Category Archives: How To

Learn MakeCode in One Video

MakeCode TutorialMakeCode makes it easy for anyone to make awesome electronics projects. In this one video I’ll show you how all the main blocks work as I create 15 projects. One project is a Collision Detecting Robot!

I also provide basically a complete tutorial on the Adafruit Playground Express. It is like an Arduino with a TON of sensors built in. I also show you how the Adafruit Crickit board makes it easy to drive motors, how to use Ultrasonic Sensors and so much more. Continue reading Learn MakeCode in One Video

Easy Songs to Learn on Ukulele

Easy Songs to Learn on UkuleleI created a new Ukulele version of Guitar Hero. This gets right into the music. I focus on easy songs to learn on ukulele. There are 20 songs in all that get progressively harder. My 6 year old daughter learned using this exact software that I created and made available for free.

I have have easy beginner ukulele songs as well as a bunch of fun Christmas songs for ukulele. I decided to focus on lead ukulele first because I found it is easier to transition to ukulele chords after mastering lead.

I think the ukulele is the best 1st musical instrument because they sound great, are portable, and are great for people who want to move on towards learning the guitar. Continue reading Easy Songs to Learn on Ukulele

How to Play Ukulele

How to Play UkuleleYou guys told me you wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument, so in this video I’ll teach you how to play ukulele! I recreated a Ukulele version of Guitar Hero in this video tutorial. You’ll be able to play 10 different songs over and over until you have mastered them.

My 6 year old daughter played these specific games for 2 months and now she can play just about any song on the ukulele. If you want me to do another video covering how to play rhythm ukulele with chords tell me and I will. If you want me to teach other instruments I can do that as well. Here is my ukulele. Here is the ukulele note diagram. Continue reading How to Play Ukulele

Arduino 10 : Arduino Pong 2

Arduino ProgrammingAs we continue making Pong with an Arduino, I now create the code to make the ball handle collision detection, movement and way much more. We are building Pong on a constrained piece of hardware using raw binary bits and clever algorithms. Like before I’ll live code everything with very little preparation so that you can see my thinking process. All of the heavily commented code follows below. Continue reading Arduino 10 : Arduino Pong 2

Arduino 9 Arduino Pong

Arduino ProgrammingSomeone requested that I make the game Pong on a 16 x 2 LCD panel and so I start doing that in this tutorial. I’m going to live code everything with no preparation ahead of time, so that you can see how I solve this problem.

I focus this time on drawing on the LCD panel, moving the paddles and processing user input along with much more. All of the code and a transcript are found below. Continue reading Arduino 9 Arduino Pong

Arduino 8 Conway’s Game of Life

Arduino ProgrammingI tried to cover a ton in this tutorial. I’ll show how to use LCD Panels with Arduino. I then live code Conway’s Game of Life using an Arduino and a LCD Panel. Along the way we’ll create custom characters, convert from binary to base 10, generate random arrays, copy arrays and a whole lot more. I hope these functions will be useful in numerous personal projects you may have.

All of the code and a transcript follows the video below. Continue reading Arduino 8 Conway’s Game of Life

Arduino 7 Binary Calculator Circuit

Arduino ProgrammingThis tutorial takes the next step towards understanding how a bunch of resistors and transistors turn into a real computer.

Previously we created gates and now we will use them to create both a 1 Bit & a 4 Bit Binary Calculator on a breadboard. I’m using a NAND 7400 IC to create an XOR Gate. I’m using a 4 Bit Binary Adder 74LS283 IC to create that circuit. The circuit diagrams can be found below. Continue reading Arduino 7 Binary Calculator Circuit

Arduino 6 : Read Schematic Diagrams

Arduino ProgrammingAfter the last video many people asked me how to read schematic diagrams so this time I’ll walk you through the process of taking a schematic diagram to a finished circuit. This time we will be creating a NAND Gate. NAND Gates are awesome because they can be used to build all the other gates. They are the basic component from which a computer is made.

I have a drawing of the circuit below to help you. I hope you enjoy this video. Continue reading Arduino 6 : Read Schematic Diagrams

Arduino Tutorial 5

Arduino ProgrammingMy most active subscriber asked me to show how to make a calculator with circuits and so I begin that journey with this video. To make a calculator you need to understand Transistors as well as Transistor Gates. I make 4 circuits, one to demonstrate how transistors work as well as NOT, OR 7 AND Gates. The designs can be found below along with the code I used in this video. Continue reading Arduino Tutorial 5

Arduino Tutorial 4

Arduino ProgrammingIn this part of my Arduino tutorial we’ll create 2 separate projects. First we’ll learn how 7 segment displays work and then create a dice simulation rolling circuit. We’ll then learn how to create a theremin, which is a weird instrument you can play without touching it. In addition we’ll learn about photoresistors, importing libraries, voltage dividers, map and much more.

All of the code follows the video below. Continue reading Arduino Tutorial 4

Arduino Tutorial 2

Arduino ProgrammingIn this part of my Arduino tutorial I’ll cover how to measure current, resistance and voltage with a multimeter. I’ll also show how to measure voltage with an Arduino with a demonstration using a potentiometer and LED. To finish off I’ll show the difference between resistors in series versus parallel and a whole lot more.

All of the code used follows the video below. Continue reading Arduino Tutorial 2

Arduino Tutorial

Arduino ProgrammingHere I begin a massive tutorial on Arduino and Electronics! In this first video I cover Arduino Basics, Electricity, Ground, Voltage, Current, Resistance, Power, Protecting Components, LEDs, Breadboards, Arduino Coding, Ohm’s Law, Generating Different Voltages with Arduino, 2 Circuits and much more.

Like always the code I use follows the video below. The kit I’m using for the tutorial is here. Continue reading Arduino Tutorial

Arduino Programming

Arduino ProgrammingIn this tutorial I’ll cover the core C language used to program Arduinos. We’ll look at ports, the serial monitor, looping, data types, conditionals, setup, loop, static, functions, arrays, strings, numerous math functions, bit manipulation, random, structs, styling text, pointers and much more.

I make multiple little projects here, but the projects will get more advanced as I make more videos. All of the heavily commented code follows below. Continue reading Arduino Programming

How to Make Video Games

How to Make Video GamesI made a 31 part video tutorial series that teaches how to make video games by actually making real games. On this one page I have both the videos along with links to all the code. On top of that you can download the full projects for every game here Pong, Space Invaders, Tetris, Mario, Ms. Pac-Man and Zelda. I’m confident that anyone that works through these tutorials will be able to make any game they can dream of. Continue reading How to Make Video Games

Blender Tutorial 11

Blender TutorialIn this tutorial I will provide you with all the knowledge and artwork to 3D print Settlers of Catan on a 3D printer!!! I will cover how to print out 3D Blender models on a 3D printer. I’ll also cover how to import vector art from programs like Illustrator and Inkscape into Blender.

You can get Inkscape and Cura here. Here are all of the SVG files that I created for the game. Here is a link to my 3D Printer Review as well as some painting tips. Continue reading Blender Tutorial 11

Blender Tutorial 9

Blender TutorialIn this part of my Blender Tutorial I start creating a more complex model based on Mr. Incredibles car in the movie The Incredibles. I’m going to cover everything at a slower rate so that everyone will know the exact steps for modeling complex shapes.

Here are the images I used to model the car Front, Back and Side. Following the video I also have a cheat sheet in which I list the key codes I used in the video. Continue reading Blender Tutorial 9

Blender Tutorial 7

Blender TutorialWe’re going to have some fun in this Blender Tutorial! We are going to learn how to model 3D shapes in Blender. First I’ll demonstrate how to make a gear using the techniques we’ll use to create more complex models. Then we will make a 3D dog using a reference image.

We make 3D models using Extrude, Move, Scale and Loop Cuts. We also use the Boolean Modifier to make cuts in our shapes. Everything I did in this video is available after the video below. Continue reading Blender Tutorial 7