Welcome to telemtrix-rpi-pico-w Discussions!

[MrYsLab]

👋 Welcome!

This discussion section will act as a blog of sorts. I will provide status updates when there is work in progress and explain and rationale for design and coding decisions.

It will address both the Python side of the Telemetrix implementation and the Pico W side.

Please feel free to post questions or new ideas. They are always welcome.

[MrYsLab]

The original Telmetrix Raspberry Pi Pico library was created using the Raspberry Pi Pico C++ SDK. The SDK was used because there was no Arduino Core library for the Pico at that time. Now that an Arduino Core library is available, the Telemetrix library for the Pico W will be based on the Arduino Core.

The motivating reason for moving from the Raspberry Pi Pico C++ SDK to the Arduino Core is that setting up a development environment can be challenging for the average user. To support WiFi, the user's network SSID and Password must be compiled into Pico code. The simplest environment to do this in is the Arduino IDE environment.

There is somewhat of a challenge here: Telemetrix for the Pico (non-wifi) uses PICO GPIO pin numbering. The Arduino Core library uses Arduino pin designations. This library will provide the option to use either pin numbering designations, defaulting to the original Pico GPIO pin numbering scheme.

The rationale is that if you already have Telemetrix applications written for the Pico and wish to reuse them for the Pico W, you will not have to change to a new pin numbering system. If you are more comfortable with the Arduino pin numbering scheme, you may choose to use that instead. The Python side of the library will take care of any necessary pin mapping required.

Initially the code will be developed using a non-WiFi version of the Pico. Once all the features are functional, a Pico W will be acquired, and the WiFi port will be available. Currently, the Pico W is extremely hard to come by (at least where I live), so I am beginning with a non-WiFi Pico.

The first order of business is to get the new code to blink the Board LED.

I will report back here when each milestone is accomplished.

[MrYsLab]

Both blink and loopback are now functioning. On to PWM out.

[MrYsLab]

22-8-22 Going through the PWM feature, I am adding two new commands. One optionally sets the PWM frequency, and the other optionally sets the range. The default frequency is 1Mhz, and the default range is 20000. The defaults make it compatible with the non-WiFi Pico library.

[MrYsLab]

31-8-22 I am reevaluating the SPI support interface to support both SPI ports. The chip select pins will be fixed for each spi port. As a result, the SPI interface will be different for the Pico W from the Pico.

This should take me a day or two to complete.

[MrYsLab]

03-09-22 I was not able to get the SPI interface working. Testing the device with known working code on the Pico and an Arduino UNO, I could not get a response from the MPU9250. I am unsure what I did since I have been using the same device for several years, but I apparently destroyed it. I have ordered a BME280 sensor and should receive it by Monday. This device comes prewired with a connector, so I selected it over the MPU9250.

In the meantime, I will test the stepper motor interface.

[MrYsLab]

07-09-22 Completed SPI support and testing. The example uses a BME280 device.

[MrYsLab]

09-09-22 Added and tested support for Stepper motors. I ordered a Pico W and am waiting for delivery to enable WIFI.

[MrYsLab]

11-9-22 I ported over the WiFi interface. Also, I am adding the asyncio version of the client to this repository. None of this has been tested. I am awaiting delivery of a Pico W. I also started to create the online user's guide.