A beginner electronics kit with a 20-night story course. The board in this box is the Heart of a pirate ship, and the story only moves when your circuit does. No experience needed.
Price: $19.99 (regularly $30) · In stock
Rated 4.2 out of 5 from 593 customer reviews.
A goblin captain named Gizbo hid his ship's Heart in a crate and sent it to your desk. The Heart is the board in this box.
Plug it in and the story answers, live. The LED you wire lights the ship's lantern. The buttons you press steer her through the canals. Shine a phone torch on your light sensor and the Watch's searchlight swings onto the ship, and only the code you write can hide her in time.
Every night is a short film, one new idea on your real board, and a cliffhanger.
Nothing comes pre-built. One new part at a time, the controls take shape on your breadboard. These are the browser simulator's renders of the real circuits.
“I gave this kit to my 12 year old nephew. He absolutely loved it and is literally begging me for more kits! The kid is hooked.” — Valerie C.
“As an Electrical Engineer, I was excited to see an opportunity to introduce my kiddos to microprocessors and electrical components. So far the kit has been a fun activity for us to do together!” — James P.
“My son loves this kit! We homeschool and he picks it up and plays with it A LOT all on his own! Easy to use and get working. Im so glad I got it!” — Laney S.
You bring a computer with Chrome, Edge or Firefox. The course is online at craftingtable.com/cogsworthcity, and the board runs from the USB cable, so there's no battery to buy.
Both are story courses on the same HERO board. Cogsworth City sticks to lights, buttons and light sensors. 30 Days Lost in Space adds screens, sound and a keypad.
| Cogsworth City: HERO Starter Kit | 30 Days Lost in Space | |
|---|---|---|
| The story | Get a goblin captain's pirate ship across a clockwork city | Repair a crashed ship on an alien planet and fly home |
| The course | 20 nights, a short film each night | 30 days of missions in one story |
| Parts you build with | LEDs, an RGB LED, 6 push buttons and 2 light sensors | LEDs, an RGB LED, a light sensor, a 16-button keypad, a buzzer, a 4-digit display, an OLED screen, a rotary dial and a 3-switch block |
| Board | HERO board (ATmega328P microcontroller) |
|---|---|
| Connection | USB cable, included |
| Code | C++, written in the lesson and uploaded to the board over USB |
| Course | Cogsworth City: 20 nights in two acts, each a short film and a lesson |
| Works with | A computer with Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Not iPhone, iPad or Safari |
| Soldering | None. Every part plugs into the breadboard |
| Power | USB from your computer. 9 V battery connector included, battery not included |
No. Night 1 starts with the board's own light and no wiring at all. Every night adds one new idea, on parts and code you already know.
Online, not in the box. Go to craftingtable.com/cogsworthcity and start Night 1: watch the film, plug in your board, and Gizbo talks you through the lesson.
You don't need an account to start. Sign in if you want your progress saved to your account.
A computer running Chrome, Edge or Firefox. The course talks to your board over the USB cable, straight from the browser, so it doesn't work on an iPhone or iPad, or in Safari. You don't need a battery: the board runs from the USB cable.
You can try every circuit in the browser simulator first. The story itself only moves when your real board does.
Our own programmable microcontroller board, built around the ATmega328P chip. It runs the code you write, and in the story it's the Heart of the ship.
The reviews were written about the kit's original course. The course has since been rebuilt as the 20-night story on this page, with a film every night and lessons that read your board live. The original course is still online, so anyone partway through it can finish.
No. You buy the kit once. The course is online, with nothing to renew.
Email support@craftingtable.com with your order number and what's missing.
Twenty nights, one board, and a story that only moves when your circuit does.
Ships to the US, Canada, the UK and Australia: $12.35 flat shipping in the US, $18 to Canada, the UK and Australia. Send any physical order back within 30 days of delivery and we refund it when it arrives. Opened and used is fine; it just needs all of its parts. The customer pays return shipping, and the original shipping charge isn't refunded. Questions: support@craftingtable.com.
Sold by CraftingTable (formerly Inventr.io). All kits