Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Build HAT
Colophon
© 2020 Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd.
This documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND).
build-date: 2021-10-15
build-version: githash: 61115e7-dirty
Legal Disclaimer Notice
TECHNICAL AND RELIABILITY DATA FOR RASPBERRY PI PRODUCTS (INCLUDING DATASHEETS) AS MODIFIED FROM
TIME TO TIME (“RESOURCES”) ARE PROVIDED BY RASPBERRY PI (TRADING) LTD (“RPTL) "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE
LAW IN NO EVENT SHALL RPTL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY
OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THE RESOURCES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
RPTL reserves the right to make any enhancements, improvements, corrections or any other modifications to the
RESOURCES or any products described in them at any time and without further notice.
The RESOURCES are intended for skilled users with suitable levels of design knowledge. Users are solely responsible for
their selection and use of the RESOURCES and any application of the products described in them. User agrees to
indemnify and hold RPTL harmless against all liabilities, costs, damages or other losses arising out of their use of the
RESOURCES.
RPTL grants users permission to use the RESOURCES solely in conjunction with the Raspberry Pi products. All other use
of the RESOURCES is prohibited. No licence is granted to any other RPTL or other third party intellectual property right.
HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES. Raspberry Pi products are not designed, manufactured or intended for use in hazardous
environments requiring fail safe performance, such as in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or
communication systems, air traffic control, weapons systems or safety-critical applications (including life support
systems and other medical devices), in which the failure of the products could lead directly to death, personal injury or
severe physical or environmental damage (“High Risk Activities”). RPTL specifically disclaims any express or implied
warranty of fitness for High Risk Activities and accepts no liability for use or inclusions of Raspberry Pi products in High
Risk Activities.
Raspberry Pi products are provided subject to RPTL’s Standard Terms. RPTL’s provision of the RESOURCES does not
expand or otherwise modify RPTL’s Standard Terms including but not limited to the disclaimers and warranties expressed
in them.
Legal Disclaimer Notice 1
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Build HAT
Introduction
The Raspberry Pi Build HAT is an add-on board that connects to the 40-pin GPIO header of your Raspberry Pi, which was
designed in collaboration with LEGO® Education to make it easy to control LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors with
Raspberry Pi computers.
It provides four connectors for LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the SPIKE™ Portfolio. The available sensors
include a distance sensor, a colour sensor, and a versatile force sensor. The angular motors come in a range of sizes and
include integrated encoders that can be queried to find their position.
The Build HAT fits all Raspberry Pi computers with a 40-pin GPIO header, including — with the addition of a ribbon cable or
other extension device — Raspberry Pi 400. Connected LEGO® Technic™ devices can easily be controlled in Python,
alongside standard Raspberry Pi accessories such as a camera module.
The Raspberry Pi Build HAT power supply, available separately, is designed to power both the Build HAT and Raspberry Pi
computer along with all connected LEGO® Technic™ devices.
The LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Set 45678 and SPIKE™ Prime Expansion Set 45681, available separately from
LEGO® Education resellers, include a collection of useful elements supported by the Build HAT.
NOTE
The HAT works with all 40-pin GPIO Raspberry Pi boards, including Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi Zero. With the
addition of a ribbon cable or other extension device, it can also be used with Raspberry Pi 400.
Controls up to 4 LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors included in the SPIKE™ Portfolio
•
Easy-to-use Python library to control your LEGO® Technic™ devices
•
Fits onto any Raspberry Pi computer with a 40-pin GPIO header
•
Onboard RP2040 microcontroller manages low-level control of LEGO® Technic™ devices
•
External 8V PSU available separately to power both Build HAT and Raspberry Pi
•
Introduction 2
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Build HAT
Preparing your Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi recommend the use of Raspberry Pi Imager to install an operating system on your SD card. You will need
another computer with an SD card reader to install the image.
Using Raspberry Pi Imager
Raspberry Pi have developed a graphical SD card writing tool that works on Mac OS, Ubuntu 18.04, and Windows called
Raspberry Pi Imager; this is the easiest option for most users since it will download the image automatically and install it
to the SD card.
Download the latest version of Raspberry Pi Imager and install it. If you want to use Raspberry Pi Imager from a second
Raspberry Pi, you can install it from a terminal using sudo apt install rpi-imager. Then:
Connect an SD card reader with the SD card inside.
•
Open Raspberry Pi Imager and choose the required OS from the list presented.
•
Choose the SD card you wish to write your image to.
•
Review your selections and click on the Write button to begin writing data to the SD Card.
•
NOTE
If using Raspberry Pi Imager on Windows 10 with controlled folder access enabled, you will need to explicitly allow
Raspberry Pi Imager permission to write the SD card. If this is not done, the imaging process will fail with a "failed to
write" error.
You can now insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and power it up. For Raspberry Pi OS, if you need to manually log in,
the default user name is pi, with password raspberry, and the default keyboard layout is set to United Kingdom (UK).
You should change the default password straight away to ensure your Raspberry Pi is secure.
Configuring the Serial Port
Once the Raspberry Pi has booted, open the Raspberry Pi Configuration tool by clicking on the Raspberry Menu button
and then selecting “Preferences” and then “Raspberry Pi Configuration”.
Click on the “interfaces” tab and adjust the Serial settings as shown below:
Using Raspberry Pi Imager 3
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Build HAT
Figure 1. Configuring
the serial connection
to the Raspberry Pi
Build HAT.
Figure 2. Configuring
the serial connection
to the Raspberry Pi
Build HAT using
raspi-config.
Using a Headless Raspberry Pi
If you are running your Raspberry Pi headless and using raspi-config, select “interface options from the first menu”.
Then “P6 Serial Port”.
Configuring the Serial Port 4
Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Build HAT
Figure 3. Configuring
the serial connection
to the Raspberry Pi
Build HAT using
raspi-config.
Disable the serial console:
Figure 4. Configuring
the serial connection
to the Raspberry Pi
Build HAT using
raspi-config.
Figure 5. Configuring
the serial connection
to the Raspberry Pi
Build HAT using
raspi-config.
And enable the serial port hardware.
The final settings should look like this.
Configuring the Serial Port 5
Loading...