The Rpi Pico Test Lab explains how to turn a regular Raspberry Pi Pico into a complete testing and measuring environment including measuring devices, plotters and oscilloscopes as well as control over eight digital inputs and outputs, three analog inputs and two PWM outputs for power control or for providing adjustable DC voltages.
One of the problems for somebody who would like to get into electronics is purchasing all the necessary testing equipment such as a multimeter, oscilloscope, function generator, variable power supply, component testers, etc. This starts to get expensive. This RPi Test Lab provides a low-cost but fully adequate entry solution that covers all the necessary devices. All you need is a computer running the Windows operating system, an RPi Pico, a way to connect components to the RPi Pico (for example the miniTesla Pico breakout board), and this ebook.
In addition, small PicoBasic programs can be used to solve special control or measurement tasks. The tasks range from timers and signal generators to programmable sine wave generators to create various sounds and test signals.
PicoBasic is a minimalist and simple programming language. All available commands are visible on the programming interface and can be inserted into a program by clicking on them. Small auxiliary programs for special measurements or for hardware control can be created effortlessly.
- 1 Introduction
- 1.1 PicoBasic
- 1.2 The TestLab
- 2 Direct measurements in the TestLab
- 2.1 Oscilloscope functions
- 2.2 Voltage measurement
- 2.3 Circuit test
- 2.4 Measurement of very small currents
- 2.5 Amplifier test
- 3 PicoBasic Start
- 3.1 PicoBasic keywords
- 3.2 User interface
- 3.3 Programs to get started
- 3.4 Program status at startup
- 3.5 Tips and tricks
- 4 Ports, inputs and outputs
- 4.1 Switching outputs
- 4.2 Binary numbers
- 4.3 Hexadecimal numbers
- 4.4 Speed test
- 4.5 Port inputs
- 4.6 Pull-up and pull-down
- 4.7 A timer switch
- 4.8 An RC oscillator
- 5 Calculating with bits and bytes
- 5.1 Serial data transmission
- 5.2 Arithmetic operations
- 5.3 Basic logical functions
- 5.4 Counting loops
- 5.5 Dice
- 6 Analog data processing
- 6.1 Voltage measurement
- 6.2 Series measurement
- 6.3 PWM outputs
- 6.4 Brightness modulation
- 7 Measurement technology
- 7.1 Data recorder
- 7.2 Single-channel oscilloscope
- 7.3 Dual-channel oscilloscope
- 7.4 Arduino oscilloscope
- 7.5 Frequency counter
- 7.6 Rectangle generator
- 7.7 Sine wave generator
- 7.8 Phase shift
- 7.9 Sweep generator
- 8 Sound generation
- 8.1 Adjustable pitch
- 8.2 Alarm siren
- 8.3 Special sounds
- 8.4 Heart rate monitor
- 8.5 Signal delay
- 9 The PicoBasic firmware
- 10 The user program
Please note that no RPi Pico is included with this purchase. To build the Test Lab and do all the projects in the ebook, you will need:
- Computer running the Windows operating system.
- Raspberry Pi Pico (any version, 1 or 2, will work)
- A way to connect the Pico to a couple of electronic components such as LEDs, resistors, and capacitors. We recommend the miniTesla system for this and in particular the Pico breakout board.
- 10 LEDs plus 10 1kOhm resistors (or use LEDs with a resistor already built in), a push button switch, 470Ohm resistor, 10kOhm resistor, three 100kOhm resistors, two 1MOhm resistors, 2.2MOhm resistor, 1N4148 diode, two BC547 transistor (or an equivalent such as the 2N2222), 10nF capacitor, two 1uF capacitor, 100uF capacitor, 32Ohm loudspeaker or similar, piezo disc.
1st edition 2024, PDF 128 pages.
word count: 19741 which is equivalent to 78 standard pages of text
