In Get Started with MicroPython on Raspberry Pi Pico, you will learn how to use the beginner-friendly language MicroPython to write programs and connect up hardware to make your Raspberry Pi Pico interact with the world around it. Using these skills, you can create your own electro‑mechanical projects, whether for fun or to make your life easier.
Microcontrollers, like RP2040 at the heart of Raspberry Pi Pico, are computers stripped back to their bare essentials. You don’t use monitors or keyboards, but program them to take their input from, and send their output to the input/output pins.
Using these programmable connections, you can light lights, make noises, send text to screens, and much more. In Get Started with MicroPython on Raspberry Pi Pico, you will learn how to use the beginner-friendly language MicroPython to write programs and connect up hardware to make your Raspberry Pi Pico interact with the world around it. Using these skills, you can create your own electro‑mechanical projects, whether for fun or to make your life easier.
The robotic future is here – you just have to build it yourself. We’ll show you how.
About the authors
Gareth Halfacree is a freelance technology journalist, writer, and former system administrator in the education sector. With a passion for open-source software and hardware, he was an early adopter of the Raspberry Pi platform and has written several publications on its capabilities and flexibility.
Ben Everard is a geek who has stumbled into a career that lets him play with new hardware. As the editor of HackSpace magazine, he spends more time than he really should experimenting with the latest (and not-solatest) DIY tech.
Projects with Thonny-IDE, uPyCraft-IDE, and ESP32
The 'Python' programming language has enjoyed an enormous upswing in recent years. Not least, various single-board systems such as the Raspberry Pi have contributed to its popularity. But Python has also found widespread use in other fields, such as artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML). It is obvious, therefore, to use Python or the 'MicroPython' variant for use in SoCs (Systems on Chip) as well.
Powerful controllers such as the ESP32 from Espressif Systems offer excellent performance as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality at an affordable price. With these features, the Maker scene has been taken by storm. Compared to other controllers, the ESP32 has a significantly larger flash and SRAM memory, as well as a much higher CPU speed. Due to these characteristics, the chip is not only suitable for classic C applications, but also for programming with MicroPython.
This book introduces the application of modern one-chip systems. In addition to the technical background, the focus is on MicroPython itself. After the introduction to the language, the programming skills learned are immediately put into practice. The individual projects are suitable for use in the laboratory as well as for everyday applications. So, in addition to the actual learning effect, the focus is also on the joy of building complete and useful devices. By using laboratory breadboards, circuits of all kinds can be realized with little effort, turning the testing and debugging of the 100% homebrew projects into an instructive pleasure.
The various applications, such as weather stations, digital voltmeters, ultrasound range finders, RFID card readers or function generators, make the projects presented ideally suited for practical courses or subject and study work in the natural sciences, or in science and technology classes.
Recently, the development of a tiny chip called the ESP8266 has made it possible to interface any type of microcontroller to a Wi-Fi AP. The ESP8266 is a low-cost tiny Wi-Fi chip having fully built-in TCP/IP stack and a 32-bit microcontroller unit. This chip, produced by Shanghai based Chinese manufacturer Espressif System, is IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi compatible with on-chip program and data memory, and general purpose input-output ports. Several manufacturers have incorporated the ESP8266 chip in their hardware products (e.g. ESP-xx, NodeMCU etc) and offer these products as a means of connecting a microcontroller system such as the Android, PIC microcontroller or others to a Wi-Fi. The ESP8266 is a low-power chip and costs only a few Dollars.
ESP8266 and MicroPython – Coding Cool Stuff is an introduction to the ESP8266 chip and describes the features of this chip and shows how various firmware and programming languages such as the MicroPython can be uploaded to the chip. The main aim of the book is to teach the readers how to use the MicroPython programming language on ESP8266 based hardware, especially on the NodeMCU.
Several interesting and useful projects are given in the e-book (pdf) to show how to use the MicroPython in NodeMCU type ESP8266 hardware:
Project “What shall I wear today?”: You will be developing a weather information system using a NodeMCU development board together with a Text-to-Speech processor module.
Project “The Temperature and Humidity on the Cloud”: You will be developing a system that will get the ambient temperature and humidity using a sensor and then store this data on the cloud so that it can be accessed from anywhere.
Project “Remote Web Based Control”: You will be developing a system that will remotely control two LEDs connected to a NodeMCU development board using an HTTP Web Server application.
This ultrasonic distance sensor (ME007-ULA V1) offers high performance with a robust, waterproof probe. Operating on the principle of ultrasonic echo ranging, the sensor determines the distance to a target by measuring the time elapsed between sending a pulse and receiving the echo. Its non-contact design allows it to detect a wide range of materials, including transparent or non-ferrous objects, metals, non-metals, liquids, solids, and powders.
Specifications
Detecting Distance
27~800 cm
Output Interface
RS232, Voltage Analog
Operating Voltage
5-12 V
Average Current
<10 mA
Operating Temperature
−15~60°C
Dimensions
60 x 43 x 31 mm
ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 is an entry-level development board based on ESP32-C3-MINI-1, a module named for its small size. This board integrates complete Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE functions. Most of the I/O pins on the ESP32-C3-MINI-1 module are broken out to the pin headers on both sides of this board for easy interfacing. Developers can either connect peripherals with jumper wires or mount ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 on a breadboard. Specifications ESP32-C3-MINI-1 ESP32-C3-MINI-1 is a general-purpose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE combo module that comes with a PCB antenna. At the core of this module is ESP32-C3FN4, a chip that has an embedded flash of 4 MB. Since flash is packaged in the ESP32-C3FN4 chip, rather than integrated into the module, ESP32-C3-MINI-1 has a smaller package size. 5 V to 3.3 V LDO Power regulator that converts a 5 V supply into a 3.3 V output. 5 V Power On LED Turns on when the USB power is connected to the board. Pin Headers All available GPIO pins (except for the SPI bus for flash) are broken out to the pin headers on the board. For details, please see Header Block. Boot Button Download button. Holding down Boot and then pressing Reset initiates Firmware Download mode for downloading firmware through the serial port. Micro-USB Port USB interface. Power supply for the board as well as the communication interface between a computer and the ESP32-C3FN4 chip. Reset Button Press this button to restart the system. USB-to-UART Bridge Single USB-UART bridge chip provides transfer rates up to 3 Mbps. RGB LED Addressable RGB LED, driven by GPIO 8. Downloads ESP32-C3 Datasheet ESP32-C3-MINI-1 Datasheet ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 Schematic ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 PCB Layout ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 Dimensions
Features
Synchronous mode: Auto, Normal, Single, None, Scan
Rising/Falling edge trigger
Modes of vertical precise, horizontal precise measurement and triggering threshold
Auto Measurement: frequency, cycle time, duty cycle, DC RMS voltage/Vpp /Vmax/Vmin/Vavg
Inbuilt signal generator/10 Hz-1 MHz square wave (duty adjustable) or 10 Hz-20 KHz
Sine/Square/Triangle/Sawtooth wave
Specifications
Analog bandwidth
1 MHz
Max sample rate
10 Msa/s
Max sample memory depth
8K
Analog input impedance
1 MΩ
Max input voltage
±40 V (X1)
Coupling
AC/DC
Vertical sensitivity
20 mv/Div~10 V/Div (1-2-5)
Horizontal sensitivity
1 uS/Div~2 S/Div (1-2-5)
Storage
Built-in 8 MB U disk storage for waveform data and images
Power supply
Internal 550 mAh Lithium battery, recharging through Micro USB port
Display
2.8' Full Color TFT LCD (320x240 pixels)
Dimensions
100 x 56.5 x 10.7 mm
Downloads
User Manual
Source Code
App
Now you can connect your Arduino boards with the official Arduino USB cable. Through a USB-C to USB-C with a USB-A adapter connection, this data USB cable can easily connect your Arduino boards with your chosen programming device. The Arduino USB cable has a nylon braided jacket in the typical Arduino colors white and teal. The connectors have an aluminum shell that protects your cable from harm at the same time as looking cool. Length: 100 cm Aluminium shell with logo Nylon braided jacket white and teal
The official Raspberry Pi micro HDMI to HDMI (A/M) cable (black, 1 m) designed for the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5. 19-pin HDMI Type D(M) to 19-pin HDMI Type A(M) 1 m cable (black) Nickel-plated plugs 4Kp60 compliant RoHS compliant 3 Mohm 300 VDC insulation, withstands 300 VDC for 0.1s
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