We'll be using CircuitPython for this project. Are you new to using CircuitPython? No worries, there is a full getting started guide here.
Adafruit suggests using the Mu editor to edit your code and have an interactive REPL in CircuitPython. You can learn about Mu and its installation in this tutorial.
Get the code from GitHub, place it in Mu and save it onto the Circuit Playground Express as code.py (not hot.py!)
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2018 Anne Barela for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
import time
import board
from analogio import AnalogIn
from adafruit_crickit import crickit
import neopixel
print("Heating Pad Demo")
pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.NEOPIXEL, 10, auto_write=False)
def show_value(heat_val): # Show throttle on NeoPixels on CPX
num_pixels = int(10 * (heat_val + 0.002))
for i in range(num_pixels):
pixels[i] = (10*(i+1), 0, 0)
for i in range(num_pixels, 10):
pixels[i] = (0, 0, 0)
pixels.show()
TMP36 = AnalogIn(board.A3) # TMP36 connected to A3, power & ground
POT = AnalogIn(board.A7) # potentiometer connected to A7, power & ground
heating_pad = crickit.dc_motor_2 # Set the motor object to heating pad
while True: # Loop Forever
voltage = TMP36.value * 3.3 / 65536.0 # Read temp sensor, get voltage
tempC = (voltage - 0.5) * 100.0 # Calculate Celsius
tempF = (tempC * 9.0 / 5.0) + 32.0 # Calculate Fahrenheit
heat_value = POT.value / 65536.0 # Value (0.0 to 1.0) to drive pad
print((tempF, heat_value)) # Display temperature and drive
show_value(heat_value)
heating_pad.throttle = heat_value # set Motor throttle value to heat_value
time.sleep(0.25) # Wait a bit before checking all again
If you open the Mu serial terminal (press the menu bar Serial button), you'll see the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and the value of the potentiometer from 0 to 1. At 0, the heating pad is not powered, at 1.0 it is fully powered, and values between the heating pad is pulse width modulated to be at at a temperature lower than maximum.
The NeoPixels show the value of the potentiometer in 1/10th increments. The more NeoPixels, the hotter the heating pad.
Page last edited January 21, 2025
Text editor powered by tinymce.
