Hello!
I am completely new to using the Piico but I do have extensive knowledge on Python. I was wondering if it’s possible to keep the RPI plugged into my laptop and open video files/images with it using the RFID module?
Thanks!
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It should be possible. You may not find any tutorial of doing exactly the same task. Core electronics has a tutorial on Raspberry Pi Pico and RFID. You can take a look: PiicoDev RFID Module | Guide for Raspberry Pi Pico - YouTube
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Hey,
Thanks for your reply!
I’ve seen the tutorial before but I am stuck on how to use my RaspPi Pico to read/open files from my laptop. I also know that micropython restricts some OS modules, so what would be the best way on opening a file on my laptop? I’ve looked everywhere online and haven’t found a similar project D:
Would mean the world to me if you could help
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Hi Duc
I am not conversant with RPi but…
Conflicting statements here.
What do you want to do…
Open laptop files on the RPi
or
Open RPi files on your laptop.
I can’t answer either of those questions but you might stand a better chance of answers if you can clarify what you need to do. Maybe both???
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Hi Robert,
Sorry, I should’ve made it clearer.
My intended goal is to use the RFID module to display videos/images on my laptop, meaning when a certain tag is tapped, a video/image (from the laptop) would open. So ultimately I’m trying to open laptop files using the RPi and RFID module.
Thanks for your reply though.
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Bumping this since I still need help D:
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It’s not clear what assistance you are after. Is the Pi already communicating with the laptop over a network? In that case there is a Python library that supports what you want to do:
GitHub - poweradminllc/PAExec: Remote execution, like PsExec
There is at least one application built using that library that is available for free download:
pypsexec · PyPI
If the Pi is nor connected to the laptop then you would start by deciding how you want to signal from the Pi to the laptop. A wired connection would be simplest, but most laptops don’t support a simple serial port, so it would have to be via USB. A Pi can be a USB device:
turning-your-raspberry-pi-zero-into-a-usb-gadget.pdf (adafruit.com)
Other options include IR communication and a pair of wireless modules. It all depends on how you want to set it up and what features the laptop supports.
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Hi Jeff, Duc,
To add to this, you may be able to ease your development by using a fully-fledged python script running on your laptop (with it’s necessary os modules) talking over USB serial to a Pico or, more expensively, a full-size pi.
As an aside, I have previously used PyCharm as a Pico IDE, and it doesn’t feature charts, so I sent data from my MicroPython script to a full-size python script on my laptop running matplotlib.pyplot.
All you should need to do is print() on the pico side, and PySerial readline() on the laptop side:
You may have to fiddle with the data to extract the number you’re after instead of control characters and the like, but it should be doable.
It’s been a while since I worked on this, but if you have trouble I should be able to dust off my old code and help out 
-James
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Hi Jeff,
The Pi is connected to my laptop via USB already, all I am needing is for the Pi to be able to run any file on my laptop when tapped with an NFC tag on it’s RFID module.
Hope that makes sense.
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Do you mean that you have enabled gadget mode and the Pi appears as a client on the local network? In that case you can use a pypsExec, as mentioned above.
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Hi Duc,
The other option you may be able to go with is using the Pi Pico as an HID device to input a hotkey and open a file. I found a video that may help you on that end:
As for linking it to the activation of the RFID module, I don’t know all the steps for that integration. Somebody with a bit more experience in getting the parts to talk back and forth with each other should be able to give you better advice on that. This method of interacting with the laptop is just a different way of doing things and may simplify the process a bit.
-Blayden
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