In this article we look at a kit for the Raspberry Pi Pico from Keyestudio caled the Raspberry Pi Pico 42 in 1 Sensor Kit
This kit has 37 sensors and modules, Pico and all you need to get started with the Pico. Lets dive in and see what you get.
Contents
You get a huge amount for you money in this kit. You get a Raspberry Pi Pico with the headers already soldered. Then you get an interesting adaptor board. A Raspberry Pi Pico IO shield which you connect your Pico to. This provides the following
- It also incorporates communications ports like 2 x I2C, 2 x UART, 2 x SPI, 3 x analog IO and 13 x digital IO as well as a 6.5-12V power interface.
- On board with four block building holes can assist to wire up multiple sensors or modules, which exceedingly increases more functions.
- DC input voltage: 6.5-12V ; Output voltage: DC3.3V V
- There are 26 GPIO pins, so you will be motivated to create what you want to make.
The rows of Gnd, 3v3 and I/O – the black, red and yellow headers are particularly useful when building projects
You then get a collection of sensors and modules – you can see these in the first image in this article
Purple LED Module, Common Cathode RGB Module, Traffic Lights Module, Active Buzzer, 8002b Audio Power Amplifier, Button Module
Tilt Sensor, PIR Motion Sensor, Obstacle Avoidance Sensor, RGB Module, NTC-MF52AT Thermistor, Photoresistor, Sound Sensor, Rotary Potentiometer
IR Receiver, Reed Switch Sensor, Rotary Encoder Module, Joystick Module, HT16K33 8X8 Dot Matrix Module 1 20, TM1650 4-Digit Tube Display, Thin-film Pressure Sensor, DS1307 Clock Sensor
SR01 Ultrasonic Sensor ,9G 90 ° Servo , Capacitive Sensor , Photo Interrupter ,Hall Sensor, Flame Sensor ,line Tracking Sensor
Analog Gas Sensor, DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor ,DS18B20 Temperature Sensor , Motor , Fan , Laser Module ,Steam Sensor
Ultraviolet Sensor , RFID Module , Collision Sensor , Alcohol Sensor , LCD_128X32_DOT Module , 5-Channel AD Button Module , ADXL345 Acceleration Module
You also get connecting wires, a remote control for the IR receiver, a keyfob and card for the RFID module and the all important USB cable to connect the Pico to your computer
Impressions
Overall its a very good range of parts, some of the sensors and modules are niche but the ability to connect a temperature sensor and a display to make a basic project or even a motion sensor and a buzzer for a very basic alarm system means that not only can you experiment with the sensors and modules individually you can combine them to create slightly more advanced projects.
All of the sensors and modules are fairly standard so you can use micropython or the Arduino IDE to create programs for your project with no difficulty.
There is a download available which has micropython and arduino examples and you also get any libraries that are required for the device as well.
There is a pdf in the download which has instructions for setting things up, like getting the Arduino IDE setup or if you want to use Micropython – how do you do that and then there are 62 projects. The PDF clocks in at an impressive 360 pages which is a fantastic resource for beginners
There is an overview of each project, an explanation of the concept behind each project, the boards and modules you need for each project and the code for each project – which is also in the download. There is also an explanation of the code – so you can understand what its actually doing
Its really hard to fault this kit – the sheer quantity of modules and sensors makes it perfect for beginners, the quality of the PCBs feels good and you can tell that a bit of time has gone into the instruction manual – the all important part
If you want to get started this is highly recommended and we’ll probably be using some of the bi and bobs in this kit for some future articles and projects.
Price
You can get this from about $50 advertised on Keyestudio website, its obviously available on other sites such as Amazon and Aliexpress. I purchased mine from aliexpress.
| Aliexpress | Buy here |
| Amazon | Buy here |