Raspberry Pi is an educational platform. In its 11 years of existence, it has helped many users learn to code, build robots, track the location of the International Space Station, and much more.
But in order to maximize the Pi's capabilities, you need to have the right expansion board. Initially, the Raspberry Pi didn't have a standard definition for boards. But that all changed when the HAT standard was introduced in 2014 along with the Raspberry Pi B+.
Tips for buying HAT for Raspberry Pi, ask yourself the following questions: - What is the purpose of the HAT? If for a specific project, does it do what you need it to do? If for a child, does the HAT have enough features for the child to develop? - Does the HAT work with your Raspberry Pi? Does it have the right outputs. The Raspberry Pi physically covers 40 GPIO pins that connect to sensors, lights, motors and other devices and even with another HAT stacked on top of the first one. - How can the HAT be programmed? Is there a Python module included and is it user friendly? Can it be programmed in another language?
Best HATs for Raspberry Pi: - Pimoroni Inventor HAT Mini - Build HAT - Pimoroni IO Expander - Pimoroni Picade X - Raspberry Pi Sense HAT - Pimoroni Breakout Garden - Raspberry Pi PoE HAT - Google AIY Voice HAT - Cyntech Pibrella - Adafruit Perma-Proto HAT - Adafruit Capacitive Touch HAT