If you are looking to interface sensors to the Raspberry Pi (RBPi), the popular single board computer, GrovePi+ from Dexter Industries (SEED Studios) makes it very easy with their starter kit. The kit carries a GrovePi+ board, including more than 10 carefully selected sensors along with the necessary interfacing cables. The kit is very easy to use, as the user only has to plug the GrovePi+ board over your RBPi, and connect the necessary sensor to the board. GrovePi provides a powerful platform for any user to start playing with sensors and hardware.
The simplicity of the GrovePi+ board is evident, as you do not need any other hardware connection—only plug in the board atop the RBPi and initiate communications between the two boards over an I2C interface. The GrovePi+ board acts like a shield and the user can connect any of the Grove sensors from the kit to the universal Grove connector on the board, using the universal 4-pin connector cable available with the kit.
The GrovePi+ board has an ATMEGA328 micro-controller on it, and the Grove sensors, both analog and digital, connect to it directly. The RBPi also communicates with this micro-controller, which performs as an interpreter for the Grove sensors, sending, receiving, and executing commands the RBPi sends it. You can use any RBPi model with the GrovePi+, selecting from among RBPi A+, B, B+2, or B+3
GrovePi+ forms the hardware system for connecting, programming, and controlling sensors that help build your own smart devices. GrovePi+ is small—the size of a credit card—however, it is very powerful. You can think of the GrovePi+ kit as an Internet of Things kit for the RBPi—allowing you to connect numerous sensors to the RBPi—simply by connecting a cable from the GrovePi+ board to the sensor. The manufacturer’s website offers several software examples you can download and try. Alternately, you can write your own programs for the RBPi to control and automate any device.
GrovePi+ does away with the need for connecting sensors to the IoT using breadboards and soldering the sensors. Now it is only necessary to plug in the sensors and start programming directly. Therefore, GrovePi+ is and easy-to-use modular arrangement for hacking your hardware with the help of the RBPi and the Internet of Things.
Using the GrovePi+ system, one can connect over 100 types of sensors to the RBPi. The collection of sensors offered are all inexpensive and plug-n-play modules to sense and control inputs from the physical world. This provides countless possibilities of interacting with sensors, integrating them with the module and the RBPi to obtain unparalleled performance with ease.
For instance, Lime Microsystems and the SEED Studio have a new kit providing everything to start up a Software Defined Radio (SDR) with the RBPi and develop IoT applications for it. The LimeSDR Mini kit targets educational use and is meant for beginners. Lime has optimized the building block for use at 433/868/915 MHz and provides the necessary antennas in the kit. The kit also has an array of sensors from Grove and boards related to output from SEED Studios. The GrovePi+ board offers the computing power for the SDR, and you can use an RBPi 2, 3, or Z.
