![]() ![]() I then had an ssh window open to run the compile/link steps, and a separate one running the debugger. So what I ended up with was Notepadd++ on my Windows PC to edit the code, with the source on a Raspberry Pi 4. I couldn’t quite get the VSCode integration working (finger trouble I think) but anyway I’m quite happy to code with an editor and separate build window. The easiest route to getting the C/C++ toolchain working is to install on a Raspberry Pi 4. Secondly, I figured that most of the testers would be using Python so there might be more of a need to test the C toolchain. The main one is that I have plenty of existing C tracker code to work from, for Arduino and Raspberry Pi, but not so much Python. I decided to use C for my tracker rather than Python, for a variety of reasons. packet sent – ready to send next packet) to the Raspberry Pi Pico.įinally, with the tracker working, I added an I2C environmental sensor to the board via a pin header, so the sensor can be placed in free air outside the tracker. The LoRa module connects via SPI and a single GPIO pin which the module uses to send its status (e.g. No matter because, unlike most Arduino boards, the Raspberry Pi Pico isn’t limited to a single serial port. The particular UBlox GPS module I had handy only has a serial port brought out, so I couldn’t use I2C. Pico top, GPS bottom-left LoRa bottom-right Besides, trackers need to be robust so I would need to solder one together eventually anyway. ![]() I don’t use breadboards as they are prone to intermittent connections that then waste programming time chasing a “bug” that’s actually a hardware problem. To connect these to the Raspberry Pi Pico, I used a prototyping board where I mounted a UBlox GPS receiver, LoRa radio transmitter, and sockets for the Pico itself. So a basic tracker has a GPS receiver and radio transmitter. Also, having much more memory than typical microcontrollers, it offers the ability to add functions that would normally need a full Raspberry Pi board – for example on-board landing prediction. It has plenty of I/O – SPI ports, I2C and serial all available – plus a unique ability (not that I need it for now) to add extra peripherals using the programmable PIO modules, so there was no doubt that it would be very usable. When I see a new type of processor board, I feel duty bound to make it into a balloon tracker, so when I was asked to help test the new Raspberry Pi Pico, doing so was my first thought. ![]()
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