What you need for this book

The operating system used in this book is the open source Raspbian, designed specifically for the Raspberry Pi family of computers.

Pretty much any part in this book, outside of common components such as resistors and capacitors, is available through Adafruit. Adafruit sells high-quality components and boards that are great for all kinds of Internet of Things and maker projects. Purchasing each piece individually can add up fast; fortunately, sites such as Amazon offer some great kits that are perfect for beginners. The Elegoo Most Complete Ultimate Starter Kit is the one I used. It costs around $60 US and includes most of the sensors, displays, and motors used in this cookbook as well as common components, such as a breadboard, jumper wires, power supplies, LEDs, resistors, and capacitors. It is a great way to get started! Everything marked with an asterisk (*) is something that is included in the Elegoo kit. In the specific recipes, I will reference the equivalent Adafruit part if available.

Hardware requirements

• Raspberry Pi Zero
• 5V/1.2 A micro USB power supply
• Micro USB–OTG adapter
• 4-port powered USB hub
• Micro HDMI to standard HDMI adapter and a standard HDMI cable; alternatively, a standard HDMI to micro HDMI cable
• Micro SD card, 4 GB or greater (8 GB recommended)
• USB keyboard and mouse: I used the Logitech MK270, a wireless keyboard/mouse combo that uses a single USB port.
• HDMI-compatible monitor
• Another computer and slot or adapter to write SD card images
• Raspberry Pi Cobbler and a breadboard: Adafruit has a great one, though there are a few alternatives
• Jumper cables
• USB-to-serial port adapter
• USB Wi-Fi adapter
• Standard-to-micro USB cable
• Standard LEDs, various colors*
• RGB 4-lead LED*
• Two 4xAA battery packs and batteries
• Adafruit SI4713 FM radio transmitter
• Adafruit ESP8266 Wi-Fi module
• Seven-segment LED display*
• 8X8 LED matrix display*
• 16x2 LCD display*
• 74HC595N shift register*
• Various resistors*
• Various electrolytic and ceramic capacitors*
• P222N transistors*
• 5V mechanical (“sugar cube”) relay*
• Stepper motor*
• DC motor*
• Piezo buzzer*
• Adafruit bidirectional level shifter
• PiFace Digital Revision 2 shield
• Push switches*
• Toggle switches
• Sixteen-digit keypad*
• Real-time clock board with battery*
• RFID scanner board*
• Adafruit Ultimate GPS breakout board
• Photoresistor*
• Ultrasonic sensor*
• Adafruit MCP3008 8-channel 10-bit analog-to-digital convertor
• Infrared receiver and remote*
• Motion sensor*
• Temperature and humidity sensor*
• Gyroscope/accelerometer*
• Heart rate/pulse sensor (via Adafruit or www.pulsesensor.com, which I used)