It's easy to use the INA219 sensor with Python and CircuitPython, and the Adafruit CircuitPython INA219 module. This module allows you to easily write Python code that reads the current and more from the sensor.
You can use this sensor with any CircuitPython microcontroller board or with a computer that has GPIO and Python thanks to Adafruit_Blinka, our CircuitPython-for-Python compatibility library.
CircuitPython Microcontroller Wiring
First wire up a INA219 to your board exactly as shown on the previous pages for Arduino using an I2C interface. In addition connect some load to measure the current from in series to the sensor's Vin- and Vin+ pins as mentioned on the wiring page.
Here is an example of the STEMMA QT version connected to a Feather M4:
- Board 3V to sensor VIN (red wire)
- Board GND to sensor GND (black wire)
- Board SCL to sensor SCL (yellow wire)
- Board SDA to sensor SDA (blue wire)
- Connect Vin+ to the positive terminal of the power supply for the circuit under test
- Connect Vin- to the positive terminal or lead of the load
Here's an example of the original version of the sensor wired up to a Feather M0:
Python Computer Wiring
Since there's dozens of Linux computers/boards you can use we will show wiring for Raspberry Pi. For other platforms, please visit the guide for CircuitPython on Linux to see whether your platform is supported.
In addition connect some load to measure the current from in series to the sensor's Vin- and Vin+ pins as mentioned on the wiring page.
Here's the Raspberry Pi wired to the STEMMA QT version of the sensor:
- Pi 3V to sensor VIN (red wire)
- Pi GND to sensor GND (black wire)
- Pi SCL to sensor SCL (yellow wire)
- Pi SDA to sensor SDA (blue wire)
- Connect Vin+ to the positive terminal of the power supply for the circuit under test
- Connect Vin- to the positive terminal or lead of the load
Here's the Raspberry Pi wired to the original version of the sensor with I2C:
CircuitPython Installation of INA219 Library
Next you'll need to install the Adafruit CircuitPython INA219 library on your CircuitPython board.
First make sure you are running the latest version of Adafruit CircuitPython for your board.
Next you'll need to install the necessary libraries to use the hardware--carefully follow the steps to find and install these libraries from Adafruit's CircuitPython library bundle. For example the Circuit Playground Express guide has a great page on how to install the library bundle for both express and non-express boards.
Remember for non-express boards like the Trinket M0, Gemma M0, and Feather/Metro M0 basic you'll need to manually install the necessary libraries from the bundle:
- adafruit_ina219.mpy
- adafruit_bus_device
Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder or root filesystem has the adafruit_ina219.mpy, and adafruit_bus_device files and folders copied over.
Before continuing make sure your board's lib folder has the adafruit_ina219.mpy, and adafruit_bus_device files and folders copied over.
Next connect to the board's serial REPL so you are at the CircuitPython >>> prompt.
Python Installation of INA219 Library
You'll need to install the Adafruit_Blinka library that provides the CircuitPython support in Python. This may also require enabling I2C on your platform and verifying you are running Python 3. Since each platform is a little different, and Linux changes often, please visit the CircuitPython on Linux guide to get your computer ready!
Once that's done, from your command line run the following command:
sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-ina219
If your default Python is version 3 you may need to run 'pip' instead. Just make sure you aren't trying to use CircuitPython on Python 2.x, it isn't supported!
CircuitPython & Python Usage
To demonstrate the usage of the sensor we'll initialize it and read the current and more from the board's Python REPL. Run the following code to import the necessary modules and initialize the I2C connection with the sensor:
import board import busio import adafruit_ina219 i2c = busio.I2C(board.SCL, board.SDA) sensor = adafruit_ina219.INA219(i2c)
Now you're ready to read values from the sensor using any of these functions:
- shunt_voltage - The shunt voltage in volts.
- bus_voltage - The bus voltage in volts.
- current - The current in milliamps.
print("Bus Voltage: {} V".format(ina219.bus_voltage))
print("Shunt Voltage: {} mV".format(ina219.shunt_voltage / 1000))
print("Current: {} mA".format(ina219.current))
That's all there is to using the INA219 with CircuitPython!
Here's a full example to print the voltage and current every second. Save this as code.py on your board's filesystem and check the output from the serial REPL.
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 ladyada for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
"""Sample code and test for adafruit_ina219"""
import time
import board
from adafruit_ina219 import ADCResolution, BusVoltageRange, INA219
i2c_bus = board.I2C() # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c_bus = board.STEMMA_I2C() # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
ina219 = INA219(i2c_bus)
print("ina219 test")
# display some of the advanced field (just to test)
print("Config register:")
print(" bus_voltage_range: 0x%1X" % ina219.bus_voltage_range)
print(" gain: 0x%1X" % ina219.gain)
print(" bus_adc_resolution: 0x%1X" % ina219.bus_adc_resolution)
print(" shunt_adc_resolution: 0x%1X" % ina219.shunt_adc_resolution)
print(" mode: 0x%1X" % ina219.mode)
print("")
# optional : change configuration to use 32 samples averaging for both bus voltage and shunt voltage
ina219.bus_adc_resolution = ADCResolution.ADCRES_12BIT_32S
ina219.shunt_adc_resolution = ADCResolution.ADCRES_12BIT_32S
# optional : change voltage range to 16V
ina219.bus_voltage_range = BusVoltageRange.RANGE_16V
# measure and display loop
while True:
bus_voltage = ina219.bus_voltage # voltage on V- (load side)
shunt_voltage = ina219.shunt_voltage # voltage between V+ and V- across the shunt
current = ina219.current # current in mA
power = ina219.power # power in watts
# INA219 measure bus voltage on the load side. So PSU voltage = bus_voltage + shunt_voltage
print("Voltage (VIN+) : {:6.3f} V".format(bus_voltage + shunt_voltage))
print("Voltage (VIN-) : {:6.3f} V".format(bus_voltage))
print("Shunt Voltage : {:8.5f} V".format(shunt_voltage))
print("Shunt Current : {:7.4f} A".format(current / 1000))
print("Power Calc. : {:8.5f} W".format(bus_voltage * (current / 1000)))
print("Power Register : {:6.3f} W".format(power))
print("")
# Check internal calculations haven't overflowed (doesn't detect ADC overflows)
if ina219.overflow:
print("Internal Math Overflow Detected!")
print("")
time.sleep(2)
If you have more than one sensor at different I2C addresses (adjusted per the Addressing page), use the following syntax, using the addresses you chose:
ina219a = INA219(i2c_bus, 0x40) ina219b = INA219(i2c_bus, 0x41)
Page last edited January 22, 2025
Text editor powered by tinymce.
