PI Ada Tutorial on Pi Ada Tutorial

Chapter 6: NeoPixel

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Fri, 01 May 2026 18:07:00 +0200

From understanding the WS2812 protocol to writing our own PIO code and creating colourful animations – everything you need to make NeoPixels dance with Ada on the Pico.

Side Quest: Debugger

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:28:11 +0200

From UART logging and OpenOCD to GDB scripts and Visual Studio Code — everything I needed (and the battles I fought) to make debugging work on macOS.

Chapter 4 – Analog & PWM

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:43:42 +0200

In this chapter we create a reusable Pico.Analog package for PWM-based analogue output. We start with a classic breathing light, then move on to a flowing light bar. Along the way the MSO-5102B reveals the real behaviour of our code, and we discover (and fix) a subtle bug in the experimental RP2350 HAL.

Chapter 5: Controlling an RGB LED with PWM

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:43:42 +0200

Extend the simple LED examples to full-colour control with an RGB LED. Create a reusable Pico.Analog.RGB_LED package and explore two sketches: random colours (using the embedded runtime) and a smooth colour-wheel transition.

Side Quest: Floating Point Fixed

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:44:57 +0200

Floating point support for the Raspberry Pi Pico is now fixed.

Side Quest: Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:44:57 +0200

How to adapt the existing Ada projects for the newer Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W — a quick side quest with all the necessary changes explained

Side Quest Update: The Breadboards Have Arrived!

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 18:30:00 +0100

Unboxing the new transparent BusBoard BB830T, side-by-side comparison with the Freenove board, a quick nerd-out on fingertip sensitivity, and how I prepared identical setups for both my Raspberry Pi Pico and Pico 2W. Plus a note on why Ada support for the Pico 2W is still a bit flaky.

Chapter 3 - Cylon LED Bar: flowing light upgraded to a menacing scanner

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 18:30:16 +0100

In this chapter we turn ten LEDs into a flowing light bar. We start with the basic Freenove example, then improve it with a sine-harmonic timing table to create a realistic Cylon scanner effect. All code is written in Ada and runs on the RP2040 without floating-point at runtime.

Side Quest: Breadboards – Why Cheap Ones Just Don’t Cut It

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:32:38 +0100

Discover why I’m switching breadboards mid-project – from loose buttons ruining shots to rock-solid BusBoard reliability. Plus a peek at my new transparent setup and some exciting 6502 bits ordered on the side.

Chapter 2 – Button & LED

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:24:11 +0100

In this chapter I combine a push button with an LED. We start with basic on/off control, then move to a toggle-style table lamp with software debounce.

Chapter 1 Reloaded: Dual-Core Light Tasking – Blinking LEDs on Both Cores

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:34:08 +0100

After quick community help, I rewrote Chapter 1 to use light tasking on both RP2040 cores. No more manual timers – clean, precise dual-LED blinking with zero slippage.

Chapter 1: Blinking LEDs – Getting Started with Ada on the Raspberry Pi Pico

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:54:14 +0100

Starting simple with LED blinking in Ada – internal LED, external LED with proper renaming, and a look at why Ravenscar looks so clean (even if it’s not quite ready for everyday use yet).

From Repetitive to Elegant: My Improved Pico Ada Makefile

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:51:15 +0100

I started with a repetitive Makefile that broke without manual Pico_Upload. After some pair programming with Grok, here’s the much cleaner version I now use for every chapter.

Hardware Reset Button

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:42:41 +0100

Adding a Hardware Reset Button – Goodbye USB Plug Wrestling

Configuring Passwordless sudo for picotool

krischik@users.sourceforge.net (Martin Krischik) — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:20:00 +0100

How I tried (and failed) to set up passwordless picotool flashing on macOS — and what actually works better.