SparkFun
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Electronics manufacturing and education |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Niwot, Colorado, United States |
|
Key people
|
(CEO) Glenn Samala 2016 - Present Nathan Seidle 2003 - 2016 |
|
Number of employees
|
150+ (2015) |
| Website | sparkfun.com |
(CEO) Glenn Samala 2016 - Present
SparkFun Electronics (sometimes known by its abbreviation, SFE) is an electronics retailer in Niwot, Colorado, United States. It manufactures and sells microcontroller development boards and breakout boards. All products designed and produced by SparkFun are released as open-source hardware.
SparkFun Electronics was founded in 2003 by Nathan Seidle. Its first products were Olimex printed circuit boards. The name 'SparkFun' came about because one of the founders of SparkFun was testing a development board, and sparks flew out; Fun was chosen because the company's self-stated aim is to educate people about electronics. In January 2011, an education department was formed to outreach to local schools, hackerspaces, and events.
During the Open Source Hardware summit in October 2010, SparkFun was one of the contributors in drafting the first OSHW definition. All products designed and produced by SparkFun are released as Open-source hardware (OSHW), with schematics, EAGLE files, and datasheets posted on each product page. Product images are licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0
This contest was based upon violating the 2nd and 3rd laws of robotics, where a fully automated robot would destroy itself after interacting with props and objects in a performance. The competition was retired in 2011.
The Autonomous Vehicle Challenge is a recurring contest held annually by SparkFun. The objective is to build an automated vehicle that can circumnavigate a course without human interaction. As of 2015, aerial vehicles are not allowed.
SparkFun has become one of the favoured suppliers for those without mainstream suppliers as well as the increasingly popular "Maker" community, particularly for the Arduino and related devices.
...
Wikipedia