[Link]

com/2014/07/using-raspberry-pi-gpio-using-python/

UsingtheRaspberryPiGPIOwithPython
SoyougotyourRaspberryPi,[Link]!
Nowwhat?YoudidntbuyaRaspberryPijusttoreplaceyourcomputer,didyou?Well,
RaspberryPicandoalotmoremuchmorethanyourcomputercando!
Didyounoticethattherearelotsoftiny
littlepinsononecornerofyourRPi?
ThesearecalledGeneralPurposeInput
Outputpins(orGPIOpins).Thesepins
allowyourRPitobeconnectedtothe
[Link]
Bhave26pins(17GPIO)whereasthe
modelsB+andB2comewith40pins(26
GPIO).ThemodelsB+andB2arepin
compatiblewithmodelsAandB.

RaspberryPiModelA/BGPIO

Theeasiestwaytocontrolthesepinsisto
[Link]
[Link],welllearnhowtoinstallthelibrary,[Link]
thispost,youshouldbeabletoperformsimpleI/OoperationsusingyourRPisGPIOpins.

Contents
RaspberryPiPinConfiguration
[Link]
Installation
HelloWorldwithRaspberryPiLEDBlinky
Alittlebackground
Circuit
[Link]
TimingConsiderations
LetsCode!

Video
ALevelup:ReadingInputs
Algorithm
LetsCode!
Test:DesignaCounter
Whatnow?
Summary

RaspberryPiPinConfiguration
Asmentionedearlier,RPimodelsA/BandB+[Link]
([Link])showsthepinlayoutofmodelsA/B(rev2)andB+.

RPiPinLayoutforModelBRev2andModelB+(Imagesource
[Link])

[Link]
consistsofpins1through26,[Link]
remainingpinsconsistofpowersupply(5vand3.3v),[Link]
modelB+consistsofallthepinsshownabove,outofwhich26canbeusedasGPIO.
Thelabelsmentionedontheleftandrightofthepinsrefertothepinnumbersonthe
[Link],pinGPIO16ofBCM2835CPUisconnectedtopin36ofRPi
B+.Makessense?Whatdifferencedoesitmaketoyouwellseeinawhile!:)

[Link]
[Link],welluse
[Link].Startingversion0.5.6,thelibraryhassupportforRPimodel
B+[Link],itstill
lackssupportforSPI,I2C,hardwarePWMandserialfunctionality,whichareplannedtobe
added([Link],thismightchange).
ThisisareallysimplelibrarywhichallowsyoutoreadtoandwritefromanyGPIOpinby
variousmeans(likepolling,triggers,events,etc).Inthispost,welldiscussthepolling
method(dontworryaboutthename,[Link]),
whereasIlldealwiththeothermethodsinmynextpost.

Installation
Method1InstallfromRepositories
[Link]
doesnt,allyouneedtodoistoinstallthelatestversionfromtherepositoriesbyrunning
thefollowingintheterminal(holdsgoodforRaspbianonly)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install [Link] [Link]
Thatsallyouneedtodo!Simple,eh?!:)
Method2BuildfromSource
Ifyouwanttobuildfromthesource,[Link]
downloaded,[Link],browsetothedirectorywhere
youdownloadedthelibraryandtypeinthefollowingtoextract(replacethenameofthefile
withtheonethatyoudownloaded)

tar zxvf [Link]

tar zxvf [Link]

Thenenterintotheextractedfolder.
[Link]-0.5.6
Beforeweproceedtowardsinstallation,makesurePythonisinstalledinyoursystem
(whichshouldbesinceitcomespreinstalledinallOSimages).IncasetheresnoPython
installed,typethefollowingtoinstall
sudo apt-get install python-dev python3-dev
Andthen,installthepackagebytyping
sudo python [Link] install
##or
sudo python3 [Link] install
Thatshouldbeit!YoureallsettoblinksomeLEDs!:)

HelloWorldwithRaspberryPiLEDBlinky
AHelloworldprogramisatypicallyoneofthesimplestprogramsthatonecanpossibly
[Link],itis,likeany
otherembeddedsystem,[Link]
thingsgenerallywork,butalsomakessurethatallthetoolsanddevicesareproperlyset
upandworkingproperly.
Inthispost,[Link]
well,[Link]
howtodothesameusingC,andmaybeanotherpostonhowtowriteyourownLinux
kernelmodulestocontroltheGPIO.:)

Alittlebackground
Forthosewhoarenotfamiliarwithcircuits,[Link]
[Link],LEDsare
littledevicesthatglowandemitlightofsomecolor(red,blue,green,yellow,white,etc)
uponprovidingapositivevoltageacrossitspins(forwardbias).Ifyoureversethepolarity,
[Link],youmustmakesurethatthe
voltagedropacrosstheLED(from+vetovepin)ispositivetomakeitglow.
Ifyouconnecta5voltssupplyacrossanLEDdirectly,itllsimplyblowupsinceitexceeds
[Link],weusuallyconnectacurrentlimitingresistor
inserieswiththeLEDtodividethevoltagedrop,sothatyourLEDissafeandkeepson
glowing.Usuallyanyresistorhavingvalueinbetween100ohmsand1kohmswillwork

[Link].
ThiswillnotleaveenoughvoltageacrosstheLEDtomakeitglow.
TheGPIOpinsofyourRPiarecapableofgeneratingthesedifferent
[Link]
particularvoltagelevelonaparticularpin.
Alright,nowletsgettothecircuitdiagram.

Circuit
Disclaimer:WeABSOLUTELYDONOTtakeanyresponsibilityof
[Link]
worksjustfine,howeverifyoumakewrongconnectionsand/or
DetailedDiagram
shorttheboardanddamageyourRaspberryPi,[Link]
ofanLED
short,[Link],bewareof
[Link]
[Link]
[Link],tryusingsomethinglikeaGertboardasanintermediate
interface.
[Link]
circuitsonabreadboard,[Link]
RaspberryPiandaccessories
F/Mjumperwires(acombinationofF/FandM/Mwillalsowork)
AnLED(3mmor5mm)
Two330ohmsresistor
Onepushbutton
[Link],whichis
theLEDblinky.Noticethatpin7ofRPiisconnectedtothepositiveendofthecircuitand
pin6(whichisground)isconnectedtothenegativeendofthecircuit.
Thismeansthatwhenpin7isdrivenhigh,ahighvoltagelevel(usually5v)isgeneratedat
pin7,whichglowstheLED.Andwhenpin7isdrivenlow,alowvoltagelevel(usually0v)
isgeneratedatpin7,whichturnsofftheLED.
Cool!Onceyouredonemakingthecircuitintheredregion,proceedtothenextsection
[Link].

[Link].

Herearesomepicturesofhowthecircuitshouldlooklikeonabreadboard

LEDBlinkyBreadboardCircuit

RaspberryPiLEDBlinky

[Link]
ImportingModule
[Link]
byimportingthemodulesbytyping
import [Link] as GPIO
ThisallowsustoreferthemodulebysimplymentioningGPIOinsteadofitsfullname
[Link].
SpecifyModeofOperation
[Link]
wementionedthatRPi(BOARD)andtheCPU(BCM)havedifferentpinnumbers?Thisis
[Link]
typing
[Link]([Link]) # for RPi numbering
# or
[Link]([Link]) # for CPU numbering
SetupaChannel
[Link]
typing

[Link](channel, [Link]) # input channel

# or
[Link](channel, [Link]) # output channel
Forinstance,fortheLEDblinky,[Link]
[Link],recallthatthatpin7onboard
[Link]
[Link](7, [Link]) # if BOARD numbering system is used
# or
[Link](4, [Link]) # if BCM numbering system is used
ItisrecommendedthatyoufollowtheBOARDnumberingsystemsinceitiseasierto
[Link],justchooseoneandsticktoit.
DriveaChannel
[Link]
[Link](channel, state)
Forinstance,todrivepin7high,wetypeanyofthefollowing
[Link](7, True)
# or
[Link](7, [Link])
# or
[Link](7, 1)
Todrivethesamepin7low,wetype
[Link](7, False)
# or
[Link](7, [Link])
# or
[Link](7, 0)
ReadaChannel
InordertoreadthevalueofanyGPIOpin,simplytype
[Link](channel)
[Link]
pinsareoutputpins.
Cleanup
AndoncewearedonewithalltheGPIOoperations,weneedtocleanupandfreeany

[Link]
[Link]
[Link]()

TimingConsiderations
[Link]
LEDblinks,[Link]
on,anditshouldntblinksoslowthatyoualwaysseeitoff/[Link],youneedtocontrolthe
rateatwhichtheLEDblinks(sayyouwanttheLEDtoblinkeveryquarterofasecond).So
herestheflowhowitgoes
[Link].
[Link].
[Link].
[Link].
5.Repeatsteps14.
Inordertoachievesteps2and4mentionedabove,Pythonhasatimelibrarywhichhasa
functioncalledsleep()whichdoesexactlythesamething!Hereshowweuseit
import time # import 'time' library
[Link](n) # sleep for 'n' seconds
[Link]
[Link],pleaselearnthemfirstandthencomeback!

LetsCode!
Alrightfellas,timetogetourhandsdirtyandstartprogramming!Wearegoingtouse
[Link],openupyourfavoritetexteditor(like
gedit,Geany,etc).UsuallyforPython,[Link]
type
sudo idle
[Link]
controlthehardwarepins.DonotopenIDLE3,werenotusingPython3.
Next,typeinthefollowingcode
1
2
3
4
5

import [Link] as GPIO

import time

pin = 7
[Link]([Link])

## Import GPIO Library

## Import 'time' library (for 'slee
## We're working with pin 7
## Use BOARD pin numbering

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

[Link]([Link])
[Link](pin, [Link])

[Link](pin, [Link])
[Link](1)
[Link](pin, [Link])
[Link](1)

[Link]()

## Use BOARD pin numbering

## Set pin 7 to OUTPUT
##
##
##
##

Turn
Wait
Turn
Wait

on GPIO pin (HIGH)

1 second
off GPIO pin (LOW)
1 second

## Cleanup

Onceyouaredone,savethefileandgiveitanynameyouwish([Link]).Once
youaredone,[Link],youwillseetheerror
[Link],doublecheckthatyouarerunning
[Link],makesurethatyouarerunning
IDLEasasuperuser(byusingsudo).
Youcanalsorunitfromtheterminalbytypingthefollowingfromtheworkingdirectory
sudo python [Link]
Whatdidyousee?DidyourLEDblink?Ifeverythingwentokay,yourLEDwouldhave
blinked,[Link]!Letsmodify
thecodeas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

import [Link] as GPIO

import time

pin = 7
[Link]([Link])
[Link](pin, [Link])

for i in range (0, 20):

[Link](pin, [Link])
[Link](1)
[Link](pin, [Link])
[Link](1)

[Link]()

## Import GPIO Library

## Import 'time' library (for 'slee
## We're working with pin 7
## Use BOARD pin numbering
## Set pin 7 to OUTPUT
##
##
##
##
##

Repeat 20 times
Turn on GPIO pin (HIGH)
Wait 1 second
Turn off GPIO pin (LOW)
Wait 1 second

## Cleanup

[Link]
[Link]?Did
theLEDblink20times?!Woah,thatsabigdeal!Goodjob!:)
Nowtryplayingaround!Changethenumberoftimestheloophastorepeat,changethe
delay,etc.
Butwhyblinkitonly20times?Whatifyouwanttoblinkitforever?!Forthat,youwould
needtoreplacetheforstatementwiththefollowing
while
#
#
#

True:
loop code goes here
This loop iterates infinitely
since the condition of the