Arcade Cab Code

So you built the thing and it doesn't do anything. That's okay it needs some code to make it go. I'll write out the instructions like you were going to use a device that doesn't have an IDE and assuming you haven't done this before.

Install Thonny

First thing we need to do is set up our computer to talk to the badge -- to do that I recommend Thonny IDE link to 3.3.13 latest version to have installers available for download. Follow their instructions on installing

Configure Thonny

open up the options window (tools --> options on windows) Click over to the interpreter tab and select "MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico )" from the first drop down and make sure the second says < Try to detect port automatically > like the screenshot below.

Everything else can be left at the default values, on the Theme & font tab go nuts

Download Code

To keep it simple, I have posted the files to my Google Drive

you will find four files listed:

flash_nuke.uf2

rp2-pico-20210618-v1.16.uf2

Human.py

ssd1306.py

The first "flash_nuke.uf2" will completely reset your Pico back to factory defaults, so I posted it for you to download just in case... The second file is to set up your Pico for MicroPython. (yes, there are newer, but let's stick with what works with our library, okay ?) "Human.py" is the Human version of the firmware and "ssd1306.py" is the library file for the OLED display, like a driver or other 'helper' file.

Do the Thing

Plug your badge into your computer, it should open up a window and show you its files system like this :

Drag and drop or Copy/Paste the "rp2-pico-20210618-v1.16.uf2" to your Pico. the window will close as the Pico resets itself

Open Thonny and from Thonny open up the two .py files. Screenshot for reference:

First click on the little stop sign, this will insure that Thonny sees the pico

Nest from the ssd1306.py tab, select file --> save a copy... bringing up this dialog

Select Raspberry Pi Pico, from there save the file as "ssd1306.py" YOU MUST NAME THE FILE EXACTLY AS shown or it won't work.

click over to the human.py tab, if you click the green circle with the white triangle (F5 ) it will run this script from thonny, but it won't be saved to your pico and won't run when disconnected from the computer, so go to File --> Save a Copy... select Raspberry Pi Pico and name it "main.py" so the Pico knows to run it on startup.

Take it Further

A nice guide for more on using a Raspberry Pi Pico with an OLED

MicroPython documentation from the Raspberry Pi Foundation

A complete guide to Space Invaders