
Begin a practical, hands-on journey with the Raspberry Pi Pico, solder headers, and Thonny setup, then explore timers, pulse width modulation, analog-to-digital converter, interrupt requests, and SPI, I2C, UART.
Heat the pad and pin with the soldering iron for 2–3 seconds, apply solder from the opposite side, and let the joint cool to a shiny, concave, well-wetted connection.
Learn to configure SPI on the Raspberry Pi Pico, choosing SPI0 or SPI1 and pins, and understand baud rate, polarity, phase, MISO/MOSI naming, and basic read/write buffers.
Learn how the universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) enables simplex and two-way communication on the Raspberry Pi Pico, covering start bits, data bits, parity, stop bits, and speed mismatches.
Discover why Raspberry Pi Pico pins cannot power motors directly due to a 12 mA limit, and how H-bridges with transistors safely drive motors from separate power supplies.
I tailored this course to get you jump-started for the newest family member of the Raspberry Pi family: The Raspberry Pi Pico. After a short soldering session and software installation for your Windows or Linux system, I at once dive into practical topics such as:
Timers and Counters
Pulse Width Modulation
Interrupts
Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC)
Communication Protocols (SPI, I2C/TWI, UART)
Connections to other peripheries, sensors, and actuators (Example: Arduino) to the Raspberry Pi Pico
First, each topic explains what the function does and how it works. Practical examples, tips and tricks, and exercises to try out the topic by yourself follow. To maximize the take-away from the course, the exercises offer hints and tips, in case you get stuck somewhere. If nothing works, I give solutions in well-documented source code for your experiments and modifications. In addition, I show practical examples, of how to connect the periphery to the Raspberry Pi Pico, how to protect it against over-voltage, and how to use it with larger electrical components such as motors, so that you can enjoy your Raspberry Pi Pico as long as possible.
This course follows the motto: “Learning by Doing“ and you will need a few hardware components to complete the course successfully. I list them in the first lecture, available for free. In addition, I assume that an enrolled student has some Python programming experience and knows how to write functions, loops, and how to import modules. If you already know any other programming language, you will not face any issues and pick up Python on the fly.
I designed this course specifically for the Raspberry Pi Pico so that it offers everything in one place. After completing this course, the successful students will have the experience to plan and carry out their own projects for the Raspberry Pi Pico and learn the fundamentals of omnipresent peripheries encountered in the domain of embedded systems.