I recently purchased a Pimoroni Pico Omnibus (Dual Expander) and a Pico Unicorn Pack in the UK to test out the new Raspberry Pi Pico.
Using the Pimoroni Micropython UF2 gave an easy way to get the demo.py working as an initial step.
Still on the learning curve - and wanting to use other library modules that support different devices from other vendors - is there a way of extracting the Picounicorn Module such that it may be simply copied to the /RP2 folder with other source and library files as part of a larger project, or could a set of modules be made available to allow a pick-and-mix approach.
Given the simplicity of using Micropython and Thonny to learn programming skills, I am sure that there are many new users (like me) that lack the expertise and experience to be able to make the step-change required if one has to also use the C/C++ SDK etc. to make progress to the next level."
(I have posted this query on the Pimoroni Forums - but given I recently saw your video on the portability of modules between Micro:Bit and RP2, I was wondering what your thoughts might be)
It’s always great to see community members on here from other countries! Hope all is well in the UK
Regarding your query about the Pico Unicorn, I’ve done a bit of digging and managed to find the source file for the demo.py Python script, as well as the library for that one.
There’s no reason why you can’t just modify that demo file and get a different result! It will take a bit of programming. Regarding the librabries/modules I’m not 100% sure I’m afraid. Standard Micropython libraries you can just leave in the same directory and it will work as expected like on something like the micro:bit. However on the Pico, you also have the .pio files present for the programmable IO pins, so there may be some issues present there.
Someone with a bit more experience with this one may be able to chime in with some insight. Hopefully this helps for now!
I too had found the GitHub source and library files - which are used as part of the build process to generate the .UF2 file that I used during my initial exploration with the PicoUnicorn display.
Within the libraries there are various ‘C’ files which would therefore require writing a new make file(?) to only build those parts relevant to the display - a task, which unfortunately, will be far beyond my capabilities for a while!
There is also a question as to how one then references that file within demo.py within the /RP2 folder.
The RPi-Pico/RP2040 is an amazing new initiative within the world of microcontrollers - and an exciting first step with a new architecture. It has re-triggered an old interest in microcontrollers with 8051 and PIC.
The RPi-Pico also fits in a ‘different place’ to the Linux based Raspberry Pi SBC, so it will take a while for a new ‘eco system’ to evolve and provide less experienced users the tools and scripts to simplify the learning curve to its use.
