Raspberry Pi Pico W LESSON 1: Write Your First Program for Absolute Beginners

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In this class we will be using the Sunfounder Raspberry Pi Pico W Keppler Kit. It will make things a lot easier if we are working on identical hardware. the link below is to amazon, and is for the identical hardware I will be using in this entire class.

In this introductory video, I will show you how to install micropython on the Raspberry Pi Pico W, I will show you how to install Thonny, the IDE, on your PC. Thonny will allow you to interact with the Pico W. Then in today's short introductory video, you will write your first four programs, and will get a homework assignment. This class is for absolute beginners, and I do not assume you already understand the material I am presenting. My goal is not to 'Show Off', but to genuinely teach you how you can do this type of work and projects on your own. Enjoy!

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[tntragan]

Got my kit and super excited to get this series going. I'm about halfway through the raspberry pi lessons and I'll be caught up on that series. Done both arduino series and the beginner portion of python and several lessons into the visual python. This will be the first series of lessons I'll start as you release them. Let's get this thing rolling.
Tom

[justmc]

On lesson 67 of the new Arduino series... almost done . Really looking forward to this next journey- Thank you Paul !

[megsssman]

Amazing Paul. I'm taking this lesson today, a year after you released it, and it is still giving me the thrill of using python to control electronics. So glad that you make all of these lessons. Thank you! (I hope these lessons stay on YouTube for the next 50 years or so. Never take them down!)

[RajeevSahasrabudhe-xcit]

I took your first lesson today and I am very happy to learn from you.
I made the LED lightup for only .001 seconds and to be off for .025 seconds.
In these settings I could barely see it blinking.

My observations:
1. If we stare at it continuously we see continuous dim light.
2. If we blink our eyes, we can recognise the blinking for fraction of a second. Then it again seems to not to blink.
3. If we move our head and blink and try to see the LED, Blinking is more evendent. (Probably the image on Retina forms at slightly new place)

[ianhayden]

For anyone who encounters the error: “error, module named machine not found” you are in the wrong interpreter. You have to select “run” and then “configure interpreter“ and then change the interpreter to MicroPython(raspberry Pi pico) and the port the port your pi is plugged into

[chrisb]

I just ordered my Sunfounder Pico W kit!! oh yea!!! Let the fun begin!!!!

[LetsCalculateSomething]

Great video and course. I made the loop execute 100 times and added a print statement to tack it. I was able to see it at sleep = 0.015.

from machine import Pin
from time import sleep
x=0
myLED=Pin('LED', Pin.OUT)
while x<100:
myLED.toggle()
sleep(0.015)
x=x+1
print(x)

On to lesson #2.

[RobUttley]

Paul, you are excellent at going through this. Thank you for the time and effort you must put into these lessons.

[danielsaenz]

Hey Paul! I've got some good news! I got my older brother to do this series of lessons with me! So, now it's not just me doing this! :)

[PPvanL]

I've been struggling with servo control and micropython syntax for a couple of days and I'm so happy I've found this series! I've followed the arduino series as well and it's awesome how you can make this understandable yet still feel like magic!

[PascalLapalme]

I'm from Quebec and following your course for raspberry pi pico w. Thank you so much Paul. Clear, simple and fun to watch !

[paulkrueger]

I love the way he makes this so simple to learn.

[manishsinghsap]

Hi Paul,
This is exiting. I have learnt from your python series. The program which i used is:

from machine import Pin
import utime as tm


led = Pin(20, Pin.OUT)
delay = 1

def blink(nm, t):
for i in range(nm):
led.value(1)
tm.sleep(t)
led.value(0)
tm.sleep(t)

cont = 'Y'

while cont == 'Y':
numBlink = int(input("How many Blinks: "))
blink(numBlink, delay)
cont = input('Do you want to continue: (Y for Yes) ').upper()

[patrickcamp]

Thank you, Paul. This was my very first try with any microcontroller (apart from PLCs) and you steered me through all the way!
I could see blinking with a sleep value of on a 1 second duty cycle. I didn't try any lower.
I'll be sticking with you through your course as I have a fun project in mind at the end of it!

[chases]

i did the homework and could see the blinking down to 0.013 so thank you for the lessons Mr McWhorter

[DrDave]

Great first lesson, Paul!! In my judgement, sleep delay of the toggle() at .017 is about as low a delay as which can be perceived.

[SimpleHumanInNY]

At .02 secs I could still see it blink, but at .01 sec it was a steady green

[teobenedict]

great videos, very clear instructions & informative for absolute micropython beginners like me! 👍

[temetnosce]

Oh boy, oh boy now that's a great news! My Pico W Kit is also so exited :) Thank you Paul for your help so people like me who have less money can have a chance. Watching your Raspberry Pi 4 series gives me so much fun and now I can also participate. Bless you good man for doing this!

[elvinauresius]

I Love the energy, He's very passionate, respectfully i like his teaching style