In the previous chapter, we discussed object detection and tracking and also learned to detect motion in scenes. Along the way, we also learned various concepts of image processing that may also be used for different applications.
In this chapter, we will be moving forward from the software-based approach of the previous chapter and explore the hardware capabilities of the Raspberry Pi. We will also learn about an add-on called the GrovePi Shield, which will extend the GPIO capabilities of the Pi platform and make it even easier to connect new sensors to it. In this chapter, we will learn about the following:
- Introducing the GrovePi Shield and sensors
- Setting up the Shield with the Raspberry Pi
- Building a weather station
- Building an intruder detection system
The GrovePi Shield is an open source platform to connect a range of sensors called the Grove sensors to the Raspberry Pi. We can create our own Internet of Things applications without any need for soldering using the GrovePi! Grove is an easy-to-use collection of more than a hundred Plug and Play modules that we can use to sense and interact with the physical world. The array of sensors include relays, temperature sensors, OLED displays, ultrasonic ranger, joystick, accelerometer, humidity sensor, GPS, and so on. They are divided on the basis of the following six categories: Environment Monitoring, Motion Sensing, User Interface, Physical Monitoring, Logic Gate, and Power.
You can interact and monitor the world using the sensors and then store the data on your Raspberry Pi bridging the gap to the real world!
As you can see from the preceding image, the GrovePi slips over the Raspberry Pi and has a variety of sockets to hold the different sensors that you might want to add to your Raspberry Pi. It works with the Raspberry Pi models A, A+, B, B+, 2, and uses an open source library made available by its creators to allow users to program in Python, C, C++, Go, and NodeJS.
For this chapter, we will need the following components:
- Humidity and temperature sensor (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-TempHumi-Sensor-p-745.html?cPath=25_125)
- LED (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-Red-LED-p-1142.html?cPath=81_35)
- Ultrasonic ranger (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-Ultrasonic-Ranger-p-960.html?cPath=25_31)
- OLED display (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-OLED-Display-096-p-824.html?cPath=34_36)
- Buzzer (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-Buzzer-p-768.html?cPath=38)
- GrovePi+ (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/GrovePi-p-2241.html)
All of the preceding are available on the SeeedStudio website.