PicoBricks Raspberry Pi Pico W Starter Kit - 26 Pieces DIY Project Kit with 3 Learning Book and 25 Project Videos

I first became aware of PicoBricks after reading a review of MicroBlocks education focused programming tool and saw PicoBricks were a supported platform. After a visit to PicoBricks web page, I was most impressed with their documentation and how each project gives example code using MicroBlocks, MicroPython, and Arduino IDE so kids can repeat the projects and gain even deeper understanding of programming over time. Their documentation is the real value add compared to one of those cheaper kits that include a Pico and random assortment of components and wires and minimum documentation thats not really geared towards kids. There are a lot of projects included with this kit and its going to last much longer then a single weekend of usage. I also really appreciate that it comes with a test application pre-installed on the board that allows you to quickly verify that almost every component is working. Since its going to take a while to get to all the projects, its nice knowing the needing parts will be in working order once we get to them. I plan to use the kit myself for prototyping my own Pico projects as well. Who wants to mess around with wires if you don't really need to? One final note of interest. They appear to have released a revision 1.1 of the board but haven't updated the pictures or description and that is the version I was sent. This version ships with a Pico W (built in wifi) and replaces the external wifi connector with an IR sensor and remote control. This remote is a big part of what allows you to quickly test all the components with that test application.

Quality was great . Size was good. Cost was fair. I agree that the product is okay for the listed age range. I would buy for a kid. But depending on the adults motivation in science????

I just received the kit and I was impressed by everything in it. It comes with the latest Pico (Pico W) which means you will be able to build projects that leverage a wifi connection (and possibly Bluetooth). I was worried that this kit would come with the older Pico and I am so glad it came with the Pico-W The other thing that I really like is that it comes with a getting started printed book. I found with other kits that come with an e-book, for young kids it's hard to follow along. I think a printed book will ease them into this topic and once they understand the instructions in a printed book, they will be able to make an easier transition to online content. The full ebook for this kit is awesome and has some fun exercises and is available as a link from the seller. I will keep updating my review as I use this kit to introduce microcontrollers and python to my kids.

Don’t buy it . Picobricks don’t work. The library is messed up. Got no help.

The kit I received is improved from the description: Includes the Raspberry Pi Pico W which has a built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This in itself can be a huge improvement. The 'IoT' board includes an IR sensor, which was not previously described in the kit, and it's a welcome addition. The same board still includes TTL pins. The kit still includes separate Bluetooth and ESP2866 based WiFi discrete modules. Because the board is a real Raspberry Pi Zero, all common development tools for microcontrollers will work here. I appreciate it's a standard Raspberry, not a custom version, so there are no incompatibilities. From the environments available, which include MicroBlocks and Arduino, the former is great to get started. The kit starts with the board that has all the detachable modules and comes in its custom mold. I'm not planning on cutting out the modules just yet. It’s a very nicely designed board, and it also comes with a nice storage pouch. The kit then comes with a dizzying array of modules including stereo ultrasonic distance sensor, NFC reader and card, IR remote, servo motors and standard motors, mini water pump (and hose), PIR motion sensor, temperature/humidity sensor, smoke/flammable gas sensor, soil moisture sensor, sound sensor/microphone, two different AA battery cases, wheels, propellers, laser cut pieces for different projects. The kit is clearly tailored for STEM classes, and it's packaged as a complete solution. Because of the awesome variety of sensors and related boards included, it can also be used as an IoT development playground (The included ESP2866, BT and NFC cards come in handy for this as well). Overall, a very solid kit, with more components than I know what to do with.

The website ide.picobricks.com doesn't work with MacOS, even with the last version (Sequoia 15.1.1). They claims it doesn't work with Safari but it works using Chrome, I have tried without success Chrome and Opera. it works well with microblocks but it is not exactly as picobricks.com: you can find the way to use all the components on the main picobricks board, but for all the other it is much more complicated, ( at least for me). Sunstone Service is largely non-existent.

First, this is more than what is offered in the first picture. It is not just a board with a Pico Pi installed in. You can break that apart into different part pieces and string it all together, but you also get other things and more parts to play with in the box, including making a rudimentary robot you can control with the Pico Pi. I was worried at first that this didn't come with the Pico pi, as there are so many kits that don't come with the Pi product they support, but I can say it does come with one, and you can even get more pico pi's for cheap so you can do more with kits like these. Overall, I haven't gotten far, but I am having fun playing with it with my kids, but there is a lot to learn still. Between programing, like Python or scratch like programing. (Scratch is block based programing.) I only knew some C# and C++ before working with this, but there is some overlap with C type programing and Python. Overall, I am very happy with this so far and I think it is very worth the 100ish it was when I first was offered this.

There is a huge difference. Kit is great, but pico W has different libraries and pinout. If you don't know that, you think it doesn't work. So, operate with that knowledge and have fun!

As an ex software developer I've been keen to get my kids into STEM in different ways. They're always coming back from school telling me about the Scratch coding they've been doing. It's a great tool but for me there was nothing like having something physical to play around with when learning to code. This kit is a fantastic set to do just that! Took about 5 mins to get the board connected to the IDE and I'd done some basic code to interact with some of the components. I've not tried the instructions and projects yet - I'm saving that for the kids but so far I'm really really happy!

The actual components are very good, but the website and ebook have lots of broken links and incorrect code examples. Support for the issues is poor or non existent from the company. Luckily the maker community is amazing and helpful. I wouldn't recommend for kids unless their parent or teacher are experts.

South this for my godson(10years old) as he is bored with the school coding program. He jumped in with it and was loving that he could actually see stuff happing from a light coming on to a buzzer going off. The instructions are simple and the projects fun. Well worth it. Feels like scratch which aloud him to jump straight into the projects with only a little bit of playing around in the UI.