I'm creating a projet and I need to use the Pico and some picobricks components outside, without USB powering then. I tested with the default battery compartment (3v) but it doesn't seem to work. However, powering with a phone powerbank via a USB cable work, but it's too big and heavy.

I'm wondering if there are any other solutions, and how to apply them.

Thx for reading,

t0qen

PS: here is a photo of my project

PS 2: I'm french, be friendly about my writing, please

My emails to you folks have yet to get a response, so I figured I would open a discussion here.

Issues listed below:

• If the motors are engaged at >10%, then the USB communication frequently drops out. More than 25-30% motor drive causes coms to drop out immediately. In my experience, this behavior is characteristic of a severe voltage regulation, or decoupling problem on the main board. Recovery typically requires a hardware reset, and a re-connect. I added a 47uF cap to the 3.3v header on the board, sadly no change in performance. Without a schematic, I have no plans to dig any deeper.
• If the motors are set to < 20%, then the wheels do not have enough torque to spin. They make noise, but that is all. This is disappointing, but not fatal. Clearly if there were wheel velocity sensors, and some simple PID control code, this would remedy this issue, but I understand that this would be outside of the scope of this introductory robotic toy.
• Although correctly wired, the tires spin incorrectly.  For now, Right causes Forward, Left causes Backward, Forward causes pivot Right, Backward causes pivot Left.  I edited the forward, backward, left, & right methods in the TB6612 module of the berrybot.py library. I'll need to edit other TB6612 methods in way as well, but this preliminary edit solved the problem for the method that I am currently using.
• Issuing a Stop from the IDE is most often ineffective, as with most of the above actions, using the motors appears to cause USB communication failures. Even without the use of the motors, the Stop from the IDE still appears slow and problematic.  
• Using Thonny, any of the code that employs motor control is at present is a waste of time, as USB communication is so frequently corrupted. Thonny throws exceptions similar to: PROBLEM IN THONNY'S BACK-END: Exception while handling 'Run' (ConnectionError: EOF). 

If the comm drop out issue is specific only to my board, then I will need a replacement assembly.

If this is an epidemic defect of the this first run of BerryBot devices, then this problem is magnified by the quantity of devices shipped.

What can we do to resolve these issues?  Thanks in advance for a prompt reply.

I have also set the below code up as a test and getting nothing whatsoever on the screen after the intial tick on turning it on.

Any assistance appreciated...

When I detach it off the board, it doesn't respond. The light does work.

Same code in each case. So it must be hardware.

Problem was seen on both firmware version 1.18 and 1.19.

Other codes tried that does not have the picobricks module are OK.

Can you please advise on what to do with the setup? Thanks!

When I nuked my Pico with the UF2 file from RPi for the Pico the system reset and now I do not know how to get that UF2 file back, or where to get it or if I can create it myself. It would seem that MS Maker is an option but what is the best way to go about this, would like to delve into the Start from The Start.

Or am I overthinking this whole gig? :-)

how can I fix the distance sensor on the plate? Is there only a 3d-Print file available who's link doesn't work.

Do I have to have a 3d-printer????

Thanks in advance

Wolfgang

the fixing holes of my metal (blue plastics) ball caster have a distance of 31 mm, but the holes of the plate has a distance of 40mm - how to fix it?

Thanks in advance

Wolfgang

Have you a demo project for it?

I'm new to Pico and I was trying to make some simple projects with it. I received it today. I could manage to make the leds blink when pressed so that project was fine.

But now I'm trying to use the buzzer on my PicoBricks. It's working but I'm just hearing a click sound as soon as I press the button and after that nothing really. Only when I press the button again it makes the click sound again. How can I make it sound louder with a long tone when I keep the button pressed?

The code I'm using is here:

from machine import Pin

buzzer = Pin(20, Pin.OUT)

button = Pin(10, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_DOWN)

while True:

if button.value() == 1:

buzzer.value(1)

else:

buzzer.value(0)

i think the rgb led iS bad. How can I get a replacement ?

I just got my PicoBricks and want to learn how to connect/develop PicoBricks with Linux (Debian/Ubuntu). Specifically, I want to lean how to debug the program running on the Pico with gdb.

I've written a gui frontend to gdb and I want to improve it for the embedded environment.

https://github.com/epasveer/seer

Thanks.

I want to modify the "backward" command to drive the motor in reverse, not just try and u-turn the car.

Looking at the motor board, it looks like each motor is GP21-Gnd and GP22-Gnd connections. As such I cannot swap the input direction as you normally would. Guessing this was done to conserve GP pins. Am I right that because of this I am unable to run a motor in reverse using code?

To fix this I would need to hijack another GP pin allocation and drive that directly, correct?

Is there an update available?

tx

Gilles

Hey Picobricks team, I was wondering if you had an image we could use for reference to the picobricks pins?

I can see the written references on the physical picobricks board like GP20 for the buzzer etc. I was hoping for a image (put in the ebook) that is a reference sheet for picobricks without having to go back and look at the specific physical pins that are being used.

Does that make sense? I assume you may have an image on hand for when you had the picobricks manufactured etc.?

What am I missing???

I also did a search for "8266" in these community discussions, but no hits - until my post just now...

Suggestion: in the "old days" (40+ years ago for me), pin 1 was usually identified on silkscreen printing on circuit boards with a special dot or triangle symbol - and integrated circuits had an indent in one corner of the IC to identify pin 1 (making it easy to identify proper orientation). I don't see any such markings on PB board, or on the module headers. Maybe the adhesive label on the plastic bags that the modules come in could either have a closeup picture, or wording, to identify proper orientation. And, it would be helpful to illustrate this in the e-book as well - in the very beginning - as well as in any samples that use the modules...

Before unplugging the USB cable, I click on the STOP button in MicroBlocks program. Then I click on the USB tool/button and choose DISCONNECT. Maybe there is some other instructions that need to be followed to run the PB board on an external USB power supply?

I think I'll try one of the simpler LED sample programs and see if that works when I switch to external power...

Here is an Apple response regarding this topic:

Apple only supports BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) version of Bluetooth. The Bluetooth projects in the PicoBricks list happen to utilize the Serial Port Protocol (SPP) version of the Bluetooth implemented in modules like HC-05, HC-06, etc. Therefore, you cannot make these modules work with your Apple Cell phones.

There is another reason why you cannot use your Apple Cell phones: the BT projects require an Android APP to generate voice controls for your project. Since you cannot run this APP in your cell, there is no point in even trying to use an Apple Cell phone.

So, what are your options:

• Most obvious one is to get a hold of an ANDROID cell phone.
• If you cannot do that and still want to experiment with SPP Bluetooth, you need to get access to a Windows laptop with Bluetooth. Then using a simple terminal program like Termite or Bluetooth Serial Terminal you can send and receive messages to /from your project. This will not be the same as issuing voice command controls, but it will get the job done in a simpler way.

 I will try to summarize general Bluetooth tips in another write-up.

Let's review the two way you can connect a PICO to the computer:

1. BOOTSEL button pressed and then plugged into the USB port (used for firmware updates).
2. Plugged into the USB without pressing the BOOTSEL button (for normal programming mode).

BOOTSELECT MODE:

When you connect using option #1, your board will show up in the Windows Device Mgr as a disk drive, named: RPI RP2 USB Device

This is the method you should use to do a PICO firmware update from MicroBlocks.

Important point to remember - you need to:

• UNPLUG the PICO from the USB port
• Press and hold the BOOTSEL button
• And while holding it down, plug it into the USB port.
• At the moment you plug it in, you should hear a system sound indicating the USB port activation and subsequently the PICO should appear as a drive in your Windows system.
• Now you can let go of the button and proceed to firmware update.
• Please note that while in the firmware update mode, your MicroBlocks program will not be operational due to the fact that the IDE and the Pico board are in a mode to exchange firmware data.
• After the firmware update is completed, it is important to redo the USB connection. If you really want to be sure, just unplug and replug your board to your PC.

Normal programming mode:

When you connect using option #2, your board will show up in the Windows Device Mgr as a COM port, named: USB serial Device (COMnn). nn will vary in each system.

This method is used when programming the PICO from the MicroBlocks IDE.

Users experiencing "Pico not being visible or working within the system" in either mode might be due to several things:

Pico is not visible as a drive when plugged as in #1 above, or as a COM port when plugged in as in #2 above could be a hardware issue, as it has to do with assignment of drive or port status from Windows. The PICO board might be bad, or Windows might be having a problem activating the board. Contact Robotistan to assist you in resolving the issue.

Referring to "not working after update" might be interpreted / caused by one of the following:

• If by "not working any more", you mean that when you first plugged PICO in, you were getting the environmental statistics display on the OLED screen; but after the update of MicroBlocks firmware, it did not display any more; this is normal. The initial display is done by a burned in Python program when the PICO was shipped. Once you do a firmware update, you overwrite this original program and there is no program running to display the stats. At this point, the PICO is ready to be programmed by you from scratch or via one of the examples in the Guide provided. A simple test you can do immediately is to get into MicroBlocks and click the USB icon and make sure you have a green USB connection icon.
• Then select the "set user LED <true>" block. Click it and you should see the LED on the PICO light up.

• After a firmware update, you did not reinstate the USB port into a connected mode (green USB icon). Simply redo the USB connectivity.
• For some reason the firmware update was NOT successful. You can verify the update success by checking the firmware versions before and after:

If you cannot get the USB icon to go green, then you need to make sure the firmware on the PICO is up-to-date or installed at all (new boards will not have it installed). Go through the firmware update and try the USB connect icon again. If you get it to go green, then you should be able to program it.

If you have a green USB icon, then you can also get a display of the IDE and firmware versions by selecting about from the wheel icon menu. You should see something like:

Report these numbers when you are asking for assistance to enable us to help you better.

I hope this sequence of trouble-shooting will help you identify if the problem is a bad hardware or a problematic firmware update.

I received my Picoboard and got very excited. Hooked it up to my MacBook and followed the instructions to connect and update it with MicroBlocks. But after the update it stopped working. Then I hooked it up to a PC. Same thing happened again.

Now it does not show up as a device if I connect it while holding down BOOTSEL on either machines. And Microblocks or Thonny does not find it regardless of if BOOTSEL is pressed or not on connect.

Please advice

I tried both of them. At last, I have the motors turning but I had to use the 3 battery pack to give enough power to make it move a little. It looks like one engine is somewhat weaker than the other so it moves in a circle.

Could you provide the aia of the apk. I am a App Inventor user and would like to make a Dutch version. A lot of the time Google doesn't understand the backward command.

I tried to work with the Picobricks set today for the first time. The first time I connected the Pico to my laptop, I saw something on the led screen and I could play some music etc. but the second time I connected, nothing happened anymore, only the red light on the side of the Pico is burning red. My laptop is also not recognizing the board. So what can I do?

EDIT: Now it seems to start up normally, but it is now stuck, so nothing happens when pushing the button or rotating the pot-meter or pushing the reset-button. So I reconnect the cable, then nothing happens anymore, it doesn't start up.

Albert

I have been doing Autonomus Lightning excercise

In e-book you give code in MicroPython like this:

ws.pixels_fill(color)

ws.pixels_show()

In picobricks file there is no attribute pixels_fill and pixels_show

It's simply fill and show