The friction
You know exactly what you want to build.
"When the soil is dry, water the plants."
"If the temperature spikes, text me."
"When motion is detected, flash the light."
The logic is clear. But between that clarity and a working prototype, there's a wall: datasheets, soldering, embedded C, voltage math, and weeks of tutorials for something that should take an afternoon.
Palpable removes the wall. Go from concept to tangible, interactive product in hours or days — not months.
What is Palpable
The Operating System for Reality
Enabling anyone to build and iterate interactive physical products. Fast. You describe the behavior — Palpable gives it a body.
Orchestration
PAL lives in the cloud and controls your devices. Describe what you want — PAL configures the automations and keeps everything running.
Plug-and-play
Qwiic sensors and actuators snap together. No soldering, no wiring diagrams, no guesswork.
Infinite Scale
One Brain monitoring your workshop. A dozen across a greenhouse. PAL sees them all as one ecosystem.
Real Hardware
Not a simulation. Not a dashboard. Actual sensors and actuators, running where you put them.
How it works
From idea to running system
Talk to PAL
Start with an idea — or just a problem. "I want to automate my grow room." "I need to know when my workshop gets too humid." PAL helps you figure it out and lands on something concrete.
Get your hardware
PAL recommends the right modules for what you're building. You order them. They arrive ready to connect.
Plug it together
Qwiic connectors. Click, click, done. PAL sees each module come online.
Set up your automations
"When X happens, do Y." You describe it, PAL configures it. Test it, tweak it, go live.
It just runs
PAL orchestrates your Brains from the cloud. Your automations run. Expand later, or leave it alone. It's yours.
Who it's for
Built for builders
Hobbyists with ideas
You've got a project in your head — automating your greenhouse, monitoring your workshop, rigging up something weird and specific. You don't want to spend three weekends learning Arduino.
Startups that need hardware
You're building a product that touches the physical world. You need a working prototype, not a three-month embedded engineering detour. Palpable gets you there.
Software people who think in logic
You can describe a system. You can think through conditions and triggers. You just don't want to learn a new stack to make it real.
Examples
What you can build
A few examples. Yours will be different.
Grow room automation
Monitor temperature, humidity, soil moisture. Water automatically. Get alerts when something's off.
Workshop monitor
Track air quality, temperature, humidity. Log it. Trigger ventilation when thresholds are crossed.
Prototype for a startup
Prove your concept works with real hardware. Iterate fast. Worry about production later.
Environmental sensing
Distributed sensors across a space. Multiple Brains, one ecosystem. Data where you need it.
Custom alerts
Motion, temperature, moisture, whatever. Text, email, webhook. Your conditions, your actions.
The AI
PAL is an AI agent that lives in the cloud and orchestrates everything.
Your Brains — one or many — connect to PAL. PAL knows what modules are plugged in, what automations are running, and what's happening across your entire setup. When you talk to PAL, you're talking to the thing that actually controls your hardware.
PAL helps you figure out what to build.
Not sure where to start? Describe a problem or a vague idea. PAL will brainstorm angles with you, suggest approaches, and help you land on something concrete.
PAL recommends what you need.
Based on what you're trying to do, PAL suggests the right modules. No researching part numbers or comparing specs — just clear recommendations.
PAL sets up your automations.
"When the temperature goes above 30°C, turn on the fan and text me." You say it, PAL configures it. Triggers, conditions, actions — all handled.
PAL orchestrates across devices.
Running five Brains across a greenhouse? PAL sees them all. Automations can span devices. Your ecosystem is one system, not five islands.
PAL troubleshoots with you.
Something's not working? PAL can see what's happening on your Brains and walks you through fixing it. Calm, patient, step by step.
PAL is direct and treats you like you know what you're doing. Because you do.
Hardware
Hardware that connects
Palpable uses Qwiic-compatible modules. They snap together with small cables — no soldering, no breadboards, no pin confusion.
The Brain
A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W running PalpableOS. Connects to your modules locally and to PAL in the cloud. PAL sees what's plugged in, pushes automations, and monitors everything.
Sensors
Temperature, humidity, pressure, soil moisture, motion, light, air quality — and more coming.
Actuators
Relays, pumps, lights, servos — whatever your automation needs to do something.
Expansion
One Brain or many. One automation or dozens. PAL orchestrates across all of them as a single system.
FAQ
Questions
Is this like Home Assistant / SmartThings / etc.?
Not really. Those are consumer smart home platforms — pre-built integrations, voice assistants, that world. Palpable is for building your own thing from scratch, with real hardware, for a specific purpose you define.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You describe what you want in plain language. Palpable handles the implementation.
Do I need to know electronics?
No. Everything is plug-and-play Qwiic modules. If you can plug in a cable, you're set.
What if I want to do something Palpable doesn't support?
PAL will tell you honestly if something's out of scope. Palpable is opinionated — it does a specific thing well rather than trying to do everything.
Can I use my own Raspberry Pi?
You can of course use your own Raspberry Pi as long as it's the Zero 2 W. You can also use your own Qwiic modules. If we don't support a specific module yet, you can request support for it.
What happens if something breaks?
PAL helps you troubleshoot. If a module is dead, we'll replace it. Hardware is physical — things happen. We'll work through it with you.
What if the internet goes down?
Automations run locally on the Brain — they don't stop if your connection drops. You just won't be able to talk to PAL or get alerts until you're back online.