11/18/22, 11:57 AM Getting started with Raspberry Pi Pico

Projects

Getting started with

Raspberry Pi Pico
How to start programming you Raspberry Pi Pico with
Thonny and MicroPython

Step 1 Introduction

In this project, you will connect a Raspberry Pi Pico to another computer and learn how to program it using
MicroPython.
A Raspberry Pi Pico is a low-cost microcontroller device. Microcontrollers are tiny computers, but they tend to lack
large volume storage and peripheral devices that you can plug in (for example, keyboards or monitors).
A Raspberry Pi Pico has GPIO pins, much like a Raspberry Pi computer, which means it can be used to control and
receive input from a variety of electronic devices.

The new Introduction to Raspberry Pi Pico path (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/pathways/pico-in

tro) uses the picozero (https://picozero.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) package to engage in some creative
physical computing projects.

What you will make

You will connect a Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer, install the Thonny Python IDE, and write a MicroPython
program to blink the onboard LED. If you have additional components available, then you can also try out some
more examples.

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What you will need

Hardware
A Raspberry Pi Pico with soldered headers
A computer that can run the Thonny IDE and program a Raspberry Pi Pico
A micro USB cable
A selection of electronics components, such as a button, an LED with appropriate resistor, and a
potentiometer (optional)
A breadboard and M-M jumper leads for connecting additional components (optional)
An external 5V micro USB power source (optional)
Software
The project will guide you through the installation of:
MicroPython firmware for Raspberry Pi Pico
The Thonny Python IDE

What you will learn

How to load the MicroPython firmware onto a Raspberry Pi Pico

How to program a Raspberry Pi Pico using MicroPython
How to connect additional components to a Raspberry Pi Pico and write MicroPython programs to interact
with them

Additional information for educators

If you are completing this project in a school or other setting with a managed network, then you should make
sure that you have the appropriate permissions to mount a USB drive and install software.
If you need to print this project, please use the printer-friendly version (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/e
n/projects/getting-started-with-the-pico/print).
Here is a link to the completed scripts for this project (https://rpf.io/p/en/getting-started-with-the-pico
-get).

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Step 2 Meet Raspberry Pi Pico

This is a Raspberry Pi Pico. Hopefully your device has already had the header pins soldered on, but if not, you might
like to have a look at our Getting started with soldering resource (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projec
ts/getting-started-with-soldering).

If you have a breadboard, put your Raspberry Pi Pico on the board.

Place it so that the two headers are separated by the ravine in the middle.

Plug your micro USB cable into the port on the left-hand side of the board.

If you need to know the pin numbers for a Raspberry Pi Pico, you can refer to the following diagram.

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Step 3 Install Thonny

In this step, you will install Thonny or make sure you have the latest version. Then you will connect to a Raspberry
Pi Pico and run some simple Python code using the Shell.

Thonny on Raspberry Pi

Thonny is already installed on Raspberry Pi OS, but may need to be updated to the latest version
Open a terminal window, either by clicking the icon in the top left-hand corner of the screen or by pressing
the Ctrl+Alt+T keys at the same time
In the window, type the following to update your OS and Thonny

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Thonny on other operating systems

On Windows, macOS, and Linux, you can install the latest Thonny IDE or update an existing version
In a web browser, navigate to thonny.org (https://thonny.org/)
In the top right-hand corner of the browser window, you will see download links for Windows and macOS,
and instructions for Linux
Download the relevant files and run them to install Thonny

Open Thonny from your application launcher. It should look something like this:

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You can use Thonny to write standard Python code. Type the following in the main window, and then
click the Run button (you will be asked to save the file).

print('Hello World!')

You’re now ready to move on to the next step and connect your Raspberry Pi Pico.

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Step 4 Add the MicroPython firmware

If you have never used MicroPython on your Raspberry Pi Pico, you will need to add the MicroPython firmware.

Find the BOOTSEL button on your Raspberry Pi Pico.

Press the BOOTSEL button and hold it while you connect the other end of the micro USB cable to your
computer. A Raspberry Pi is shown in the image below, but the same applies to any computer.

This puts your Raspberry Pi Pico into USB mass storage device mode.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the Thonny window, you will see the version of Python that you are
currently using.

Click on the Python version and choose ‘MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)’:

If you don’t see this option, then check that you have plugged in your Raspberry Pi Pico.

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A dialog box will pop up to install the latest version of the MicroPython firmware on your Raspberry Pi
Pico.
Click the Install button to copy the firmware to your Raspberry Pi Pico.

Wait for the installation to complete and click Close.

Firmware installation menu

You can also access the firmware installation menu if you click on ‘MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)’ in the status
bar and choose ‘Configure interpreter …’.

The interpreter settings will open.

Click on Install or update firmware.

You will be prompted to plug in your Raspberry Pi Pico while you hold the BOOTSEL button.

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Then you can click Install.

Wait for the installation to complete and click Close.

You don’t need to update the firmware every time you use your Raspberry Pi Pico. Next time, you can just plug it
into your computer without pressing the BOOTSEL button.

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Step 5 Use the Shell

In this step, you will use the Thonny Shell to run some simple Python code on your Raspberry Pi Pico.

Make sure that your Raspberry Pi Pico is connected to your computer and you have selected the
MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico) interpreter.

Look at the Shell panel at the bottom of the Thonny editor.

You should see something like this:

Thonny is now able to communicate with your Raspberry Pi Pico using the REPL (read–eval–print loop),
which allows you to type Python code into the Shell and see the output.

Now you can type commands directly into the Shell and they will run on your Raspberry Pi Pico.

Type the following command.

print("Hello")

Tap the Enter key and you will see the output:

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MicroPython adds hardware-specific modules, such as machine, that you can use to program your
Raspberry Pi Pico.
Let’s create a machine.Pin object to correspond with the onboard LED, which can be accessed using
GPIO pin 25.
If you set the value of the LED to 1, it turns on.

Enter the following code, make sure you tap Enter after each line.

from machine import Pin

led = Pin(25, Pin.OUT)

led.value(1)

You should see the onboard LED light up.

Type the code to set the value to 0 to turn the LED off.

led.value(0)

Turn the LED on and off as many times as you like.

Tip: You can use the up arrow on the keyboard to quickly access previous lines.

If you want to write a longer program, then it’s best to save it in a file. You’ll do this in the next step.

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Step 6 Blink the onboard LED

The Shell is useful to make sure everything is working and try out quick commands. However, it’s better to put
longer programs in a file.
Thonny can save and run MicroPython programs directly on your Raspberry Pi Pico.

In this step, you will create a MicroPython program to blink the onboard LED on and off in a loop.

Click in the main editor pane of Thonny.

Enter the following code to toggle the LED.

from machine import Pin

led = Pin(25, Pin.OUT)

led.toggle()

Click the Run button to run your code.

Thonny will ask whether you want to save the file on This computer or the MicroPython device.
Choose MicroPython device.

Enter blink.py as the file name.

Tip: You need to enter the .py file extension so that Thonny recognises the file as a Python file.

Thonny can save your program to your Raspberry Pi Pico and run it.
You should see the onboard LED switch between on and off each time you click the Run button.

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You can use the Timer module to set a timer that runs a function at regular intervals.

Update your code so it looks like this:

from machine import Pin, Timer

led = Pin(25, Pin.OUT)

timer = Timer()

def blink(timer):

led.toggle()

timer.init(freq=2.5, mode=Timer.PERIODIC, callback=blink)

Click Run and your program will blink the LED on and off until you click the Stop button.

Save your project

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Step 7 Use digital inputs and outputs

Now you know the basics, you can learn to control an external LED with your Raspberry Pi Pico, and get it to read
input from a button.

Use a resistor between about 50 and 330 ohms, an LED, and a pair of M-M jumper leads to connect up
your Raspberry Pi Pico as shown in the image below.

In this example, the LED is connected to pin 15. If you use a different pin, remember to look up the number in the
pinout diagram in the Meet Raspberry Pi Pico section (1.html).

Use the same code as you did to blink the onboard LED, but change the pin number to 15.

from machine import Pin, Timer

led = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)

timer = Timer()

def blink(timer):

led.toggle()

timer.init(freq=2.5, mode=Timer.PERIODIC, callback=blink)

Run your program and your LED should start to blink. If it’s not working, check your wiring to be sure that the LED is
connected.
Next, let’s try and control the LED using a button.

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Add a button to your circuit as shown in the diagram below.

The button is on pin 14, and is connected to the 3.3V pin on your Raspberry Pi Pico. This means when you set up
the pin, you need to tell MicroPython that it is an input pin and needs to be pulled down.

Create a new file and add this code.

from machine import Pin

import time

led = Pin(15, Pin.OUT)

button = Pin(14, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_DOWN)

while True:

if button.value():

led.toggle()

time.sleep(0.5)

Run your code and then when you press the button, the LED should toggle on or off. If you hold the
button down, it will flash.

Save your project

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Step 8 Control LED brightness with PWM

Pulse width modulation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation), allows you to give analogue

behaviours to digital devices, such as LEDs. This means that rather than an LED being simply on or off, you can
control its brightness.

For this activity, you can use the circuit from the last step.

Open a new file in Thonny and add the following code.

from machine import Pin, PWM

from time import sleep

pwm = PWM(Pin(15))

pwm.freq(1000)

while True:

for duty in range(65025):

pwm.duty_u16(duty)

sleep(0.0001)

for duty in range(65025, 0, -1):

pwm.duty_u16(duty)

sleep(0.0001)

Save and run the file. You should see the LED pulse bright and dim, in a continuous cycle.

The frequency (pwm.freq) tells Raspberry Pi Pico how often to switch the power between on and off for the LED.

The duty cycle tells the LED for how long it should be on each time. For Raspberry Pi Pico in MicroPython, this can
range from 0 to 65025. 65025 would be 100% of the time, so the LED would stay bright. A value of around 32512
would indicate that it should be on for half the time.

Have a play with the pwm.freq() values and the pwm.duty_u16 values, as well as the length of time
for the sleep, to get a feel for how you can adjust the brightness and pace of the pulsing LED.

Save your project

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Step 9 Control an LED with an analogue input

Your Raspberry Pi Pico has input pins that can receive analogue signals. This means that instead of only reading
the values of 1 and 0 (on and off), it can read values in between.

A potentiometer is the perfect analogue device for this activity.

Replace the button in your circuit with a potentiometer. Follow the wiring diagram below to connect it to
an analogue pin.

In a new file in Thonny, you can first read the resistance of the potentiometer.
Add this code to a new file, and then run it.

from machine import ADC, Pin

import time

adc = ADC(Pin(26))

while True:

print(adc.read_u16())

time.sleep(1)

Turn the potentiometer to see your maximum and minimum values.

They should be approximately between 0 and 65025.

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You can now use this value to control the duty cycle for PWM on the LED.
Change the code to the following. Once you have run it, tune the dial on the potentiometer to control the
LED’s brightness.

from machine import Pin, PWM, ADC

pwm = PWM(Pin(15))

adc = ADC(Pin(26))

pwm.freq(1000)

while True:

duty = adc.read_u16()

pwm.duty_u16(duty)

Save your project

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Step 10 Power your Raspberry Pi Pico

If you want to run your Raspberry Pi Pico without it being attached to a computer, you need to use a USB power
supply.
Safe operating voltages are between 1.8V and 5.5V.

To automatically run a MicroPython program, simply save it to the device with the name main.py

In Thonny, click on the File menu and then Save as for the last program you wrote.

When prompted, select ‘MicroPython device’ from the pop-up menu.

Name your file main.py

You can now disconnect your Raspberry Pi Pico from your computer and use a micro USB cable to
connect it to a mobile power source, such as a battery pack.

Once connected, the main.py file should run automatically so you can interact with the components attached to
your Raspberry Pi Pico.

Save your project

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Step 11 What next?

Try the new Introduction to Raspberry Pi Pico path (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/pathways/pico-

intro), using the picozero package, to control LEDs and buzzers and read signals from switches and dials.
Why not try out a few more components with your Raspberry Pi Pico — perhaps a buzzer, a light-dependent
resistor (LDR), or even a motor controller
For further guidance on using your Raspberry Pi Pico, you can have a look at the documentation here (http
s://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/pico/getting-started/)
Did you enjoy the project? Have you spotted a mistake? Please click the Send feedback button below and let us
know!

Published by Raspberry Pi Foundation (https://www.raspberrypi.org) under a Creative Commons

license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
View project & license on GitHub (https://github.com/RaspberryPiLearning/getting-started-with-the-
pico)

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