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++.
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