Raspberry Pi Sense HAT: specs
Raspberry Pi add-on board with pressure, humidity, temperature, motion and colour sensors, an 8x8 RGB LED matrix and a five-way joystick, originally developed for the Astro Pi programme.
Specs
| Spec | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure and temperature sensor | STMicro LPS25HB: 260 to 1260 hPa absolute pressure, 24-bit pressure output; temperature accurate from 0 to +65 C (+/-2 C), 16-bit output | source Product brief p.3, Specification |
| Humidity and temperature sensor | STMicro HTS221: 0 to 100 %RH; temperature accurate from 15 to 40 C (+/-0.5 C); 16-bit output | source Product brief p.3, Specification |
| IMU | STMicro LSM9DS1 accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer: +/-16 g, +/-16 gauss, +/-2000 dps; 16-bit per channel | source Product brief p.3, Specification |
| Colour sensor | TCS3400 RGB colour and brightness sensor | source Product brief p.3, Specification |
| LED matrix | 8x8 RGB LED display; the Linux framebuffer is RGB565 with the id RPi-Sense FB | source Product brief p.3; documentation: Features, LED matrix |
| Joystick | 5-button miniature joystick (up, down, left, right, middle-click); appears as an input event device mapped to the arrow keys and Enter | source Product brief p.3; documentation: Features, Joystick |
| Power | Powered by the Raspberry Pi it is connected to | source Product brief p.2, Overview |
| Host compatibility | Any Raspberry Pi computer with a 40-pin GPIO header; needs an up-to-date kernel and I2C enabled; the officially supported Python library covers the sensors, LED matrix and joystick | source Documentation: About and Install |
Power
| Value | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | Powered from the Raspberry Pi's 40-pin header | source Product brief p.2; no supply voltage or current figure is published in the brief |
Pinout
We don't publish a pin table for this part: no official source we could verify gives one. Check the labels printed on your module, and see the notes below.
No pin table is given in the product brief or the documentation: the HAT uses the Raspberry Pi 40-pin header and its sensors are read over I2C. Official schematics are on the Raspberry Pi Product Information Portal and are not covered here.
Build with it
Project ideas for the Raspberry Pi Sense HAT. Each link opens Soldr with the prompt filled in; Soldr assigns the pins, checks power and shows how to wire every part.
- Room climate display: The Sense HAT has pressure, humidity and temperature sensors and an 8x8 LED matrix, read over I2C with the official Python library. Learning project.
- Tilt spirit level: The LSM9DS1 accelerometer and gyroscope report orientation and the LED matrix shows a dot that moves with tilt.
- Joystick snake game: The five-way joystick appears as an input device and the LED matrix works as a framebuffer; the documentation mentions a snake example.
- Weather data logger: The HAT is read over I2C and the Raspberry Pi stores timestamped values on the microSD card.
Common mistakes
- Skipping I2C: the Sense HAT needs I2C enabled on the Raspberry Pi; 'sudo apt install sense-hat' installs the package and enables it, then reboot (source: link, Install)
- Trusting the temperature outside the stated range: the pressure chip's temperature is accurate (+/-2 C) from 0 to 65 C and the humidity chip's (+/-0.5 C) from 15 to 40 C (source: link, p.3)
- Running it on a conductive surface or handling it while powered: the brief says to place it on a stable, flat, non-conductive surface and to handle it by the corners (source: link, p.4)
Not covered by the official source
- The brief states no operating temperature, supply voltage or current for the HAT.
- I2C addresses and pin usage are not given in the brief or the documentation.