# LittleArduinoProjects is 864 electronics projects and a static site that indexes them

> LEAP is a personal collection of electronics and Arduino projects, mostly breadboard experiments, plus a catalogue site generated from the repository so the projects can be browsed. It ships library dependencies as git submodules, uses an unusual Arduino sketchbook layout so every sketch opens in the IDE, and in 2024 had its git history squashed to escape a 2 GB push limit.

**tardate/LittleArduinoProjects** — a collection of "Little Electronic & Arduino Projects", most involving electronics or an Arduino in one way or another!

- Repository: https://github.com/tardate/LittleArduinoProjects
- Website: https://leap.tardate.com
- Stars: 798 · Forks: 212
- Language: C
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/tardate-littlearduinoprojects

## Eight hundred and sixty-four projects, most of them trivial

The README titles the project 864 Little Electronic Art Projects, and the description is a collection of Little Electronic and Arduino Projects, most involving electronics or an Arduino in one way or another.

The author is direct about the nature of the collection. LEAP is just a personal collection of electronics projects, usually involving an Arduino or other microprocessor in some way. Some are full-blown projects, while many are trivial breadboard experiments intended to learn and explore something interesting.

That framing is the point. A repository with 864 projects is not a library and not a curriculum, it is a pile of things that were built because they were interesting. Projects are often inspired by things found wild on the net, or ideas from electronics podcasts and YouTube channels, and the README invites you to borrow liberally, with credits given in the individual project folders.

The top level directory listing shows the breadth by platform rather than by function. There are 8051 for the classic 8 bit Intel part, ARM, PIC, ESP32, ESP8266 and RaspberryPi for the rest, plus Audio, BoldportClub, Equipment, FPGA, FretBoard, FritzingParts, Girabot, Kinetics, Kraft, LEDArrayDemos, OSHChip, Radio, hardware, books, notebook, playground and processing.

The newest addition named in the README is a set of boost converter modules under Electronics101/Power/SwitchModePowerSupplies, reviewing low cost modules that can generally supply up to 30V. That is the kind of entry this repository accumulates: a bench note about a part, with a photo and a verdict.

## The catalogue site is generated from the repository itself

The README says the best way to browse the projects is the LEAP Catalog, at leap.tardate.com, and that it is actually a static web site generated directly from the repository.

That is worth pausing on, because it explains the directory listing. There is a catalog directory, and alongside the project folders there are _config.yml, _data, _includes and _layouts, which are the layout and data files of a static site generator, plus index.html, gallery.html and a robots.txt at the root. The site is not a separate application that reads the repository over HTTP, it is built from files that live in the same tree.

The consequence is that browsing and contributing are the same activity. Adding a project folder with the right files adds it to the catalogue on the next build, and there is no separate publishing step to learn.

For someone who wants to find a specific circuit, this is the difference between scrolling a directory tree of 864 entries and searching a catalogue with images and descriptions. The README's own advice is to use the catalogue, and the site is linked from the project homepage at leap.tardate.com.

The repository also carries a notebooks directory linked from the README as a source of ideas, and a books directory, which suggests the catalogue is not only an index of the projects but also a reading list around them.

## The Arduino sketchbook trick, and why the submodules exist

The getting started section is mostly about a workaround, and understanding it is the difference between a repository that opens and one that does not.

For Arduino projects, the author has the Arduino IDE sketchbook location, in preferences, set to the root of this repository. That makes all the projects available in the IDE, and it automatically includes libraries that are linked as git submodules in the libraries folder.

The reason is that some projects require additional libraries including FastLED, FlexiTimer2 and RadioHead, and a set of such libraries is included as submodules of the repository, with the libraries page documenting the included libraries and submodule management.

The git commands for that are the practical part of the setup.

```bash
git submodule update --init
```

```bash
git submodule foreach git pull
```

And a single library can be updated later with the remote flag.

```bash
git submodule update --remote libraries/TextFinder
```

If you do not have the Arduino IDE set up this way, the README says libraries can be retrieved with git, or you can just install them separately as you would any other library.

The sketchbook trick is clever and it has a cost. It means your Arduino IDE environment points at a multi-gigabyte repository root, and it means the sketches are not laid out the way the IDE normally expects a project to be laid out. For a single-project setup that is friction you would not accept. For a person who works through dozens of sketches across platforms, having them all appear in the IDE at once is worth it.

## The 2024 history squash, and what it means for anyone with a clone

The repository was started in 2014, and the README explains what happened in the 11th year with a section titled The 10th Anniversary Archive.

The problem was size. Over the years the repository accumulated over 2Gb of obsolete commits, and so much git history that it was not even possible to do a git push of the entire repo without resorting to batch tricks, with a link to a Stack Overflow question about the GitHub remote push pack size being exceeded.

The fix was a one-time squash of the project history, essentially restarting the git history from scratch. The details are worth knowing because they affect anyone with an existing clone.

The primary repo remains LittleArduinoProjects, but with the git history squashed, retaining the original first commit as the base so any clones and forks share a common root commit, and the working branch renamed from master to main.

A snapshot of the repository prior to the squash lives at LittleArduinoProjects-archive-2014-2024, marked as archived in GitHub with issues disabled, retaining the full git history in the very unlikely event that anyone needs to refer back to a specific change.

The practical guidance is given plainly. If you are just viewing the repository or the web catalogue, there is no impact. If you have a clone, the simplest is to throw it away and make a fresh clone. If you have work in progress on private branches, you will probably want to cherry-pick the changes onto a branch based on the new main branch, and the author asks you to reach out or post an issue if you need help. Old pull requests are based on the old history, so reviving any of them requires a rebase onto the new history.

The README's closing note is the reason to keep the archive around rather than deleting it: a clone you took in 2018 and a clone you take today share a common root commit, so the two can be diffed against each other.

## The scale modelling projects moved out

There is a small migration in the README that explains part of the directory layout.

For a while the author also included various scale modelling projects, but they have now been split off into a new repository, LittleModelArt at modelart.tardate.com, for anyone looking for the modelling projects.

It is a one paragraph note, but it is a useful signal about how this repository is organised. There is a clear line between electronics and microprocessor work, and the modelling work is a different enough activity to have its own home with its own site.

The same instinct shows in the platform directories. Rather than one Arduino folder with mixed platforms, there is a directory per microcontroller family, and folders for topics that recur across platforms such as Radio, Audio and FretBoard. The FretBoard directory in particular suggests a personal project thread rather than a cataloguing category, and the presence of Kinetics, Kraft and Girabot alongside the platform folders points to the same thing: specific interests that have outgrown a single folder.

The Kinetics, Kraft and OSHChip directories are worth a second look as a reader, because they are named after specific pieces of hardware or specific vendors rather than after a general topic. That is how a personal collection grows, and it is also why the catalogue site matters, since a directory named after a device is not discoverable by someone looking for a circuit diagram.

## Where LittleArduinoProjects is the wrong tool

The first limitation is that nothing here is a dependency. There is no package, no library API and no version to pin. If you are building a product, you will copy a circuit and write your own code, which means the collection is a source of ideas and reference designs rather than something you integrate.

The second is that the projects are one-off sketches, and that is by design. The README says many are trivial breadboard experiments. A trivial experiment is a good thing for learning and a bad thing to copy into a design, because the error handling, the power budgeting and the enclosure are all missing by construction.

The third is the scale. The repository was over 2Gb of history before the squash, and the whole point of that squash was to get the push under the limit. A full clone is still a large download for someone who wants one circuit, which is exactly the case the catalogue is meant to serve.

The fourth is the Arduino IDE coupling. The sketchbook trick works, but it means the Arduino experience is tied to this directory layout, and it does not help a team that uses PlatformIO, CMake or the Arduino CLI with a different project structure. The project is written around the IDE.

The fifth is that the content is uneven and the README says so. Projects are inspired by things found on the net, and the credits live in the individual project folders, which means the quality of any given entry depends on where it came from. The Boost Converter Modules entry is described as a review of low cost modules, which is a bench report rather than a design, and that kind of entry needs more verification than a circuit someone built and tested.

## How it compares with a tutorial site or a component kit

There are two other ways to get a working circuit, and this repository sits between them.

A tutorial site gives you a project with instructions and photographs, usually from someone who designed it specifically to be taught. The advantage is context: why this resistor value, which way round the part goes, what to do if it does not work. The disadvantage is that you get one circuit at a time and you are dependent on the site staying up.

A component kit gives you parts and a manual. The advantage is that everything is guaranteed to work together and the documentation is written by the same people who chose the parts. The disadvantage is that you build what the kit contains, and the kit's contents are fixed.

LEAP gives you variety without either dependency, and with a search that a tutorial site usually lacks because tutorials are organized by lesson rather than by circuit. The trade is that you get a circuit with less teaching and less guarantee, and you have to work out the parts list yourself from the sketch and the images.

For a weekend, that is usually the better deal. A person who wants to understand how an effect pedal works can find several approaches to it in one place and pick the one they can source parts for, rather than following a single tutorial start to finish.

The catalogue site is what makes the comparison work in its favour, and it is also what a reader should use first. A repository of 864 projects browsed as a file tree is a pile; the same 864 projects browsed as a catalogue with images and a search is a reference.

## Conclusion

LittleArduinoProjects fits a hobbyist or student who wants a working reference for a specific circuit rather than a tutorial written from scratch, and it fits a teacher looking for something to reproduce on a breadboard this weekend. It does not fit a production embedded project, because nothing here is a library you depend on, the examples are one-offs by design, and the Arduino sketchbook trick only works if you accept the repository root as your sketchbook. Before cloning, run git submodule update --init, since several projects need FastLED, FlexiTimer2 and RadioHead, and browse the LEAP Catalog rather than the repository tree if you are looking for a particular circuit.

## FAQ

### What is LittleArduinoProjects and how many projects does it hold?

It is a personal collection of electronics and Arduino projects, described as 864 Little Electronic Art Projects, most involving an Arduino or other microprocessor in one way or another. The README says some are full-blown projects while many are trivial breadboard experiments intended to learn and explore something interesting.

### How do I browse the LittleArduinoProjects collection?

The README says the best way to browse is the LEAP Catalog at leap.tardate.com, which is a static web site generated directly from the repository. The project homepage is the same site, and the repository tree is organized by platform and topic with directories such as 8051, ARM, PIC, ESP32, ESP8266, RaspberryPi, Electronics101 and Radio.

### Why do I need git submodule update --init for LittleArduinoProjects?

Some projects require additional libraries including FastLED, FlexiTimer2 and RadioHead, and a set of such libraries is included as submodules of the repository. After cloning you run git submodule update --init to make them available for compilation, git submodule foreach git pull to pull updates later, and git submodule update --remote libraries/TextFinder to update one specific library.

### Why was the LittleArduinoProjects git history squashed?

Over the years the repository accumulated over 2Gb of obsolete commits, so much history that pushing the whole repo was not possible without batch tricks. The author squashed the history in the 11th year, retained the original first commit as a common root, renamed the branch from master to main, and kept a full snapshot of the old history in a separate archived repository.

### Can I use LittleArduinoProjects for a production embedded design?

Not as a dependency. There is no library to install or import, the entries are one-off sketches written to explore something, and the Arduino IDE sketchbook setup ties the workflow to this repository layout. It is a reference collection of circuits to read, borrow and adapt, with the licence recorded as MIT.

## Sources

- [Issues](https://github.com/tardate/LittleArduinoProjects/issues)
- [License: MIT](https://github.com/tardate/LittleArduinoProjects/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://leap.tardate.com)
- [README](https://github.com/tardate/LittleArduinoProjects/blob/main/README.md)
- [tardate/LittleArduinoProjects on GitHub](https://github.com/tardate/LittleArduinoProjects)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/tardate-littlearduinoprojects