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2.12 Feel the Light

The photoresistor is a typical device for analog inputs and it is used in a very similar way to a potentiometer. Its resistance value depends on the intensity of the light, the stronger the irradiated light, the smaller its resistance value; conversely, it increases.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name

ITEMS IN THIS KIT

LINK

Kepler Kit

450+

Kepler Ultimate Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

SN

COMPONENT

QUANTITY

LINK

1

Raspberry Pi Pico W

1

BUY

2

Micro USB Cable

1

3

Breadboard

1

BUY

4

Jumper Wires

Several

BUY

5

Resistor

1(10KΩ)

BUY

6

Photoresistor

1

BUY

Schematic

sch_photoresistor

In this circuit, the 10K resistor and the photoresistor are connected in series, and the current passing through them is the same. The 10K resistor acts as a protection, and the GP28 reads the value after the voltage conversion of the photoresistor.

When the light is enhanced, the resistance of the photoresistor decreases, then its voltage decreases, so the value from GP28 will decrease; if the light is strong enough, the resistance of the photoresistor will be close to 0, and the value of GP28 will be close to 0. At this time, the 10K resistor plays a protective role, so that 3.3V and GND are not connected together, resulting in a short circuit.

If you place the photoresistor in a dark situation, the value of GP28 will increase. In a dark enough situation, the resistance of the photoresistor will be infinite, and its voltage will be close to 3.3v (the 10K resistor is negligible), and the value of GP28 will be close to the maximum value of 65535.

The calculation formula is shown below.

(Vp/3.3V) x 65535 = Ap

Wiring

wiring_photoresistor

Code

Note

  • Open the 2.12_feel_the_light.py file under the path of kepler-kit-main/micropython or copy this code into Thonny, then click “Run Current Script” or simply press F5 to run it.

  • Don’t forget to click on the “MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico)” interpreter in the bottom right corner.

  • For detailed tutorials, please refer to Open and Run Code Directly.

import machine
import utime

photoresistor = machine.ADC(28)

while True:
    light_value  = photoresistor.read_u16()
    print(light_value)
    utime.sleep_ms(10)

After the program runs, the Shell prints out the photoresistor values. You can shine a flashlight on it or cover it up with your hand to see how the value will change.