Elecrow's Raspberry Pi Pico Advanced Kit ships with 32 electronics modules, 32 project tutorials

We’ve just reviewed the Raspberry Pi 4-powered CrowPi L laptop and Crowtail Starter kit used to teach programming and electronics, but Elecrow has now launched the “Raspberry Pi Pico Advanced Kit” with 32 electronics modules, a smart kit car, and 32 tutorials that should be a more affordable way of teaching electronics and programming.

However, it does so in a different way, as instead of using visual programming and Python, the Raspberry Pi Pico Advanced Kit’s lessons rely on MicroPython, and the projects are different with for example parts to build an obstacle avoidance, line tracking, or remote controlled car.

Package content:

Optional Raspberry Pi Pico board with Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller
Breadboards
- 2x 400 holes solderless breadboards
- 1x 170 holes solderless breadboard
Display modules
- 1602 LCD display module (Blue)
- OLED module
- 4-bit digital LED display module
Lights
- 10x 5mm LEDs in green, red, blue, yellow, and white colors
- RGB module
- Traffic light display module
User input modules
- Button
- Rotary Potentiometer
- Dual-axis XY Joystick module
- Rotary encoder module
- Membrane switch keyboard
- Infrared remote control
Sensor modules
- Sound sensor
- Mini PIR motion sensor
- Photoresistor module
- Vibration sensor
- Soil moisture sensor
- Temperature & humidity sensor
- Raindrops module
- Flame sensor
- 2x crash sensors
- 2x line hunt sensors
- Ultrasonic sensor
Actuators
- DC motor with male Dupont Wire + fan blade x 1
- 9G servo
- DC stepper motor driver board
Wireless – RC522 RFID Module
Smart car kit with chassis, three wheels, battery holder, and fixtures
Cables
- 30cm micro USB cable
- 65x jumper cables
- 20cm male to female jumper cable
Misc
- Laser transmitter, passive buzzer, mini magnetic spring module
- Clear case
- Various standoffs, screws, and nuts, plus screwdriver
- Small magnet (8mm diameter, 5mm thick)

line tracking car — Line tracking smart car

You’ll get to learn or teach 32 Raspberry Pi Pico projects written in MicroPython, which include an electronic clock, a plant “doctor”, a fire alarm, a traffic light, and more besides the more advanced smart car projects. The good news is that the tutorials are available publicly, but the less good one is that it is not quite as detailed as the lessons that run on the CrowPi hardware, since it just shows the components required, how to connect the modules, and the MicroPython code with limited explanations. So it should be nice to try many types of projects quickly, but it does not explain the function of each module and the theory behind it.

Elecrow sells the Raspberry Pi Pico Advanced Kit for $37.99 without a Raspberry Pi Pico for which you’d need to add $5 to the total ($42.99)

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.