GPS, GSM, colour temperature sensor and light brightness sensor

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Hey everyone,

I have 2 RPi projects I would like to complete, and I need some help choosing some modules. For both projects, I think I should be able to use the Zero 2 W.
The first one is simple - I’m after a module that measures the outside light colour and ideally returns that value as Kelvin, as well as brightness, as a value from 0-100%. It doesn’t necessarily need to be on the same sensor, two sensors are acceptable.

The second project is a bit more complex. I am looking to wire up the RPi to my car so that as I arrive and leave home it controls my roller door. I would also like to track my vehicle with GPS as well - I live in an area with lots of stolen vehicles. The modules I need help with are a GPS module and a 4g/5g GSM module. I may also need a super capacitor to assist with a safe shutdown when the vehicle is turned off.
I know I could put an apple airtag in the car, but that position would only update around devices connected to apple’s findmy network. I have also considered using a mobile wifi hotspot, but I thought it would be a good idea to activate vehicle tracking only if I realise my vehicle’s been stolen, perhaps by sending the RPi an SMS containing a specific word.

Let me know if I cab further clarify anything, or if there’s another way to achieve these objectives

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For ambient color temperature measurement, you can use Tcs34725. For brightness you can choose BH1750 Ambient Light Sensor.

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Hi Brendan,

I’d take a look at our PiicoDev sensors for this task. They attach without wiring or soldering, and have guides and libraries for Python on a Pi:

For the car one, you’d have to be careful with wiring (i.e. project only gets power when car is on), or look towards a low power solution. Pis are quite power hungry and would likely drain your battery quickly if on all the time, and they don’t really like having their power cut unexpectedly. Microcontrollers are better suited there, and can likely still work with cellular modems and GPS units.

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Thank you James, I’ll definitely look at the Piico dev stuff. For the car project, I was going to speak with a few auto elec guys regarding this, but my plan was to power it from the ignition. I am curious about microcontrollers though, I’ve never really looked in to them

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