Originally written as part of Get Started with MicroPython on Raspberry Pi Pico: The Official Guide, my guide to physical computing on Raspberry Pi’s first-ever microcontroller development board, the burglar alarm tutorial builds up step-by-step from introducing a single passive infrared motion sensor to interfacing with multiple sensors, printing status reports over the serial console, and triggering a piezoelectric buzzer in place of a real alarm’s rather louder horn.
As with other tutorials written for the book, full source code – in MicroPython – is provided, along with wiring references designed to make it as easy as possible to add the components to a Raspberry Pi Pico installed on a solderless breadboard. There’s scope for further extension, too: adding break-beam sensors, glass-break sensors, or a code pad for disabling and enabling the alarm on-demand.
The MagPi Issue 106 is available at now at all good newsagents and supermarkets, online with global delivery, or as a Creative Commons-licensed DRM-free zero-cost PDF download on the official website.