Explorer HAT tricks
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Explorer HAT tricks

fun things to try with your Pimoroni Explorer HAT

About the Book

You'll learn how to

  • configure your Raspberry Pi for use with the Pimoroni Explorer Pro
  • turn the four on-board coloured LEDs on and off
  • use the capacitive touch sensors to control your Pi
  • add push-buttons and specialised LEDs to your projects
  • fade the brightness of LEDs up and down
  • measure voltage, light level and temperatures
  • control electric motors with your Pi

You'll consolidate what you learn through fun projects.

If you have a Pi. the extra hardware will cost about £40.

You don't need to solder.

The programs are written on the Python language. If you don't know Python yet, it's a great way to start learning it!

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    • Engineering
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About the Author

Romilly Cocking
Romilly Cocking

Romilly is a lifelong learner, maker and educator interested in Electronics, Robotics and AI.


He's taught thousands of students how to program, he's a veteran blogger, and he is a popular presenter at technical meetups.

Table of Contents

  • Preface
    • About the author
  • How to have fun with this book
    • What’s this about?
    • Get help if you need it
    • Make sure you are registered!
    • The Raspberry Pi
    • Physical computing
    • The Pimoroni Explorer HAT
    • How much will the hardware cost?
    • What skills do you need?
    • What skills will you learn?
    • Your choices
    • A quick note about spelling
    • A quick preview
  • Ready, steady, go!
    • What’s this about?
    • Prepare your Raspberry Pi
    • Installing the HAT on the Pi
    • Enabling interfaces
    • Use Python 3
    • Install software
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Hello, explorer!
    • What’s this about?
    • Turning an LED on and off from Python
    • Control an LED from inside a Python program
    • Blink an LED repeatedly
    • Red is not the only LED
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Traffic lights project - first version
    • What’s this about?
    • UK traffic light sequence
    • Some new Python features
    • Defining Python functions
    • The complete program
    • Summary
    • Next
  • SOS! - send Morse code
    • What’s this about?
    • The program
    • Summary
    • Next
  • The touchy Explorer HAT
    • What’s this about?
    • Touchpads
    • Summary
    • Next
  • LED to the breadboard
    • What’s this about?
    • Breadboards
    • A quick experiment
    • Blinking the LED
    • Blinking program
    • Touchpad control
    • Summary
    • Next
  • What’s the buzz?
    • What’s this about?
    • Two sorts of buzzer
    • Wiring up the buzzer
    • Driving the buzzer
    • Buzzing Morse code
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Traffic lights project - second version
    • What’s this about?
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Measuring analogue values
    • What’s this about?
    • Analogue measurements with the Explorer HAT
    • Start building a weather station
    • Measuring light levels with an LDR
    • Summary
    • Next
  • The plot thickens
    • What’s this about?
    • Calculating the LDR’s resistance
    • Mu can plot your data!
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Getting pushy
    • What’s this about?
    • Wiring up a button
    • Wiring up the button
    • Writing the code
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Now you’re motoring
    • What’s this about?
    • The motor you’ll use
    • Controlling motor direction
    • Summary
    • Next
  • Where next?
    • Support for readers
    • Next, two favours
    • Resources for the future
  • Appendix A
    • Resistor colour codes
    • Wiring colours
  • Notes

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