The Adafruit Vibrating Mini Motor Disc is simplicity itself to use, apply power and it buzzes, remove power and it stops. They will work from 2 to 5V with stronger vibrations from the higher voltage and the drive circuit can be as simple as a battery and switch. If you want to drive it from a microcontroller such as an Arduino then you will need a series resistor to limit the current draw. Please see the technical specification for details of the current draw at various input voltages. If you want to take the load off the microcontroller then pop in a 2N2222 transistor to handle the current.

Supplied as a tested disc motor only, no assembly required. Adafruit provide a tutorial and sample Arduino code to get you started.

• Motor vibrates when voltage is applied
• 11,000 rpm at 5V
• Dimensions 10mm diameter x 2.7mm thick (0.4 x 0.11in.)
• Adafruit part no.: 1201

*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.

The Adafruit 12-Channel PWM LED Driver has remarkably high resolution PWM, at 16-bits. Ideal if you want precise control of the LED brightness. Each channel can drive 1 or more LEDs in series up to a V+ anode supply of 17V and you can control the current supplied by the constant-current drivers. The solder pads are cleverly laid out so that you can either drive 12 x individual LEDs or you can drive 4 x RGB LEDs and that makes 48-bits of colour. The boards use just 2 x SPI pins which can be chained from one board to another for more ambitious displays.

The board also has a green "power- good" LED, 4 x mounting holes, a 3.3V regulator and a current-set resistor.

Supplied as a fully assembled and tested board with a strip of 0.1in. header pins for you to solder on as required. Adafruit provide a free tutorial and an Arduino library to get you started.

• 12-channel 16-bit PWM
• Drive one or more LEDs per channel up to a V+ of 17V
• Pinout suitable for RGB LEDs too
• Dimensions: 22.8 x 28.4 x 3mm (0.89 x 1.1 x 0.1in.)
• Adafruit part no.: 1455

*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.

The Adafruit Solenoid / Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board is a versatile high current driver able to control 2 x bidirectional DC motors, 1 x stepper motor or 2 x solenoids. It uses a TB6612 dual H-bridge chip that can supply 1.2A, which isn't that high in real terms but it's a huge current compared to the recommended 20mA output from an Arduino GPIO pin for example. The chip has built-in flyback diodes to prevent damage due to inductive kick-back and Adafruit have added reverse polarity protection on the motor power input as well. The H-bridges are disabled at power-up to prevent twitching when power is applied. All the logic inputs are 3.3 to 5V compatible so you can run the driver board from an Arduino or Raspberry Pi, while the motor power has a separate input from 4.5 to 13.5V DC. There's a separate PWM input on each H-bridge so that you can control the motor speed.

Supplied as an fully assembled and tested board plus a strip of 0.1in. header pins for you to solder on as required. Adafruit supply a free tutorial to get you started. An ideal board for those times when you just want to get something working quickly.

• Dual H-bridge breakout board
• Flyback diodes and reverse motor power protected
• Motors disabled on power up
• 2 x bidirectional DC motors, 1 x stepper motor, 2 x solenoids
• Up to 1.2A drive current per motor
• 3.3 to 5V logic and power compatible
• Separate motor power from 4.5 to 13.5V DC
• Adafruit part no.: 2448

*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.

The Adafruit Analogue 2-axis Thumb Joystick with Select Button makes it easy to add console-like joystick control to your next project. This neat kit has 2 x potentiometers which you can connect to 2 x analogue inputs on your microcontroller for precise control. It also has a click down switch just like a console controller.

Supplied as a bare PCB, the joystick unit and a soft touch rubber hat; assembly requires a small amount of soldering.

• 2-axis analogue stick with 1 x digital switch
• Uses 1mA at 5V DC
• Assembled dimensions: 38 x 38 x 32mm (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.25in.)
• Adafruit part no.: 512

*Customers looking to resell on eBay or Amazon should contact Adafruit directly.