Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W ships without headers, so you're going to need to solder on some headers. This will let you push the Mini PiTFT into place. The Mini PiTFT header has fewer holes than the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W has pins, so you need to get it in the right place on the header. It has to be on the top set of pins. In other words, it shouldn't cover the micro USB ports.
I used male / female headers to attach the buttons and NeoPixel Stick to the GPIO pins. I soldered the pin end to the button and NeoPixel Stick then pushed the socket over the GPIO pin. You could also solder directly onto the GPIO pins, or only attach enough headers for the TFT and then solder into the holes in the PCB for the others.
The placement of the TFT causes a slight problem because it covers all the 5V pins, and the project needs a 5V pin for the NeoPixel strip.
Fortunately, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W exposes some test pads on the back side of the PCB . There are both 5V and Ground pins.
The Data In of the Neopixel strip goes to pin 21.
Finally, connect the buttons to GPIOs 26 and 16 (with the opposite side of the buttons being connected to ground).
Finally, the camera is connected to the camera port. Your camera should come with two cables, a standard one and a narrow one. You'll need to use the narrow one to connect to a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.
The cable connects by pulling the plastic cover on the port forward, then slotting the cable in and pushing the cover back down. Be gentle, as the covers have a habit of snapping off if you're rough.
The cable has to be the right way around. See the image below to see the orientation of the gold contacts for both the Zero 2 W and the camera module.
That's the board set up electronically. Now let's look at the software.
Page last edited August 05, 2025
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