Hi there!

If you're looking to subscribe to AdaBox, click here!

Oh! Hello! If you're here, (and we suspect you are) it's because you were given the gift of electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) devices with an AdaBox! Perhaps you are a beginner who is getting started with your AdaBox. Or maybe you just want to relive what it's like being a beginner at electronics and coding again. But most of all, you want to learn how to build and make creative, awesome stuff with electronics and code! (If, rather than learn electronics and coding, you'd like to look at pictures of cats instead, please check https://www.adafruit.com/galleries/cats-of-engineering But if we're being honest, learning electronics and coding will inevitably lead to even more efficient, creative, and high-tech cat picture viewing. It's pretty much cats all the way down, people.)

Anyway, back to our story: You're in luck: there's never been a better time. Seriously. We're not just saying that. It's bananas how great a time this is for you to learn electronics and coding!

Gone are the days where you need thousands of dollars of equipment and lots physics/math background. If you have a dream of an interactive IoT device, you can build it! Want to wirelessly grab stats from the Internet to display? You can do it! How about an automatically updating, endless stream of cat pictures or Dune quotes right on your desk?

Oh, and animated cat GIFs! How could we forget about those adorable fuzzballs? The dream is yours to realize! Always wanted your own weather station, or IoT data logger? Why didn't you say so?! NOW is the time to build it with the Adafruit PyPortal and a bit of coding in CircuitPython or Arduino!

Thanks to the generous sponsorship and support from Analog Devices and Digi-Key, we've even included a fancy precision temperature sensor! Each PyPortal comes with an ADT7410 sensor built right in, so you can display the local temperature or use the PyPortal as a remote temperature logger and sensor that uploads data to our free adafruit.io IoT service.

Who is this for?

Anyone who's interested in open source, compact, wirelessly connected Internet of Things devices with high resolution touch screens, sensors, and more, that's who! If you want to learn how to code your own IoT widget, this is for you! Oh, and with access to a modern web browser. That's pretty much the minimum. Remember, this guide is specifically for people who have purchased or received an AdaBox subscription!

You don't need to know a lot of physics or math, and just like an Art Degree isn't required for making art and being creative, you don't need to have a computer science or engineering degree. It helps if you're comfortable using computers, but that's a skill most people pick up through life.

If you know how to program already - great! If not, don't worry, we'll teach you enough to be dangerous, yet effective!

Who isn't this for?

While you can follow along without an AdaBox, it will not make as much sense unless you have all of the components and more which either came as a gift or purchased yourself - remember, the goal is helping beginners!

If you're an expert, please visit our hundreds other tutorials and jump right in at learn.adafruit.com

Who are you?

Great question. This is me:

I'm Ladyada, and I love to teach people how to build stuff and how they can be creative with technology.

So, are you ready?

Let's do this thing!

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This guide was first published on Mar 19, 2019. It was last updated on Mar 26, 2024.

This page (Introduction) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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