Integrate hardware components with pluggable systems
Plugged In
© Lead Image © dmitr1, 123RF.com
Ecosystems with pluggable Raspberry Pi modules, sensors, and displays are a great choice if you don't want to – or can't – solder but still want to extend your hardware.
If you use your Raspberry Pi to control sensors or displays, you will frequently have to deal with wiring problems or resort to using a soldering iron. Plug-and-play systems such as Adafruit STEMMA-QT [1], Seeed Grove [2], SparkFun Qwiic [3], and DFRobot Gravity [4] provide connection systems for electronic components. A system recently introduced by Tinkerforge [5] can also be plugged together, but it plays in a different league, because it comes with an additional microcontroller for management tasks on each module.
The systems I will discuss in this article offer special cable connections on the devices (Figure 1). Common to all systems are reverse-polarity-proof connectors and symmetrical cables. In other words, the cable has connectors that look identical on both sides, but they are not the same internally and only fit one way. Cables also are color coded, but this is not significant from a technical point of view.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Even though you have four manufacturers with four different pluggable systems, you do not have to make a decision and be tied to one ecosystem. However, caveat emptor still applies; I will look at the details a little later.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.