How to Read Internal Temperature of Raspberry Pi Pico W using On-Board Temperature Sensor

Introduction:

Raspberry Pi Pico W is a powerful microcontroller board equipped with various features, including an on-board temperature sensor. Utilizing this sensor allows you to monitor the temperature of the Pico W’s environment, which can be particularly useful for ensuring optimal operating conditions or implementing temperature-based control systems.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of reading the internal temperature of the Raspberry Pi Pico W using its on-board temperature sensor.

Prerequisites:

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

Raspberry Pi Pico W board
Thonny IDE or any other preferred MicroPython development environment
MicroUSB cable for connecting Raspberry Pi Pico W to your computer

Setup Development Environment:

Connect your Raspberry Pi Pico W to your computer using a MicroUSB cable. Open your preferred MicroPython development environment, such as Thonny IDE.

Write the Code:

Let’s write the code to read the internal temperature of the Pico W using its on-board temperature sensor.

				
					from machine import ADC
import time

# Define the ADC pin connected to the temperature sensor
adcpin = 4

# Initialize the ADC object with the ADC pin
sensor = ADC(adcpin)

while True:
    # Read the ADC value
    adc_value = sensor.read_u16()

    # Convert ADC value to voltage
    volt = (3.3 / 65535) * adc_value

    # Calculate temperature using the voltage
    temperature = 27 - (volt - 0.706) / 0.001721

    # Round the temperature to one decimal place
    temperature = round(temperature, 1)

    # Print the temperature
    print("Temperature:", temperature, "°C")

    # Wait for 1 second before reading temperature again
    time.sleep(1)

Run the Code:

Copy the code to your MicroPython development environment and save it as a main.py file. Run the code, and you should see the temperature readings printed to the console.

Interpret the Results:

Once the code is running, you’ll see temperature readings printed to the console every second. These readings represent the internal temperature of the Raspberry Pi Pico W.

Conclusion:

Reading the internal temperature of the Raspberry Pi Pico W using its on-board temperature sensor is a straightforward process. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily monitor the temperature of your Pico W board for various applications, such as environmental monitoring or temperature-based control systems.

Experiment with the code and explore additional functionalities to enhance your projects further. Happy coding!