Sense tutorial (Tour of Pigweed)#

Welcome to the Sense tutorial! If you want a hands-on, guided tour of Pigweed’s key features, you’re in the right place.

Note

If you’d like to start a Bazel-based project from scratch from a minimal starter repo, check out our Bazel quickstart.

What to expect#

Here’s an overview of what your tutorial experience will include:

  1. You set up your computer (the “development host” or “host” for short) so that it’s ready to build the project’s source code, flash your Pico, and so on.

  2. You run a simulated version of unit tests and a basic bringup program on your host.

  3. You run more complex programs on a physical Pico and perform more complex tasks, e.g. communicating with the Pico through a web app and debugging crash snapshots.

Prerequisites#

Please read over these prerequisites and make sure the tutorial is a good fit for you:

  • macOS or Linux development host: Windows isn’t supported with this particular tutorial yet.

  • Hardware setups (all of the following setups are supported):

    • (Recommended) Raspberry Pi Pico, Pimoroni Enviro+ Pack, Debug Probe, and Omnibus: You’ll be able to complete 100% of the tutorial.

    • Raspberry Pi Pico and Enviro+: You’ll be able to complete ~80% of the tutorial.

    • Raspberry Pi Pico only: You’ll be able to complete ~60% of the tutorial.

    • No hardware (development host only): You’ll be able to complete ~40% of the tutorial. Pigweed provides a way to emulate the app on your host. You’ll need to stop at 7. Flash your Pico.

  • Embedded development experience: We assume that you’re comfortable with C++ and common tasks such as flashing a Pico over USB. You may still be able to complete the tutorial without this background knowledge but should expect the tutorial to be more challenging.

Supported Pico versions#

You can use any version of the Pico. We support them all:

  • Pico 1

  • Pico 1W

  • Pico 2

  • Pico 2W

Summary#

In this tutorial you’ll see many Pigweed features working together that can help your team develop embedded systems more sustainably, robustly, and rapidly.

Next, head over to 1. Setup to get your development host ready to run Sense.

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