Electronic Garden with Raspberry Pi

Install the Python library for Explorer HAT.

1. Power off your Raspberry Pi.
2. Push the Explorer HAT onto the GPIO pins.
3. Power on your Raspberry Pi.
4. Open a Terminal and run the command to install the Explorer HAT library.
5. Test the installation by running the Python import command.

$ sudo apt-get install python3-explorerhat

Attach the motor and wheel to the Explorer HAT.

1. Push the motor shaft halfway into the wheel.
2. Attach the female ends of 2 jumper leads to the motor's prongs.
3. Connect the male ends to Motor 1+ and Motor 1- on the Explorer HAT.

Create colorful flower decorations for the spinning wheel.

1. Cut flower shapes out of construction paper or felt.
2. Optionally, make origami pinwheels or draw bees and butterflies.
3. Arrange your decorations on the wheel using adhesive.
4. Secure everything with a push pin through the center of the wheel.
5. Think about how your design will look when it spins!

Program the motor to spin for 10 seconds.

1. Open Python 3 (IDLE) from the Programming menu.
2. Create a new file and save it as 'garden.py'.
3. Import the Explorer HAT library and the sleep function.
4. Add code to spin the motor forward at full speed for 10 seconds, then stop.

import explorerhat
from time import sleep

explorerhat.motor.one.forward(100)
sleep(10)
explorerhat.motor.one.stop()

Trigger the motor with an Explorer HAT button.

1. Wrap your motor code in a function called 'run_motor'.
2. Add a line to trigger the function when button 1 is pressed on the Explorer HAT.
3. Make sure this line is at the left margin (not indented).
4. Save and run your script.
5. Press button 1 on the Explorer HAT to start the motor.

import explorerhat
from time import sleep

def run_motor():
    explorerhat.motor.one.forward(100)
    sleep(10)
    explorerhat.motor.one.stop()

explorerhat.touch.one.pressed(run_motor)