an LED. In this beginner project, you'll learn how current flows through a simple loop, how resistors control current, and why polarity matters when working with electronic components. By the end, you'll have a working light – and the confidence to build your next circuit.
MAKE YOUR FIRST CIRCUIT BETTER
Extend your circuit with wire. Learn how the breadboard works, and use wire stripping tools to spread the components of your LED circuit around the breadboard.
CIRCUIT BUILDING SKILLS
A deep dive into the breadboard and wire. Where did the breadboard come from, and how does it work? Learn about the different types of wire and the best way to use it in a breadboard.
HOW TO USE THE NLAB AND APP
A look at the nLab: an oscilloscope, a power supply, and a function generator. Using the nLab app, you can see you signal, power it, and create signals to work with.
CODING WITH NLAB
Using Python, you can get access to your nLab to build your own interface. Read voltages and set outputs for your specific project, like a data logger, a game, or a control system.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND ELECTRONICS
What is electricity? In this video, explore the concepts of voltage, current, and power, using easy to understand analogies.
SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS
Circuit components are wired in ways that share voltage and current. The properties of voltage, "across", and current, "through", are used to design circuits with just a few easy rules. In this video, see how resistors, LEDs, and buttons can be placed for different effects.
OHM'S LAW AND CIRCUIT DESIGN
Resistors obey Ohm's Law, a simple equation relating voltage, current, and resistance. Combined with series and parallel rules, you can find the voltage at every point and the current through every component!
BUILD A SENSING CIRCUIT
Design circuits that detect light, temperature, and sound.
DESIGN CIRCUITS BY STACKING THEM LIKE BLOCKS
We've designed a few small circuits. By stacking them, we can build more complicated functions. But sometimes this doesn't work, unless we consider how they interact with each other.
CAPACITORS IN CIRCUITS
See how charging capacitors can be used to change how circuits react over time
OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER CIRCUITS
It is time to super charge our circuits with chips! Operational amplifiers are integrated circuits that use power to solve many of the design challenges we've seen in circuit design. Op amps are used to make decisions, fix impedance problems, and perform math. In this video, see how they are used and add to your list of circuit blocks.
TRANSISTOR CIRCUITS
Learn how transistors created the electronics revolution. In this video, use transistors as switches and amplifiers.
BUILDING A MICROPHONE
Project: how to detect sound with a circuit
AN OPTICAL PULSE SENSOR
Project: use light to detect your pulse, the way a smart watch does
BUILD A THERMOMETER
Project: design a circuit to sense temperature and display the data to a user
BUILD A MOTION DETECTOR
Project: use light to detect when people are in a room
INVENT A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Project: invent a new way to make music
RECORD AND PLOT NLAB DATA
Sometimes you want to get your data into a file for use later. In the nLab app, you can save your data as a screenshot and as a .csv file. See how to use the file to plot your data in a spreadsheet and in Python.
DESIGN YOUR OWN GAME WITH NLAB
Circuits are way more fun when you get to interact with them. Now that you can design functional circuits, let's get their data into the computer and do something. Let's make a game! Pygame Zero is a great platform to use with the nLab api to quickly get going.
MAKE AN ECG
Project: detect your pulse with electrodes
MAKE AN EMG CONTROLLER
Project: detect your muscle activity level with EMG
