Gaming is the perfect way to help newcomers to the Raspberry Pi to connect it with a recognisable lifestyle technology. It’s the perfect stepping stone to bring people eye-to-eye with the Raspberry Pi; if it can play all those awesome, classic arcade games, it can also do so much more!
And that’s why gaming is often our go-to project when it’s time to show people what the Pi is all about. But this time around, with the Raspberry Pi 3 now in the wild, we wanted to do something a little bit different, too. So here’s how to make your own minimalist, contemporary interpretation of the classic coin-op cocktail cabinet that uses an IKEA coffee table and a Raspberry Pi 3.
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, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, 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 is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
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