Strawberry4Pi Makes It Easy to Build Raspberry Pi IoT Devices

To most people, the Internet of Things is just a vaguely-defined collection of smart plugs and thermostats that can be controlled via voice commands with an Amazon Alexa or Google Home. And, for most people, that’s all it needs to be. But, virtually every electronic device in your home can potentially benefit from IoT integration, and Strawberry4Pi makes that as easy as possible to do with a Raspberry Pi.

Strawberry4Pi recently launched on Kickstarter with the goal of providing an easy way to create Raspberry Pi IoT devices without doing any complicated programming or wiring. While many experienced makers can certainly build IoT devices already using existing products like the popular ESP8266 module, that kind of project would still be overwhelming to most tech enthusiasts. Strawberry4Pi is designed to be as streamlined as possible to use, so that even a normal home owner can give a device IoT functionality.

The Strawberry4Pi board is made to snap right over a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and has four built-in mechanical relays. To turn a regular lamp into an IoT lamp, for example, all you have to do is run one wire through a relay. Then you can use the included smartphone app to switch it on and off, set timers, get notifications, and even share management of the device with friends and family. Need to control more than four devices? Simply add another Strawberry4Pi and Raspberry Pi to your network.

The Strawberry4Pi Kickstarter campaign will be running until April 8th. A single board costs £49 (about $64 USD), or £74 (about $96 USD) with the Raspberry Pi Zero W and an enclosure included. Rewards are expected to be delivered in May.