Raspberry Pi’s Build HAT lets you control Lego kits and start a robot revolution

Raspberry Pi? Superb! Lego? Fantastic! Put them together and what have you got? A pile of bits that want nothing to do with each other – until now. And that’s because the new Raspberry Pi Build HAT ($25, available this month) connects to your Pi’s GPIO pins and provides ports that make it easy to control motors and sensors found in Lego kits that use an LPF2 connector. Mainly, this is ‘for the kids’, to increase the reach of STEAM learning, through linking a Pi to SPIKE sets and getting stuck into experimentation and rapid prototyping. To that end, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has created learning projects to get students and teachers started. But the Pi folks confirmed to us its new HAT is also compatible with Stuff favourite Mindstorms Robot Inventor. Either way, you get more direct interaction with your Lego than Lego’s own hub provides: the Pi doesn’t need a separate device to control it, and it affords you extra flexibility and scope for adding further sensors to our new metal-and-plastic overlords.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.