/pico-solar-system

Primary LanguagePythonGNU General Public License v3.0GPL-3.0

Pico Solar System

A miniature device depicting the relative position of the planets in Solar System.

pico

Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Precision RTC Module (DS3231)
  • Pico Display Pack

Software

MicroPython

The software is written in MicroPython 1.15 and uses a custom build from Pimorony which includes drivers for the display. Download it from the official Pimorony repository here.

  1. Download the MicroPython UF2.
  2. Push and hold the BOOTSEL button and plug your Pico into the USB port of your computer. Release the BOOTSEL button after your Pico is connected.
  3. It will mount as a Mass Storage Device called RPI-RP2.
  4. Drag and drop the MicroPython UF2 file onto the RPI-RP2 volume.

rshell

To upload and configure your Pico Solar System you will need to install rshell. Make sure you have pip installed.

pip3 install rshell

Installing Pico Solar System

  1. Download Pico Solar System
git clone https://github.com/dr-mod/pico-solar-system.git
  1. Open the directory with the source code
cd pico-solar-system
  1. Copy required python files to your pico
rshell
cp *.py /pyboard/
  1. Set time & configure the RTC module
repl

import time
import ds3231
rtc = ds3231.ds3231()
rtc.set_time(time.time())

Case

A 3d printable case for this project can be found here.

Support the project

If you would like to support what I do and keep me caffeinated, you can do it here:

"Buy Me A Coffee"