Pi Servo Hat Hookup Guide

Pages
Contributors: SFUptownMaker
Favorited Favorite 3

Introduction

The SparkFun Pi Servo Hat allows your Raspberry Pi to control up to 16 servo motors via I2C connection. This saves GPIO and lets you use the onboard GPIO for other purposes. Furthermore, the Pi Servo Shield adds a serial terminal connection which will allow you to bring up a Raspberry Pi without having to hook it up to a monitor and keyboard.

SparkFun Pi Servo HAT

DEV-14328
1 Retired

Required Materials

Here's what you need to follow along with this tutorial. We suggest purchasing a blank microSD card rather than a NOOBS ready card, since the NOOBS ready cards may not have a new enough OS to support the Pi Zero W.

Break Away Headers - Straight

Break Away Headers - Straight

PRT-00116
$1.75
20
Raspberry Pi GPIO Tall Header - 2x20

Raspberry Pi GPIO Tall Header - 2x20

PRT-14017
$2.75
Wall Adapter Power Supply - 5.1V DC 2.5A (USB Micro-B)

Wall Adapter Power Supply - 5.1V DC 2.5A (USB Micro-B)

TOL-13831
$8.95
23
Raspberry Pi Zero W

Raspberry Pi Zero W

DEV-14277
$15.00
48

microSD Card with Adapter - 16GB (Class 10)

COM-13833
6 Retired

SparkFun Pi Servo HAT

DEV-14328
1 Retired

In addition, you'll want some kind of servo motor to test the setup. Try testing the examples provided later in the tutorial with the generic sub-micro servo first.

Servo - Generic (Sub-Micro Size)

Servo - Generic (Sub-Micro Size)

ROB-09065
$9.95
13

Required Tools

No special tools are required to follow this product assembly. You will need a soldering iron, solder, and general soldering accessories.

Solder Lead Free - 15-gram Tube

Solder Lead Free - 15-gram Tube

TOL-09163
$3.95
4
Soldering Iron - 30W (US, 110V)

Soldering Iron - 30W (US, 110V)

TOL-09507
$10.95
7

Suggested Reading

You may want to review these tutorials before undertaking this one.

How to Solder: Through-Hole Soldering

This tutorial covers everything you need to know about through-hole soldering.

Raspberry Pi SPI and I2C Tutorial

Learn how to use serial I2C and SPI buses on your Raspberry Pi using the wiringPi I/O library for C/C++ and spidev/smbus for Python.

Hobby Servo Tutorial

Servos are motors that allow you to accurately control the rotation of the output shaft, opening up all kinds of possibilities for robotics and other projects.

Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless

Learn how to setup, configure and use the smallest Raspberry Pi yet, the Raspberry Pi Zero - Wireless.