12_piicodev_intro.md

PiicoDev Intro

PiicoDev hardware has been designed from the ground-up with rapid prototyping and maker education in mind. This product range is produced by an Australian business Core Electronics. In addition to selling electronic products, Core Electronics also provide tutorials across a wide range of tutorials.

Using the PiicoDev modules

Unlike the micro:bit modules, the code that runs the PiicoDev modules is not installed on the micro:bit. This means that you will need to download files and save them to the folder containing your main.py file. These files are:

• PiicoDev Unified Libraries: → PiicoDev_Unified.py
  • provides the commands for all the PiicoDev modules
  • you will only need one of these in the each folder
• The device drive
  • this is different for each PiicoDev module
  • you will need a device driver for each different PiicoDev module you are using. For example, if you are using the Distance Sensor and the OLED Module, you will need a device driver for both of these.

These files can be found on the micro:bit guides for the PiicoDev modules:

Input Devices

• PiicoDev Atmospheric Sensor
• PiicoDev Colour Sensor
• PiicoDev Distance Sensor
• PiicoDev Rotary Potentiometer
• PiicoDev Slide Potentiometer

Output Devices

• PiicoDev OLED Module

(upload)=

Uploading to the micro:bit

To use the PiicoDev components, you must upload the PiicoDev Unified Libraries and the relevant device drivers to the micro:bit along with main.py.

The images below show how to upload the atmospheric sensor files onto the micro:bit:

Before

Uploading {#uploading-to-the-microbit}

1. Click in the first file
2. Hold the SHIFT key and click on the bottom file

3. Then right mouse click on the selected files
4. Select Upload to micro:bit from the pop-up menu

5. If there are already files on the micro:bit you may be asked if you wish to overwrite them. Click OK