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Assembling the Raspberry Pi and the HAT

Step 1: Necessary parts #

  1. You will need:
  • A Raspberry Pi of your choosing. Displayed are three options - you just need one.
  • Hex nuts (4x)
  • M2.5 12mm hex standoffs (4x)
  • M2.5 12mm hex standoffs-with-6mm-screws (4x)
  • M2.5 10mm screws (4x)
  • Bottom faceplate
  • HAT PCB
  1. Check the GPIO pins on the HAT PCB to confirm that they are straight and not touching another GPIO pin.

Step 2: Assemble the bottom faceplate #

  1. If using a half-size Raspberry Pi (aka a Zero model), switch to the tab above called "Raspberry Pi Zero" to see Zero specific instructions.
tip

The 40 GPIO pins (standing for general-purpose input/output) form a distinct row on one side of the Raspberry Pi. Note the orientation of these pins to help you assemble correctly!

  1. Orientation: the base will have a flat edge and an edge with an indent. The GPIO pins sit along the indent, seen on the left in the images.
  2. Insert the M2.5 10mm screws into the holes.
  3. Hand screw a hex nut onto each screw.
  4. Place the Raspberry Pi on top, aligning the holes, with the GPIO pins on the left. Note: your Raspberry Pi may look different than the one displayed.

Step 3: Placing the HAT PCB on top #

  1. Hand screw on the M2.5 12mm hex standoffs-with-6mm-screw in each corner.

  2. Place the HAT PCB on top. Push down from the corners to secure it in place. The HAT PCB's GPIO connector will line up with the RPi's GPIO pins and may require a slight force to compress down. You can also use the next Tip below to help apply force.

  3. Hand screw the M2.5 12mm hex standoffs in each corner, on top of the HAT.

tip

By screwing down the standoffs, they'll help compress the HAT onto the RPi, too.

  1. Put this aside and proceed to the next page.