Page 60 - Raspberry Pi as a Foundation for Boosting Computer and Technology Literacy

4 Raspberry Pi accessories
matrix display, which, if nothing else, you can use to decorate your
Raspberry Pi. Kids enjoy this HAT. If you want to play music with ap-
ples, oranges, and bananas, you need Adafruit Capacitive Touch HAT,
with 12 capacitive sensors. Buy some alligator clips to connect fruits of
your choice to the board and the only limit becomes your creativity. If,
like me, you know little about clustering, a Cluster HAT can help you
build your first cluster. If you are worried about power outages, the
Uptime UPS Hat is ideal for adding a battery-powered UPS to Rasp-
berry Pi. For robotics projects, a Robot HAT (or kit, including a HAT)
offered by SunFounder (see:  www.sunfounder.com) is a good choice.
Occasionally, when working on a project that requires a display, you
will need a HAT to display data, like the Waveshare 2.7-inch E-ink dis-
play HAT. E-ink displays are good because they are compact and offer
good legibility. The PaPiRus HAT is another option (several model sizes
are available here:  uk.pi-supply.com).
For mini-CCTV systems, the Pan-Tilt HAT can be sourced from Pi-
moroni at  shop.pimoroni.com. It is equipped with horizontal and
vertical motion servos that give a Raspberry Pi camera movement. The
Pan-Tilt HAT can be used for face-tracking in a robot project to give the
robot eyes. Pimoroni has also put together a Python library to make
things super easy for beginners.

4.5 Miscellaneous tools and accessories for DIY electronics
experiments and projects 4.5
Below is a list of tools and accessories one often needs when embark-
ing even on a simple Raspberry Pi project. A Raspberry Pi Zero, for
instance, comes in two varieties: with a 40-pin 2x20 male HAT header
soldered to the PCB, or without it, in which case you need a basic sol-
dering iron, some solder, and something to prevent your Raspberry Pi
Zero from moving. Electronic hardware projects always require a set of
tools, some of which are mentioned below.

1. A decent soldering iron with a soldering stand or, if funds allow,
an 80W soldering station for advanced projects.
2. Solder in the form of a roll of 60/40 (tin/lead) solder with a flux
core
3. Long nose pliers
4. Wire cutters
5. Wire strippers

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