Need help finding the right resource for: Raspberry Pi™︎ 3 Model B Project Kit

Question

I just bought this project kit thinking there would be some documentation on getting even the most rudimentary things up and running. I've checked out everything I can, and the only thing even close was the Chapter 10 - Sending Output ... but that has VERY little details, and doesn't actually show where to plug things in.

shabaz · Answer

Hi Brian, There should be no difference to just using jumper cables vs. using the ribbon and breadboard. See below for for the internal connections inside a breadboard. Usually a multimeter can help with this type of thing, to confirm connections are present. Let me know if you need more help with using the breadboard. Regarding your 20 LED / 10 button requirement, it is hard to scale up a single LED and button to this larger number directly, because although there are 40 pins on the Pi's connector, some have dedicated uses. There are some tricks that sometimes are possible, but it complicates the software and hardware and is not a beginners topic. An easier way is to use a 'port expander' integrated circuit. Some information on it is here: Add Digital I/O Pins to Raspberry Pi Hardware Using MCP23017 - MATLAB & Simulink Example - MathWorks United Kingdom It basically allows the control of many LEDs (16) from just a couple of connections to the Pi. By using two of these ICs you can control twice as many (32) LEDs if desired. There is no single web link with all the information, but with googling you'll find more on this topic. You can use the same IC for commecting many switches or other input devices to the Pi using the method; the Pi uses just 2 connections to serve multiple port expander ICs. For information on inputs with port expanders see here: https://learn.adafruit.com/mcp230xx-gpio-expander-on-the-raspberry-pi/using-the-library