Optimize battery use for the Raspberry Pi Pico
Power Saver
© Lead Image © Julia Burlachenko, 123RF.com
The Raspberry Pi Pico's high-performance chip is trimmed for I/O and does not try to save power. However, a few tricks in battery mode can keep it running longer.
A large number of pins, variable voltage input, and good community support are what make the Raspberry Pi Pico a popular single-board computer (SBC) for newcomers and professionals alike. Just connect it to your PC over USB and get started, power supply included.
When you want the Pico to run autonomously, you will need to face the question of how long the battery supply will last. Like most microcontrollers, the Pi Pico requires comparatively little power, but it has limitations when it comes to operating continuously on battery operation, not least because it continues to consume power during sleep periods. A few tricks will help you reduce the power consumption in these phases to extend the battery runtime.
Whenever you read "Pico," it also applies to other microcontrollers, either because they directly support CircuitPython (a software implementation of the Python 3 programming language used here and targeted toward beginners), or because everything also works in the same way with C/C++.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.