Ben Everard

Computers are no longer beige boxes that sit on our desks or foldable aluminium books - they are embedded into almost everything we own. Our doorbells, kitchen gadgets, vacuum cleaners, and media players are all powerful computing devices running software that someone has written. Learning to program no longer means learning to control things on a screen, it means learning to control hardware that interacts with the real world. The Raspberry Pi platforms offer a wide range of powerful ways to interact with the world, but sometimes the choice can be bewildering. Using the flexible Python programming language, we'll show you how to get the most out of both the Pico range of microcontrollers and the larger Linux-powered Raspberry Pi boards. Learn how to: Select the perfect hardware Control sensors and motors Build a smart weather station Make your own games console Embed Artificial Intelligence into your projects You'll then be able to take the skills you've learned in the book and build your own projects powered by Raspberry Pi hardware. This book is perfect for intermediate users who want to sense, control and take over the world with homemade digital assistants, smart devices, and robots.

Design and make your own microcontroller board using the same chip that powers the popular Raspberry Pi PicoKiCad is an amazing piece of free and open-source software that allows anyone, with some time and effort, to make high-quality PCB designs. Couple this amazing software with numerous PCB fabrication companies and even PCBA services (companies that will make and assemble your PCB designs) and there's never been a better time to get into this aspect of making. This book provides a gentle introduction to PCB design using the RP2040 microcontroller chip (the same chip that's at the heart of the Raspberry Pi Pico). You'll learn how to create a schematic for a microcontroller board using the RP2040, from assigning schematic symbols to creating a footprint for individual components. You'll quickly move on to laying out the PCB design and preparing it for manufacture! That's right--after your board is designed, this book will show you how to send it off to be manufactured and assembled. You'll find out about the various materials (or substrates) you can choose for your board, and learn how to pick the right manufacturer. Once you have your board in hand, you'll also learn what you can do (and make!) with it, and there will be plenty of ideas for expansions, such as motor drivers.

Microcontrollers, like the RP2350 chip at the heart of Raspberry Pi Pico 2, are computers stripped back to their bare essentials. You don't use monitors or keyboards with them — instead, you program them over USB to take their input from (and send their output to) on-board input/output pins. Using these programmable connections, you can light LEDs, make noises, send text to screens, and much more. In Get started with MicroPython on Raspberry Pi Pico 2nd Edition, you will learn how to use the beginner-friendly MicroPython language to write programs, and you’ll connect up hardware to make your Raspberry Pi Pico interact with the world around it. Using these skills, you can create your own electromechanical projects. Fully updated for Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and 2 W, as well as the latest version of MicroPython, this book shows you how to:Get started with Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and Pico 2 W, as well as the original Pico and Pico WWork with various electronic componentsCreate your own programmable electronic contraptionsTurn Pico 2 W into a network-connected node for the Internet of ThingsLink your Pico 2 W to your smartphone, tablet, or another Pico 2 W with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)Whether you're using Raspberry Pi Pico for a home project, industrial automation, or learning (or teaching!) electronics and programming, this book will show you how.

The must-have companion guide to the Raspberry Pi User Guide! Raspberry Pi chose Python as its teaching language of choice to encourage a new generation of programmers to learn how to program. This approachable book serves as an ideal resource for anyone wanting to use Raspberry Pi to learn to program and helps you get started with the Python programming language. Aimed at first-time developers with no prior programming language assumed, this beginner book gets you up and running. Covers variables, loops, and functionsAddresses 3D graphics programmingWalks you through programming MinecraftZeroes in on Python for scripting Learning Python with Raspberry Pi proves itself to be a fantastic introduction to coding.