You've got an RP2040 Pico and some motors and a burning desire to get them working together. This guide is here for you!

In it, you can pick among different types of motors/drives and learn how to wire them up and control them using CircuitPython!

With lots of pins, and a "it's OK if it breaks" price, the Pico is great for robotics projects, and thanks to CircuitPython its also incredibly easy to use DC motors, Servo motors, Stepper motors and Solenoids.

Let's get this motor party started!

Parts

Top view of Raspberry Pi Pico with two 20-pin male headers.
The Raspberry Pi foundation changed single-board computing when they released the Raspberry Pi computer, now they're...
$5.00
In Stock
Angle shot of Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040
The Raspberry Pi foundation changed single-board computing when they released the Raspberry Pi computer, now they're ready to...
Out of Stock
Standard hobby servo with three pin cable
This high-torque standard servo can rotate approximately 180 degrees (90 in each direction). You can use any servo code, hardware, or library to control these servos. Good for...
Out of Stock
DC Gearbox Motor - TT Motor with two long wires and yellow body
Perhaps you've been assembling a new robot friend, adding a computer for a brain and other fun personality touches. Now the time has come to let it leave the nest and fly on...
$2.95
In Stock
Feather wired to L9110 chip, driving a DC motor back and forth
Run two solenoids or a single DC motor with up to 800mA per channel using the super-simple L9110H H-bridge driver. This bridge chip is an 8 DIP package so it's easy to fit onto any...
$1.50
In Stock
Orange and Clear TT Motor Wheel for DC Gearbox Motor
Usually when one needs an orange wheel it's a garnish for a cocktail, like a tasty Sidecar. And speaking of cars, this wheel is for driving, not...
$1.50
In Stock
Angled shot of small Reduction Stepper Motor
This is a great first stepper motor, good for small projects and experimenting with steppers. This uni-polar motor has a built-in mounting plate with two mounting holes. There are only...
$4.95
In Stock
Video of a Adafruit DRV8833 DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board connected to a half sized white board powering a stepper motor with a adabot head spinning on it.
Spin two DC motors or step one bi-polar or uni-polar stepper with up to 1.2A per channel using the DRV8833. This motor driver chip is a nice alternative to the TB6612 driver. Like that...
$5.95
In Stock
Mini Push-Pull Solenoid wired to Trinket, activating back and forth
Solenoids are basically electromagnets: they are made of a coil of copper wire with an armature (a slug of metal) in the middle. When the coil is energized, the slug is pulled into the...
$4.95
In Stock
Pack of 10 through hole 47uF 25V Electrolytic Capacitors
We like capacitors so much we made a kids' show about them. ...
$1.95
In Stock
N-channel power MOSFET in TO-220 package
When you need to switch a lot of power, N-channel MOSFETs are best for the job. These FETs can switch over 60A and 30V and are TO-220 packages so they fit nicely into any breadboard or...
$2.25
In Stock
 10 pack of 1N4001 Diodes
This here is a 10 pack of the classic 1N4001 power blocking diode. These are good for reverse polarity protection (put it between your DC power jack and circuitry to avoid a...
$1.50
In Stock
Top-down shot of 15 colorful round tactile button switches in green, yellow, red, blue, and white.
Little clicky switches are standard input "buttons" on electronic projects. These work best in a PCB but can be...
$5.95
In Stock
Angled shot of full sized breadboard.
This is a 'full-size' premium quality breadboard, 830 tie points. Good for small and medium projects. It's 2.2" x 7" (5.5 cm x 17 cm) with a standard double-strip...
$5.95
In Stock
Hook-up Wire Spool Set in box with 6 colorful wires coming out
Perfect for bread-boarding, free wiring, etc. This box contains 6 spools of solid-core wire. The wire is easy to solder to and when bent it keeps its shape pretty well. We like to have...
$15.95
In Stock

Power

Angled shot of square black 4 x AA battery holder with 2.1mm plug and on/off switch.
Here's another addition to our growing family of AA battery holders. Behold! A holder for four (4) AA batteries!...
$3.95
In Stock
Angle shot Female DC Power adapter - 2.1mm jack to screw terminal block
If you need to connect a DC power wall wart to a board that doesn't have a DC jack - this adapter will come in very handy! There is a 2.1mm DC jack on one end, and a screw terminal...
$2.00
In Stock
Angled shot of 4 Piscell AA batteries.
Battery power for your portable project! These batteries are good quality at a good price, and work fantastic with any of the kits or projects in the shop that use AAs. This is a...
$2.95
In Stock

Tools

Person quickly stripping a piece of wire
If you've got a lot of wire-stripping to do, you may want to try out an automatic stripper/cutter! They are fantastic for stripping and cutting stranded and solid-core 24 or...
$11.95
In Stock

This guide was first published on Feb 17, 2021. It was last updated on Mar 29, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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