littleBits Starter Kit

Replacement:KIT-11068. The new version fixes some minor layout issues and improves the connectors a bit. This page is for reference only.

littleBits is a library of discrete electronic components pre-assembled in tiny circuit boards. These simple, intuitive, space-sensitive blocks make prototyping with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together. With a growing number of available modules, littleBits aims to move electronics from late stages of the design process to its earliest ones, and from the hands of experts, to those of artists, makers, students and designers.

Each "Bit" is a piece of an electronic circuit. The bits are color coded and divided into 4 categories: power, input, output and wire. By combining the modules in different ways (by simply "snapping" them together magnetically) you can quickly create any number of interactive electronic projects.

The starter kit contains everything you need to get started with littleBits, including several littleBits modules, a 9 volt battery and a full-color quickstart sheet. It even comes in a snazzy tray-separated cardboard box with magnetic closure.

**Note: **This product is a collaboration with littleBits. A portion of each sales goes back to them for continued development of the littleBits product line.

  • Wall Power Bit
  • Button Bit
  • Potentiometer Bit
  • Pressure Sensor Bit
  • Pulse Bit
  • Wire Bit
  • LED Bit
  • RGB LED Bit
  • Vibration Motor Bit
  • Bar Graph Bit
  • 9 Volt Battery and Connector
  • Full-color Quickstart Sheet

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  • Tadpole / about 13 years ago / 4

    Wow! This is really cool I'm going to get onnn.. WHOA! $129!? Forget I said anything.

    • TimZaman / about 13 years ago / 1

      Indeed. Have not seen anything as overpriced as this kit :)

    • JoshFranz / about 13 years ago / 1

      I agree. It's definitely pointed at a beginner educational institution, because it's not feasibly affordable for anyone else... I wonder what it would take to make a cheap beginner hobbyist alternative?

      • Kamiquasi / about 13 years ago * / 1

        I wonder what it would take to make a cheap beginner hobbyist alternative?
        simple.. travel back 2-3 decades and pick up some bloc-tronic or similar kit:
        http://web.archive.org/web/20110107084104/http://www.lifeaftercoffee.com/2006/05/24/bloc-tronic-electronics-toy/
        ( original site may or may not have code injected by sad people )
        These days there's similar such experimentation kits. littleBits looks like a fine - albeit expensive - addition.

        • Tadpole / about 13 years ago * / 1

          Please remove this link. It goes to a site, but then bounces to another porn site that tries to DL a batch file. (somthing.bat) We all know what that means. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but it shouldn't be clicked on.
          I haven't been able to repeat this except for the first time. The original site seems legit. Odd.

          • Kamiquasi / about 13 years ago * / 1

            Yeah, looks like it was affected -after- I posted. I'll replace it with an archive.org link.

          • jk_CBWP_net / about 13 years ago / 1

            often the hacked site is legit and the offender has inserted an iframe with display=0 and the offending site checks your ip to make it harder to "catch" them xSS...

  • orcinus / about 13 years ago / 1

    Insane price is insane.

  • Member #254688 / about 13 years ago / 1

    waw that's amazing! a dream for electronic amateurs! am purchasing my kit right away!

  • ElectronicAussie / about 13 years ago / 1

    Are the schematics available?
    From the images it looks like there are three only three conductors in the connector, yet there are several boards daisy chained together. How does this work?

    • There are two power connectors and one signal connector at each end of a module. One end is signal in, the other is signal out. Some of the boards just pass the signal through, and some modify the signal. The magnets themselves are not used for electrical connections.
      I was wondering where the schematics are too, since it's supposed to be an OSHW product. LittleBits appears to be big on marketing, but not on sharing.

      • Search on this page for "Eagle Files." It's a .zip file containing .brd and .sch files. You can load them into the free version of the program Eagle from http://cadsoft.de

      • The creator of littleBits is one of the founders of the OSHW Summit. Im sure that was a simple oversight.

  • MadManinc / about 13 years ago / 1

    Add more parts doubling the amount of parts in the kit would excuse the cost of the product but not add much more to the cost make more simple switches different battery connector, is there a light sensor? different color LED's you make a toggle switch, and maybe set into the chips some kind of distortions, or a mic and a SD card slot that would be cool then later on you can add coding SOLAR CELLS!, there should be more robot parts legs, wheels they cloud make little robots or cars

  • ohararp / about 13 years ago / 1

    Sign me up for some of those connectors. I think they could be pretty handy for some prototyping I do here!

  • lowestsodium / about 13 years ago / 1

    Do you guys carry those magnetized connectors? I think these would be great interfaces for debugging and testing mass produced items, just like the pogo-pins.
    Thanks!

    • We don't. They would need a bit of work for prototyping and such, as they don't have a super-secure connection. It works fine for this application, but you might want something more robust for a solid interface.

  • JoshFranz / about 13 years ago / 1

    Whaaaaaaaat this is so cool. I've always wanted to make something like this! Great beginner set!
    You should sell the connector kits and have specs for it so that someone (I'd be up to it) could make an Arduino block!

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