Template: Pico Start Kit Guides
Software Setup
Please follow the guides of Raspberry Pi to install and set up Pico for the Pico.
For easy use, we recommend you use the Thonny tool.
- Thonny website
- Please set the Thonny development environment to be RaspberryPi when setting.
- Configure the Micrpython environment and select the Pico port.
- First, connect the Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer, left click on the Configure environment option in the lower right corner of the Thonny --> Select Configure interpreter.
- In the pop-up window, select MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico), and select the corresponding port.
- Click OK and then back to Thonny, download the firmware library to the Pico. Then click Stop, and you can see the current environment in the Shell window.
- How to download the firmware library for Pico in Windows: Press and hold the BOOT key and connect to the computer, then release the BOOT key, a removable disk will appear on the computer, and copy the firmware library into it.
- How to download firmware library for RP2040 in Windows: After connecting to the computer, press the BOOT key and RESET key at the same time, release the RESET key, and then release the BOOT key, a removable disk will appear on the computer.
Copy the firmware library into it (you can also use the Pico method).
Examples
- Download Demo Codes to your Raspberry Pi and test.
External LED Example
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the Lesson-5 External LED example with Thonny. Run the example, and you will find that the red LED is flashing.
- Codes:
led_external = machine.Pin(15, machine.Pin.OUT) #Set GP15 to output Mode while True: led_external.toggle() #Toggle the LED every 5 seconds. utime.sleep(5)
Traffic Light System Examples
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the Lesson-9 Traffic-Light-System example by Thonny, run the codes and test the traffic light, the buzzer sounds when you press the button.
- Codes
def button_reader_thread(): #Check if the button is pressed global button_pressed while True: if button.value() == 1: button_pressed = True _thread.start_new_thread(button_reader_thread, ()) #Start a new thread to monitor the stats of button while True: if button_pressed == True: #If the button is pressed, turn on the LED and let the buzzer work. led_red.value(1) for i in range(10): buzzer.value(1) utime.sleep(0.2) buzzer.value(0) utime.sleep(0.2) global button_pressed button_pressed = False led_red.value(1) utime.sleep(5) led_amber.value(1) utime.sleep(2) led_red.value(0) led_amber.value(0) led_green.value(1) utime.sleep(5) led_green.value(0) led_amber.value(1) utime.sleep(5) led_amber.value(0)
Burglar Alarm LED Buzzer Examples
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the Lesson-14 Burglar Alarm LED Buzzer examples by Thonny. The LED lights on if an object is moving around the Passive infrared sensor and the buzzer will indicate.
- Codes
def pir_handler(pin): #Interrupt process function print("ALARM! Motion detected!") for i in range(50): led.toggle() buzzer.toggle() utime.sleep_ms(100) sensor_pir.irq(trigger=machine.Pin.IRQ_RISING, handler=pir_handler)#Enable the Interrupt, the interrupt function is called when motions is detected. while True: #Toggle LED every 5s led.toggle() utime.sleep(5)
Potentiometer Example
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the Lesson-16 Potentiometer example by Thonny, you can adjust the potentiometer and check if the voltage printed to the Sheel window are changing as well.
- Codes
potentiometer = machine.ADC(26) #Set the GP26 pin as analog input conversion_factor = 3.3 / (65535) while True: voltage = potentiometer.read_u16() * conversion_factor #Convert the sampled data to voltage value print(voltage) #Print the voltage data, it chanaged according to the sliding rheostat. utime.sleep(2)
WS2812 Example
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the WS2812_RGB_LED.py file of Lesson-25 WS2812 example by Thonny, the LEDs light in Blue, Red, Green, and White.
- Code
#This code uses the state machine mechanism. The following code is a decorator where we can initialize the hardware, set the pin level, etc. #label("bitloop") We can define some tags in our code so that we can jump to them. #jmp(not_x,"do_zero") If x=0, we jumpt to do_zero. #nop() .set(0) [T2 - 1] The code jumpt to here if x = 0. @asm_pio(sideset_init=PIO.OUT_LOW, out_shiftdir=PIO.SHIFT_LEFT, autopull=True, pull_thresh=24) def ws2812(): T1 = 2 T2 = 5 T3 = 1 label("bitloop") out(x, 1) .side(0) [T3 - 1] jmp(not_x, "do_zero") .side(1) [T1 - 1] jmp("bitloop") .side(1) [T2 - 1] label("do_zero") nop() .side(0) [T2 - 1]
# Create the StateMachine with the ws2812 program, outputting on Pin(22). sm = StateMachine(0, ws2812, freq=8000000, sideset_base=Pin(0)) #Create the stats machine # Start the StateMachine, it will wait for data on its FIFO. sm.active(1) #Start the stats machine # Display a pattern on the LEDs via an array of LED RGB values. ar = array.array("I", [0 for _ in range(NUM_LEDS)]) print(ar) print("blue") for j in range(0, 255): for i in range(NUM_LEDS): ar[i] = j sm.put(ar,8) #put() is put the data to output FIFO of the stats machine time.sleep_ms(5)
LCD1602 I2C Example
Connect the boards as in the picture below. Connect the Pico to Raspberry Pi or PC. Open the Lesson-21 LCD1602 I2C example by Thonny, you need to first save the RGB1602.py to Pico and then run the Choose_Color.py file. The LCD will change color every 5s. If you run the Discoloratio.py file, the LED displays RGB colors.
- Codes
Choose_Color.py
#Define colors rgb9 = (0,255,0) #green lcd.setCursor(0, 0) #Set the position of cursor # print the number of seconds since reset: lcd.printout("Waveshare") #Print the string lcd.setCursor(0, 1) #Move the cursor to second row. lcd.printout("Hello,World!")#Print the string lcd.setRGB(rgb1[0],rgb1[1],rgb1[2]); #Set the back light
Discoloration.py
t=0 while True: r = int((abs(math.sin(3.14*t/180)))*255); #RGB changes as time goes g = int((abs(math.sin(3.14*(t+60)/180)))*255); b = int((abs(math.sin(3.14*(t+120)/180)))*255); t = t + 3; lcd.setRGB(r,g,b);#Set the RGB data again. # set the cursor to column 0, line 1 lcd.setCursor(0, 0) #Set the curson to the first row. # print the number of seconds since reset: lcd.printout("Waveshare")#Print the string lcd.setCursor(0, 1) #Set the cursor to second row lcd.printout("Hello,World!")#Print the string time.sleep(0.3)