Raspberry Pi Pico Discussion

By tlfong01 on July 2, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

Raspberry Pi Pico Discussion

Feb 2739 / 39Jul 21h ago12 DAYS LATER21 DAYS LATER13 DAYS LATER26 DAYS LATER

So I googled to learn more about Pi-Top. Now I know it is a young (2014) startup. I almost never heard of it because it is not at all popular in my city (Hong Kong), where Arduino, Rpi, and BBC MicroBit have been more well known.

I started learning Arduino (Decimilla) some 10 years ago, followed by Rpi and Mirco-bit. I learned IDLE python from Rpi, and MircoPython from Micro-Bit.

Anyway, I googled and surprisingly found that my local electronics DIY shop WECL (I have been a fan of this shop for many years) does sell Pi-top STEM products to local schools, but I never saw them displayed in their shopping windows, which only entertain Arduino, Micro-Bit, and Rpi.

Pi-Top References

1 ReplyReply

tlfong013d CAProjects:

i am kinda confused by this one, not really sure what the use case is for this tbh but its kinda interesting at the same time

Well, let me tell you why I would like to play with this smallest RP2040 breakout board.

A month ago I was excited to hear that RP2040 ‘Pi Silicon’ Goes on General Sale for $1 per chip. Then a couple of days ago I heard that the smallest RP2040 breakout board is also available. So I immediately ordered one.

I am using it as a rapid prototyping step to DIY the smallest RP2040 breakout board in the world!1Reply

CAProjects2d

I’m sorry most of my comments is personal opinion so personally I can’t se a personal use for one for myself1 Reply1Reply

tlfong011 2d CAProjects:

I’m sorry most of my comments is personal opinion

No worries. I think of course everybody’s comments here are personal opinion, including those KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) such as the Swiss guy Andreas Spiess 1 who has 330K subscribers. I am a huge fan of him, but again I like most but not all of his opinions on Rpi Pcio.

When I wrote my first reply to your Pico post, I intentionally first introduced myself as an electronics hobbyist, a Thonny Python fan, a Windows GUI old timer, before I mentioned that I prefer GUI to CLI.

I did, ages ago, dream of becoming a fluent C/C++ programmer in local industry where then had many opportunities in computer engineering. But during the 1980’s almost all the manufacturing plants have moved North, and that was the sad end of my very short engineering career. Anyway, to earn a living, I switched from engineering to teaching. Now that I am retired, programming in Pico is just for fun and healing.Reply

tlfong011 CAProjects 2d

I am a huge fan of this Swiss guy. I agree with almost all his Youtube comments on Pcio. CAProjects:

Novaspirit Tech

Yes, Novaspirit Tech video on Pico is also good, though not as impressive as the Swiss guyReply

tlfong012 CAProjects 2d wil:

Something I’d love to do with the pico and a pi-top would be to use the pi-top as the ‘brain’ in a semi-autonomous vehicle, and have a small battery powered pico-based device used as a controller, perhaps with a small 4″ touchscreen or something. It feels like we’d be getting the best of both worlds

I am also thinking of making a smart vehicle as proposed by @wil. However, I will be using Rpi4B instead of Pi-Top 4. It is laughable that only this morning I googled to find that Pi-Top 4 is actually a Rpi4B with a newbie friendly hardware software interface. So I think and hope that my coming Pico + Rpi4B experiments could contribute and shared by Pi-Top 4 users here.

PS – I have no experience in DIYing touch screen which I know can be difficult to mess around. I only know how to play with very small 0.9″ to 1.3″ OLED modules. So I think I would start my smart vehicle project humbly only with a dummy 0.9″ OLED screen, and a couple of buttons.

Update 2021jun30hkt1455

Now I am thinking of starting my very first new topic, perhaps called “Pico Based Smart Vehicle”, in short “Pico Vehicle”. I am planning to make a long project, so perhaps the first topic can be titled as:

Project Proposal

Pico Vehicle Part 1 – Controlling a DC motor.

Introduction

This new topic is on how to use the Rpi Pico with a DC motor controller, such as L298N, to drive a toy DC motor with a speed encoder, such as the N20.

References

N20 Gear Motor (50:1 Ratio, 460 rpm, with Encoder) – Servo CityReply

tlfong012 1h tlfong01:

Anyway, I googled and surprisingly found that my local electronics DIY shop WECL (I have been a fan of this shop for many years) does sell Pi-top STEM products to local schools, but I never saw them displayed in their shopping windows, which only entertain Arduino, Micro-Bit, and Rpi.

Update, Ａpology, and Errata

I almost never heard of Pi-Top because it is mainly for classroom use, so I neven paid any attention. Actually MagPi has a review last year. Also I found Pi-top 4 sold in local stores (See references below).

My apologies for my outdated information about Pi-top.

(1) WECL-STEM Hong Kong pi-top products
華輝 WECL STEM