Pi Pico Projects

A sequenced introduction to the Raspberry Pi Pico and physical computing, for students who aren’t starting from zero: some computer science or Python background is assumed, so it moves faster than the MicroPython on Pi Pico book and stays closer to computer science concepts early on. Built for AP Computer Science Principles and Programming with Robotics students. Each project is roughly sized for a class period or two, with its own slides and a worksheet or graphic organizer to go with it, and checkpoints along the way so a teacher can check in on student progress. Under active development, fall 2026.

1. Project 1: Three LEDs

   1. Project 1.1: Wiring Three LEDs Notes page Project 1.1 slides

      Build a three-LED circuit on your breadboard, by hand

   2. Project 1.2: Flashing MicroPython with Thonny Checklist (covers 1.2 & 1.3) Slides (covers 1.2 & 1.3)

      Get MicroPython running on your Pico for the first time, using Thonny

   3. Project 1.3: Files on Your Pico, and Your First REPL Commands

      See where your code actually lives, save a script to your Pico, and control an LED straight from the REPL

   4. Project 1.4: Blinking Your LEDs Checklist (covers 1.4 & 1.5) Slides (covers 1.4 & 1.5)

      Write your first programs for the circuit you built, then make your three LEDs count, first in unary, then in binary

   5. Project 1.5: Fading an LED with PWM

      Make an LED fade smoothly, not just switch on and off

   6. Project 1.6: Wiring a Switch Bank Slides (covers 1.6, 1.7 & 1.8)

      Add three switches to the same breadboard, ready for code in Project 1.7

   7. Project 1.7: Reading Your Switches

      Read your switches, and only print when one of them changes

   8. Project 1.8: Choosing a Program with Imports

      Import leds.py from a new file, and let your switches pick a program

2. Project 2: Servo and Potentiometer

   1. Project 2.1: Moving a Servo

      PWM for position instead of brightness, and a reusable servo.py

   2. Project 2.2: Reading a Potentiometer, and What a Voltage Divider Is Worksheet Project 2.2 slides

      What a knob is actually telling the Pico

   3. Project 2.3: Adding a NeoPixel Bar Notes page Project 2.3 slides

      The voltage you can already read gets something fun to control

   4. Project 2.4: Animating the NeoPixel Bar Worksheet

      An animation is a list of lists, and the knob can scrub through it

   5. Project 2.5: Swapping in a Light Sensor

      The same code, a different kind of knob

What’s planned next

Project 2 isn’t finished yet. Here’s where it’s headed:

• Project 2.5: a two-axis joystick drives a servo. Reads the same way as a potentiometer, just two of them at once. It’s also the exact “read two axes, map each one to a motor” idea you’d use again if you ever pilot a real robot or ROV by hand.
• Project 3: I2C, reading a real sensor over a shared two-wire bus. Same ideas (bus addresses, “is the device even answering”) you’d meet again on any bigger computer.

Past that: the plan is for this pathway to keep going beyond the Pico itself, toward real Raspberry Pi hardware and eventually real robotics software. Pacing beyond Project 3 isn’t decided yet.

Standards alignment

Every project lesson lists the standards it supports under Standards alignment at the bottom of its own page. Everything aligned so far, across every project: