4. Run Script Online (Important)

In each project you will be prompted to copy the code into Thonny or open the xxx.py script in the pico_4wd_car-v2.0\examples path. Then run it.

If you are not familiar with operating on Thonny, you can refer to the following tutorial to learn how to open, create, run or save scripts.

However, you must first download the package and upload the library, as described in 3. Upload the Libraries to Pico (Optional).

Note

Here online refers to having the Raspberry Pi Pico plugged into your computer and running the script by clicking the thonny_run button or pressing F5.

The next project 5. Run Script Offline(Important) will show you how to make the script run when the Raspberry Pi Pico is booted.

Open and Run Script Directly

  1. Open Thonny IDE and plug the Pico into your computer with a micro USB cable and click on the “MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico).COMxx” interpreter in the bottom right corner.

    ../_images/sec_inter.png

  2. Open Script

    For example, grayscale_2_get_value.py.

    If you double click on it, a new window will open on the right. You can open more than one script at the same time.

    ../_images/open_script.png

  3. Run the Script

    To run the script, click the thonny_run button or press F5.

    If the code contains any information that needs to be printed, it will appear in the Shell; otherwise, only the %Run -c $EDITOR_CONTENT message will appear.

    ../_images/open_run.png

  4. Stop Running

    To stop the running code, click the thonny_stop button. The %RUN -c $EDITOR_CONTENT command will disappear after stopping.

  5. Save or Save as

    You can save changes made to the open script by pressing Ctrl+S or clicking the Save button on Thonny.

    The code can be saved as a separate file within the Raspberry Pi Pico by clicking on File -> Save As.

    ../_images/save_as2.png

    Select Raspberry Pi Pico.

    ../_images/save_to_pico2.png

    Then click OK after entering the file name and extension .py. On the Raspberry Pi Pico drive, you will see your saved file.

    ../_images/open_save_name.png

    Note

    Regardless of what name you give your code, it’s best to describe what type of code it is, and not give it a meaningless name like abc.py. When you save the code as main.py, it will run automatically when the power is turned on.

Create File and Run it

You can also create a new script to copy the code from the project page and run it.

  1. Open Thonny IDE and plug the Pico into your computer with a micro USB cable and click on the “MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico).COMxx” interpreter in the bottom right corner.

    ../_images/sec_inter.png

  2. Create a new file

    Open Thonny IDE, click New button to create a new blank file.

    ../_images/create_new.png

  3. Copy Code

    Copy the code from the project to the Thonny IDE.

    ../_images/create_copy.png

  4. Run the script

    To run the script, click the thonny_run button or press F5.

    If the code contains any information that needs to be printed, it will appear in the Shell; otherwise, only the %Run -c $EDITOR_CONTENT message will appear.

    ../_images/create_run.png

  5. Stop Running

    To stop the running code, click the thonny_stop button. The %RUN -c $EDITOR_CONTENT command will disappear after stopping.

  6. Save

    The script can be saved as a separate file within the Raspberry Pi Pico or This Computer by by pressing Ctrl+S or clicking the Save button on Thonny.

    ../_images/save_as2.png

    Then click OK after entering the file name and extension .py.

    ../_images/open_save_name.png

    Note

    Regardless of what name you give your code, it’s best to describe what type of code it is, and not give it a meaningless name like abc.py. When you save the code as main.py, it will run automatically when the power is turned on.