Analogue Input with Potentiometers

The analogue input pins on the Pico can be used to read an analogue value, ranging from 0 to 65535.

A potentiometer is a variable resistor that can adjust a voltage from 0V to the maximum circuit voltage. By taking a reading of this voltage we can control other things, like volume, light, movement, etc. The reading is analogue, in that it can vary continuously between the minimum and maximum.

Wire up

Wire up the potentiometer like this:

Circuit	Pico
Black	GND
Red	3V3
Green	GP28 or another analogue pin

Code

Write this code and download to the Pico.

See code on github

# Test Potentiometer

import time
import board
import analogio

#  Set up the potentiometer on pin 28 as an analogue input pin
pot = analogio.AnalogIn(board.GP28_A2)

# Value will be 0 to 65535 (direction of increase/decrease depending on the order of black/red wires)
while True:
    val = pot.value
    print(val)
    time.sleep(.2)

Turn the knob on the potentiometer. The values printed out should change.