PiCo Documentation

Welcome to the PiCo technical reference. This covers hardware specifications, API documentation, library usage, and complete code examples for all boards in the PiCo family.

📌 New to PiCo? Start with the Learn section for step-by-step tutorials before diving into this reference.

Board Comparison

Feature	PiCo NANO	PiCo CORE	PiCo WIFI	PiCo PRO
MCU	ATmega328P	ATmega2560	ESP32	STM32H743
Clock	16 MHz	16 MHz	240 MHz	480 MHz
Flash	32 KB	256 KB	4 MB	2 MB
SRAM	2 KB	8 KB	520 KB + 8 MB PSRAM	1 MB
Digital I/O	22	54	38	168
ADC	8 ch / 10-bit	16 ch / 10-bit	18 ch / 12-bit	36 ch / 16-bit
WiFi / BT	—	—	802.11 b/g/n + BT 5	— (module option)
CAN / Ethernet	—	—	—	CAN FD + Ethernet
Temp range	0–70°C	0–70°C	–40–85°C	–40–85°C
Price (MAD)	199	349	449	749

API Reference — Core Functions

PiCo CORE and NANO expose the standard Arduino API. The functions below are available on all boards.

pinMode(pin, mode)

Configures a pin as INPUT, OUTPUT, or INPUT_PULLUP.

C++

pinMode(13, OUTPUT);        // set pin 13 as output
pinMode(2,  INPUT_PULLUP);  // internal pull-up resistor

digitalWrite / digitalRead

C++

digitalWrite(13, HIGH);     // set pin HIGH (5V)
digitalWrite(13, LOW);      // set pin LOW  (0V)
int val = digitalRead(2);   // returns HIGH or LOW

analogRead / analogWrite

C++

int raw = analogRead(A0);   // 0–1023 (10-bit)
float v = raw * (5.0 / 1023.0); // convert to volts

analogWrite(9, 128);        // PWM: 0–255 (50% duty)

Serial (UART)

C++

Serial.begin(115200);         // UART0 at 115200 baud
Serial.print("value: ");
Serial.println(42);

// PiCo CORE has 4 hardware UARTs:
Serial1.begin(9600);          // pins TX1/RX1
Serial2.begin(9600);          // pins TX2/RX2

I²C (Wire)

C++

#include <Wire.h>

void setup() {
  Wire.begin();              // join I²C bus as master
}

// Write a byte to device at address 0x27
Wire.beginTransmission(0x27);
Wire.write(0x00);            // register
Wire.write(0xFF);            // value
Wire.endTransmission();

// Read 2 bytes from address 0x68
Wire.requestFrom(0x68, 2);
byte hi = Wire.read();
byte lo = Wire.read();

SPI

C++

#include <SPI.h>

const int CS = 10;

void setup() {
  SPI.begin();
  pinMode(CS, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
}

void spiWrite(byte reg, byte val) {
  SPI.beginTransaction(SPISettings(4000000, MSBFIRST, SPI_MODE0));
  digitalWrite(CS, LOW);
  SPI.transfer(reg);
  SPI.transfer(val);
  digitalWrite(CS, HIGH);
  SPI.endTransaction();
}

Timers & PWM

PiCo CORE has 6 hardware timers providing 15 PWM outputs. Default PWM frequency is 490Hz (pins 5, 6: 980Hz).

C++

// Change Timer2 prescaler for ~31kHz PWM on pins 9, 10
TCCR2B = TCCR2B & B11111000 | B00000001; // 31372 Hz

// Hardware timer interrupt (Timer1, 1 Hz)
#include <TimerOne.h>
Timer1.initialize(1000000); // 1 second in microseconds
Timer1.attachInterrupt(myISR);

PiCo Sensor Libraries

Install via Arduino Library Manager or clone from github.com/PiCoAcademy.

Library	Sensor	Protocol	Install name
PiCo_DHT	DHT11/22 Temp + Humidity	1-Wire	`PiCo_DHT`
PiCo_BMP	BMP280 Pressure + Temp	I²C / SPI	`PiCo_BMP`
PiCo_US	HC-SR04 Ultrasonic	Trigger/Echo	`PiCo_US`
PiCo_MPU	MPU6050 Gyro/Accel	I²C	`PiCo_MPU`
PiCo_LCD	16×2 LCD (I²C)	I²C	`PiCo_LCD`

Example: MQTT (PiCo WIFI)

Publish sensor data to an MQTT broker using the PiCo WIFI board and the PubSubClient library.

Arduino / C++ · PiCo WIFI

#include <WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <DHT.h>

const char* SSID     = "YourWiFi";
const char* PASSWORD = "YourPass";
const char* BROKER   = "broker.hivemq.com";

WiFiClient   net;
PubSubClient mqtt(net);
DHT          dht(4, DHT22);

void connectWiFi() {
  WiFi.begin(SSID, PASSWORD);
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) delay(500);
}

void connectMQTT() {
  while (!mqtt.connected()) {
    mqtt.connect("PiCoWIFI");
    delay(1000);
  }
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  dht.begin();
  connectWiFi();
  mqtt.setServer(BROKER, 1883);
  connectMQTT();
}

void loop() {
  if (!mqtt.connected()) connectMQTT();
  mqtt.loop();

  float t = dht.readTemperature();
  float h = dht.readHumidity();

  char buf[32];
  snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.1f", t);
  mqtt.publish("pico/temperature", buf);
  snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.1f", h);
  mqtt.publish("pico/humidity", buf);

  delay(10000); // publish every 10 seconds
}

Example: I²C Scanner

Scans all 127 I²C addresses and prints detected devices to Serial Monitor.

Arduino / C++

#include <Wire.h>

void setup() {
  Wire.begin();
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("I2C Scanner — PiCo.ma");

  for (byte addr = 1; addr < 127; addr++) {
    Wire.beginTransmission(addr);
    byte error = Wire.endTransmission();

    if (error == 0) {
      Serial.print("Device found at 0x");
      if (addr < 16) Serial.print("0");
      Serial.println(addr, HEX);
    }
  }
  Serial.println("Scan complete.");
}

void loop() {}