Description
Turn your Raspberry Pi into a retro games console! Picade X HAT includes joystick and button inputs, a 3 W I²S DAC/amplifier, and soft power switch.
This HAT has all the same great features as the original Picade HAT but now has no-fuss female Dupont connectors to hook up your joystick and buttons.
Simply pop Picade X HAT onto your Pi, plug a USB-C power supply into the connector on the HAT (it back-powers your Pi through the GPIO, so no need for a separate power supply), wire up your controls, and install the driver! It's ideal for your own DIY arcade cabinet builds, or for interfaces that need big, colourful buttons and sound.
Features
- I²S audio DAC with 3 W amplifier (mono) and push-fit terminals
- Safe power on/off system with tactile power button and LED
- USB-C connector for power (back-powers your Pi)
- 4-way digital joystick inputs
- 6x player button inputs
- 4x utility button inputs
- 1x soft power switch input
- 1x power LED output
- Plasma button connector
- Breakout pins for power, I²C, and 2 additional buttons
- Picade X HAT pinout
- Compatible with all 40-pin Raspberry Pi models
The I²S DAC blends both channels of digital audio from the Raspberry Pi into a single mono output. This is then passed through a 3 W amplifier to power a connected speaker.
The board also features a soft power switch that allows you turn your Pi on and off safely without risk of SD card corruption. Tap the connected button to start up, and press and hold it for 3 seconds to fully shutdown and disconnect power.
Software/Installation
Open a terminal and type curl https://get.pimoroni.com/picadehat | bash to run the installer. You'll need to reboot once the installation is complete, if it doesn't prompt you to do so.
The software does not support Raspbian Wheezy
Notes
With USB-C power connected through Picade X HAT you'll need either to tap the connected power button or the button marked 'switch' on the HAT to power on your Pi.
