🐼 Tutorial 5 - Tilt Switch

A tilt switch is a type of switch that operates by tilting the device on which it is mounted. It is a simple and inexpensive way to detect orientation or inclination and is commonly used in various electronic projects. In this tutorial, we will be using a tilt switch with the Raspberry Pi Pico board to detect when the switch is tilted, and print a message to the console.

Components Needed #

Fritzing Diagram #

Code #

from machine import Pin
import utime
tilt_switch = Pin(15, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_DOWN)
while True:
    if tilt_switch.value() == 0:
        print("The switch works!")
        utime.sleep(1)

Code Explanation #

from machine import Pin
import utime

This code imports the Pin class from the machine module, which allows us to control the input and output pins on the Raspberry Pi Pico. The utime module is also imported, which allows us to pause the program for a specified amount of time.

tilt_switch = Pin(15, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_DOWN)

This code sets up pin 15 as an input pin and pulls the pin down to ground, which will be used to read the state of the tilt switch. The Pin.IN argument specifies that the pin should be set up for input.

while True:
    if tilt_switch.value() == 0:
        print("The switch works!")
        utime.sleep(1)

This code continuously loops while the program is running, checking the state of the button. The tilt_switch.value() method returns the current state of the button, which is either 0 or 1.

When the switch is not tilted it will have the value of 1.

If the value of the button is 0 or in otherwords we title the switch, the program prints a message to the console indicating that the switch is working. It then pauses for one second using the utime.sleep(1) function call.

The program will continue to loop and check the state of the button as long as the program is running.