TechRepublic has covered some pretty nifty hacks for the Raspberry Pi, the $40 credit card-sized Linux computer.
But the Pi ships as a bare board, and if you’re going to use the Pi to bark commands at a robot orsail an autonomous boat you’re going to need to invest in some extras.
To help you on your way TechRepublic has rounded-up the ultimate collection of add-ons for the Pi, from boards for controlling robots to keyboards and screens that let you use it on the move.
This round-up assumes you already have the basics – the power cables, memory card, basic keyboad and mouse and video leads – you need to get going with the Pi.
Note a lot of these accessories have been built by individuals or small teams, so expect a bit of a wait to receive them.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
