Sensor HAT Raspberry Pi Raspberry RASPBERRYPI-SENSEHAT — orientation, pressure, humidity and temperature sensors

The Raspberry Pi Sense HAT is an add-on board that integrates motion and environmental sensors with an 8x8 LED matrix and a five-button joystick for use with Raspberry Pi. It provides orientation data (yaw, pitch, roll) via an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, and measures barometric pressure, relative humidity and temperature. The board is compatible with Raspberry Pi models that expose the 40-pin GPIO header and is commonly used for education, prototyping and simple data display or game projects.

Advantages

The Sense HAT combines multiple sensors and a display in a single compact module, enabling direct measurement of orientation, pressure, humidity and temperature without additional hardware. The integrated 8x8 LED matrix and joystick allow immediate on-device feedback and basic user interaction. A Python library and example projects (including AstroPi resources) simplify development and make it suitable for classroom experiments and hobbyist projects.

Suitable for

• Weather and environmental monitoring projects
• Educational experiments and classroom use (including AstroPi activities)
• Robotics and motion-sensing applications
• Prototyping and small interactive displays or games

Key specifications

• Sensors: 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis magnetometer, barometer, temperature sensor, relative humidity sensor
• Gyroscope angular rate settings (dps): ~245 / 500 / 2000
• Accelerometer ranges (g): ~2 / 4 / 8 / 16
• Magnetometer sensitivity (gauss): ~4 / 8 / 12 / 16
• Barometer range: 260–1260 hPa (accuracy depends on temperature and pressure; ~0.1 hPa under normal conditions)
• Temperature accuracy: approximately ±2°C in the 0–65°C range
• Relative humidity accuracy: approximately ±4.5% in the 20–80% rH range
• Display: 8x8 LED matrix
• Input: small 5-button joystick
• Physical dimensions: 65.1 mm × 56.6 mm × 13.9 mm
• Weight: 20.4 g

How to use

Mount the Sense HAT on the Raspberry Pi by aligning and connecting it to the 40-pin GPIO header. Install the software and example code using the provided installation script or the Sense HAT Python library to access sensor readings and control the LED matrix and joystick. Use the Python library to read orientation (yaw, pitch, roll), pressure, humidity and temperature and to display values or simple graphics on the 8x8 LED matrix. The joystick can be polled for user input to control programs or games.

Usage recommendations

Connect the Sense HAT to a compatible Raspberry Pi model with the 40-pin GPIO header. For software setup run the AstroPi install script or install the Sense HAT Python package. Avoid exposing the sensors to direct heat sources or moisture beyond intended environmental ranges to maintain sensor accuracy.