We have an embarrassment of choices for Raspberry Pi accessories from touchscreen displays, HAT add-ons boards, sensors, breadboard, and so on, as well as good software and support from Raspberry Pi forums.
This is all good, but it can be messy with all those jumper cables, and not really portable. Elecrow has a neat solution with the CrowPi learning kit for Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Zero that come with a 7″ display, several sensors, buttons, a breadboard, and more all packed in a small suitcase.
Main parts of the kit:
- 7″ touchscreen display
- Breadboard with GPIOs status LEDs
- Input modules – Light sensor, IR receiver, PIR motion sensor, sound sensor, temperature & humidity sensor, touch sensor, ultrasonic sensor, NFC reader, and tilt sensor
- Output modules – 8×8 LED matrix, 4-digit LED display, I2C LCD1602 display, buzzer, vibration motor, relay module, 9G servo, and stepper motor.
- Control modules – 4×4 array keypad and direction keys (D-Pad)
A battery is not included in the kit, but it can easily be powered by a power bank as shown in the top photo. So it looks like an excellent platform for experimentation and teaching kids, especially the kit will be complemented with a printed user manual and step by step digital tutorial. You just need to add your own Raspberry Pi board, and install the OS on a microSD card and you should be good to go.
The company launched the project on Kickstarter aiming to raise 235,000 HKD (~$30,000 US). All rewards are priced in Hong Kong dollars, but I’ll use the USD equivalent going forward. Rewards now start at $149 for the basic kit with CrowPi, a 5V/3A power adapter, a 16GB micro SD card, a card reader, an RFID card, a touch pen, a 5V stepper motor, a mini servo, and an infrared remote control. If you don’t already own a Raspberry Pi board, they also offer kits with Raspberry Pi Zero for $179 and up, and Raspberry Pi 3 B+ for $209 and up with even more accessories including a headphone, wireless touchpad keyboard and heatsink kit. Shipping adds $7 to $63 (sorry Brazil) depending on destination, and delivery is planned for July 2018.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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