Sensors

A sensor on its own just gives you numbers. This section is about what to do with those numbers.

Every project here connects a sensor (input) to something visible, audible, or interactive (output). That pairing is the core of how real devices work — a thermostat reads temperature and controls a heater; a phone reads its accelerometer and rotates the screen. You read a value, you decide what to do with it, and something happens. That's the loop.

Projects in this section

Each project is listed with its input and output so you can scan for combinations that interest you.

Starter

These projects use a single sensor, a single output, and straightforward code. A good place to start if you haven't worked with sensors in CircuitPython before.

Project	Input	Output
Temperature Lamp	MCP9808 temperature sensor	NeoPixel color
Distance Alert	HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance	LED blink rate
Touch Keyboard	MPR121 capacitive touch	USB keyboard (HID)

Builder

These projects introduce more capable sensors or add a second output. Expect a bit more wiring and code to read through.

Project	Input	Output
Color Matcher	TCS34725 color sensor	Display showing matched color
Gesture Control	APDS9960 gesture sensor	NeoPixels or servo
Motion Alarm	LIS3DH accelerometer	Sound and lights

Hacker

Hacker-level projects combine multiple sensors, external services, or both. You'll be reading code more carefully and making decisions about how to adapt it to your setup.

Project	Input	Output
Air Quality Dashboard	SGP40 air quality sensor	Display and Adafruit IO

The remix mindset

Once you've done one of these projects, you'll see that any sensor can pair with any output — the remix ideas on each page will point you toward combinations we haven't built yet.