What is Raspberry Pi and How to start with Raspberry Pi Boards

by

Introduction

Raspberry Pi is a small, low-cost computer that is designed for education and hobbyist projects. It is developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK-based charity organization. The Raspberry Pi is based on a microcontroller board that contains a microprocessor, memory, and other components, such as input/output pins, USB ports, and a variety of other hardware and software resources.

The Raspberry Pi is available in a variety of models, each with its own set of features and capabilities. The most popular models are the Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 3. The Raspberry Pi 4 has a more powerful CPU and more memory than the Raspberry Pi 3 and also has more USB ports and faster Ethernet.

The Raspberry Pi can be used for a wide range of projects, such as building a media center, a retro gaming console, a home automation system, a weather station, and many more. It can run a variety of operating systems, such as Raspbian, a Debian-based Linux operating system that is optimized for the Raspberry Pi, and also Windows 10 IoT core, Ubuntu, etc.

The Raspberry Pi can be programmed using a variety of programming languages, such as Python, C, and Scratch. There are also many libraries and tutorials available for the Raspberry Pi, making it easy to get started with a wide range of projects.

One of the main advantages of the Raspberry Pi is its low cost, which makes it accessible to a wide range of users, from students and hobbyists to professionals. It also has a large community of users and developers, which means that there is a wealth of information and resources available for the platform.

How to Program Raspberry Pi Pico board using Thonny

  • Materials: You will need a Raspberry Pi Pico board, a micro USB cable, and a computer with Thonny IDE installed.
  • Install Thonny IDE: If you haven’t already, download and install the latest version of Thonny IDE from the official website (https://thonny.org/).
  • Connect the Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer using the micro USB cable.
  • Once connected, open the Thonny IDE on your computer, Go to Tools > Options, and then choose “Raspberry Pi Pico” from the “Interpreter” drop-down list.
  • Now write a simple LED blinking code using MicroPython and upload your code to the Raspberry Pi Pico by just clicking the green run button at the top of Thonny IDE.
  • As soon as you upload the code the code will start executing and LED will start blinking.
  • Serial Data Monitoring: You can use serial monitor to debug your complex code in the serial monitor. You can open the Serial Monitor by going to Tools > Serial Monitor.

Please follow the Raspberry Pi category to more projects and better understanding of each and every part of Raspberry Pi Pico board.

What is MycroPython?

MicroPython is a software implementation of the Python programming language. It is a designed and optimized to make the programming easier and to run on microcontrollers. MicroPyhton is a optimized verion of Python and can be executed on low-memory devices or systems. It provides a simple and flexible way to interact with low memory microcontroller to fetch any sensor data or to control any hardware peripherals.

Code Example

Basic LED blinking program, for the onboard LED connected at pin GP25.

from machine import Pin, Timer

led = Pin(25, Pin.OUT)
LED_State = True
tim = Timer()

def tick(timer):
    global led, LED_State
    LED_State = not LED_State
    led.value(LED_State)

tim.init(freq=1, mode=Timer.PERIODIC, callback=tick)

Leave a Comment