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Simon Game - Through-Hole Soldering Kit
Replacement:KIT-09883. The new version of the kit uses an ATmega328 instead of a ATmega168. This page is for reference only.
This is a through-hole version of our popular surface mount Simon kit. All components are through-hole, making this kit great for beginners. When building this kit, you'll have a chance to solder a 28-pin microprocessor, LEDs, battery clips and more.
Note: This ATmega168 comes pre-programmed with the Simon code as well as the STK500 serial bootloader. This serial bootloader will allow you to re-program the Simon game using the Arduino development environment. There is not direct support under the Arduino IDE but the 'Lilypad Arduino w/ ATmega168' should allow you to reprogram the board using Arduino. You can also use a standard text editor and WinAVR. The serial port on this board requires a male header and FTDI Basic board, not included, but related below.
After you have successfully assembled the kit, you will have a greater knowledge of through-hole soldering and the tools, techniques, and terminology required to populate your own PCB prototype. You will have a development platform with 5 outputs (LEDs and buzzer), 5 inputs (buttons), and serial for debugging. And, of course, you'll have your very own Simon game!
Checkout the assembly instructions - we're pretty proud of them. The kit even includes batteries! Assembly time varies, but for a true beginner with no soldering experience, the kit can take 20-40 minutes to assemble.
This product makes for a great gift too! For more gift ideas check out the SparkFun Gift Guide!
- 1x ATmega168 - pre-programmed with Simon firmware
- 1x Buzzer
- 2x 0.1μF Cap
- 1x 10K Resistor
- 4x LEDs (blue, yellow, red, green)
- 2x Slide Switch
- 4x Battery Clips
- 2x AA Batteries
- 1x Button pad
- 1x Bezel
- 4x Standoffs and screws
1x Assembly instructions
A soldering iron and wire cutters are the bare minimum tools required. We scoured the earth and found a really fantastic beginner's soldering iron for $10, solder for $2, and wire cutters for $2.
- Assembly Instructions
- Schematic
- Eagle Files
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Be sure to checkout our Surface Mount Soldering Tutorial and our SMD soldering guide.
Simon Game - Through-Hole Soldering Kit Product Help and Resources
Simon Says Assembly Guide
January 20, 2011
No matter what flavor of the Simon Says Through-hole Soldering Kit you've purchased, this tutorial is here to guide you through the entire build process.
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Customer Reviews
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Sorry wrong area
Put it together. it works. seems to reboot when a finger shorts it out. I told my wife to try not touch the back. I hooked the ftdi basic to it. installed the necessary drivers and stuff. It seems that it reboots when I try to reprogram it. maybe the bootloader for arduino isnt installed because it is a simon game.the arduino interface says that it isn't insync then it displays an error 0x14 not 0x51.
This is a nice kit. Considering it's been about 10 years since I've soldered anything seriously I was in need of some practice. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The kit went together very quickly and I think the estimate of 20-40 minutes for assembly time is very accurate.
I was worried about soldering the ATmega168 first and probably would have preferred starting on a .2 cent capacitor instead of a 4 dollar microcontroller but that's just my preference.
I'll also back up halconnen with saying that you get only two volumes LOUD and off.
I'm assuming the extra through holes connections that aren't used are for possibly hooking up a serial programmer so that a person could use a programmer to reprogram the microcontroller once this thing is all put together? Is this true and are there any instructions for doing so?
The downloaded hex does not match the pre-installed hex. Assembled the kit and, when you turn it on, it makes a quick 1 second zappy-siren sound. I flashed it with the downloaded code to just confirm my programmer is working properly and it was silent starting up.
Just a warning to pull the code out from the chip before playing with programming if you care about such things.
yikes! needs a volume pot instead of a switch :D
the sound level has two settings, LOUD and off
otherwise great product!
The kit I got has very slight misalignments in the button bezel holes in the circuit board, so that the bezel distorts slightly when being screwed together. As a result, the buttons don't lay flat and key well. I bought a reamer this weekend, so I'll use that to enlarge the holes, which should fix this problem.
For a possible re-design, I think I'd put just a tiny bit more room in the components around the bezel so that it has fewer interference points.
Otherwise, this is an enjoyable kit to put together.