KevsRobots Learning Platform

Using the Raspberry Pi Pico's Built-in Temperature Sensor

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Introduction to the Raspberry Pi Pico and MicroPython
Understanding the Built-in Temperature Sensor
Writing Your First Temperature Sensor Script
Enhancing Your Temperature Monitoring Project
Project Challenges and Next Steps

Formatting Temperature Readings

Enhance your temperature monitoring script by formatting the output for better readability and user experience.

By Kevin McAleer,    1 Minute

Introduction

Formatted output makes your script more user-friendly and visually appealing. In this lesson, you’ll format your temperature readings to include timestamps and clean text.

Step 1: Adding Timestamps

  1. Update your script to include timestamps:

    import machine
import time

# Initialize the ADC for the temperature sensor
sensor_adc = machine.ADC(4)

while True:
    # Read the raw ADC value
    raw_value = sensor_adc.read_u16()
       
    # Convert the ADC value to voltage
    voltage = raw_value * 3.3 / 65535

    # Convert voltage to temperature
    temperature = 27 - (voltage - 0.706) / 0.001721

    # Get the current time
    timestamp = time.localtime()

    print(f"[{timestamp.tm_hour:02}:{timestamp.tm_min:02}:{timestamp.tm_sec:02}] Temperature: {temperature:.2f}°C")
    time.sleep(1)

Step 2: Running the Script

  1. Save the script as formatted_temp.py.
  2. Run it in Thonny and observe the formatted output.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to include timestamps in your output.
  • How to format the temperature reading for better readability.

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