Skip to content
CEC Semester Twenty Five 2024

Raspberry Pi 5 Automation Lecture Series

Fred Eady -
Owner, EDTP Electronics Inc. and Principal Engineer, Ongoing Systems LLC.
February 26,
2024
Raspberry Pi 5 Automation Toolbox
Example code for each lecture in this series will be written using C or Python. The tasks for today include the installation of a Linux-based C and Python program development package that can create code for Raspberry Pi 5 and Raspberry Pi PICO hardware platforms. We will begin our dive into Raspberry Pi 5 automation techniques by cobbling together some electromagnetic sensor hardware and interfacing the electromagnetic sensor hardware to a Raspberry Pi 5.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
How to Control Servo Motors with a Raspberry Pi – maker.io
Intro to Raspberry Pi Pico and RP2040 - C/C++ Part 1: VS Code and Blink - DigiKey – Video
Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping Using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico – Blog
February 27,
2024
Attaching Sensors to the Raspberry Pi 5
Sensors are the eyes, ears, and nose of automation. The basic types of sensors used in automation monitor such things as proximity, position, pressure, temperature, and humidity. In today’s lecture we will examine various ways to attach sensors to the Raspberry Pi 5’s native GPIO pins. The Raspberry Pi 5 is a powerhouse, but it has a finite number of GPIO pins, and we may need to use some of those GPIO pins for purposes other than sensing. With that, we will also look at how to attach sensors to the Raspberry Pi 5 using Raspberry Pi PICO “helpers.”
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
How to Control Servo Motors with a Raspberry Pi – maker.io
Intro to Raspberry Pi Pico and RP2040 - C/C++ Part 1: VS Code and Blink - DigiKey – Video
Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping Using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico – Blog
February 28,
2024
Lights Camera Automation
Unlike the one-eyed Raspberry Pi 4, the two-eyed Raspberry Pi 5 has hardware interfaces that can process images from two cameras. The task for today is to learn how to use the Raspberry Pi 5’s camera hardware and supporting camera software drivers. We will also take a look at how to detect objects using the Raspberry Pi 5’s camera array.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
How to Control Servo Motors with a Raspberry Pi – maker.io
Intro to Raspberry Pi Pico and RP2040 - C/C++ Part 1: VS Code and Blink - DigiKey – Video
Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping Using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico – Blog
March 1,
2024
Driving Stepper Motors with the Raspberry Pi 5
With the assistance of a suitable motor controller, one would think that just about any microcontroller or microprocessor can be used to drive a stepper motor. However, if you are driving a stepper motor and make a mistake in wiring or a motor timing mistake in your driver code, you can release the “magic smoke” and toast that little microcontroller and the stepper motor driver to which it is attached. Legend has it that vampires are known to be indestructible. In today’s lecture we will attach a Raspberry Pi 5 to a “Vampire” stepper motor controller and drive a lead screw linear stage.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
How to Control Servo Motors with a Raspberry Pi – maker.io
Intro to Raspberry Pi Pico and RP2040 - C/C++ Part 1: VS Code and Blink - DigiKey – Video
Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping Using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico – Blog
March 1,
2024
Driving Servos with the Raspberry Pi 5
Servos are handy devices that can be used in automation applications to convert rotary motion into linear motion that acts on a mechanically attached object. Today’s servos can be heavy duty types with tons of torque or small compact types that perform low-torque motion tasks. In today’s lecture we will use TCP/IP and some Raspberry Pi PICO “helper” hardware to attach multiple types of servos to a Raspberry Pi 5 host.
Course Resources
Special Educational Materials
How to Control Servo Motors with a Raspberry Pi – maker.io
Intro to Raspberry Pi Pico and RP2040 - C/C++ Part 1: VS Code and Blink - DigiKey – Video
Quick Guide to Rapid Prototyping Using MicroPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico – Blog
Instructor
Fred Eady
Owner, EDTP Electronics Inc. and Principal Engineer, Ongoing Systems LLC.

Fred Eady is the owner of EDTP Electronics Inc. and is the principal engineer at the Georgia branch of Ongoing Systems LLC. EDTP Electronics was established in 1988. In the meantime, Fred has written thousands of magazine articles. He has written for all of the major electronic magazines, including Radio Electronics, Electronics Now, Nuts and Volts, Servo, MicroComputer Journal, and Circuit Cellar. Fred has even done a few short feature articles for Design News. To date, he has authored four books and contributed to a fifth. He currently works as a PIC microcontroller consultant and is a Microchip Authorized Design Partner. Fred’s expertise also extends into the ARM community where he is a hardware and firmware design consultant. His customers include aerospace companies, machine shops, specialty startup companies, medical machine manufacturers, coin-operated device businesses, and various other research and development companies. He has a very close working relationship with Microchip Technology, the manufacturer of PIC microcontrollers, and has taught multiple Ethernet and WiFi classes at Microchip's annual Masters Conference.