With the change of form factor, the keyboard chassis Raspberry Pi 400 introduced an interesting challenge for third party accessory makers. The GPIO, now moved to the rear of the case and rotated 90 degrees means that standard HATs and add on boards no longer fit. Companies and makers are rising to the challenge, with Pimoroni's Flat HAT Hacker being the first commercial board. Announced via Twitter, Adafruit's latest board, a Cyberpunk / Neuromancer inspired Cyberdeck Bonnet which aims to improve on Pimoroni's design.
CYBERDECK BONNET for Pi 400hey keyboard cowboys, are you surfing the information superhighway with a pi 400? want a cool heads up display, or maybe you need to wire up some neopixel wetware... pic.twitter.com/VEESANVjvQDecember 30, 2020
The Cyberdeck Bonnet for the Raspberry Pi 400 is a simple pass through board that takes all 40 pins of the GPIO and breaks them out via a 45 degree angled header. The angle of the header, and the size of the board means that any screens which use the GPIO can be connected and clearly seen on the Raspberry Pi 400, providing a complete portable package for Pi hacks.
As the GPIO is fully utilized we need another means to connect add ons and components to our Raspberry Pi 400 and Adafruit have helpfully provided two Stemma and a single Stemma QT breakouts which can be used with compatible devices such as Neopixels and sensors.
There is no word on a release date or price for the Cyberdeck Bonnet, and we will be sure to get hold of one for review.
