Cannot figure out wiring for CamJam EduKit 3 with Pico WH

[blacknand]

I am trying to build this kit using a Pico WH instead of a regular Pi but cannot get the wiring correct at all. I found the pin layout for the motor controller board but I am not sure if I am using the correct pins because the pin layout on the site has 40 instead of 26.

I have connected pins 14 and 12 on the Pico to GPIO pins 8 and 7 on the motor controller board for the motor B control, as well as pins 10 and 11 to to GPIO pins 10 and 9 on the motor controller board for motor A control and then a ground pin on the Pico to a ground pin on the motor controller board.

I have hooked up the motor controller board to both motors as well as the battery pack included with 4 fresh AA batteries and nothing happens. I am not sure if there is meant to be any LEDs on the motor control board because I have seen some issues raised with people taking about the onboard LEDs but I have not got any on if that is the case. I can however hear some very light buzzing/high pitched sound when everything is wired up, even without the battery pack being turned on.

I have tried both C++ and MicroPython just to move the motors to see if the wiring is correct but in both cases nothing happens. Below are highlighted images of the pins I have used.

This is the motor controller board with the pins used highlighted:

Here are the GPIO pins of the Pico highlighted:

For reference, this is the C++ program I tried to run:

#include "pico/stdlib.h"

// Motor A Pins
const uint MOTOR_A_PIN1 = 10;
const uint MOTOR_A_PIN2 = 11;

// Motor B Pins
const uint MOTOR_B_PIN1 = 12;
const uint MOTOR_B_PIN2 = 14;

// Function to initialize GPIOs
void setup_motors() {
    gpio_init(MOTOR_A_PIN1);
    gpio_set_dir(MOTOR_A_PIN1, GPIO_OUT);
    
    gpio_init(MOTOR_A_PIN2);
    gpio_set_dir(MOTOR_A_PIN2, GPIO_OUT);
    
    gpio_init(MOTOR_B_PIN1);
    gpio_set_dir(MOTOR_B_PIN1, GPIO_OUT);
    
    gpio_init(MOTOR_B_PIN2);
    gpio_set_dir(MOTOR_B_PIN2, GPIO_OUT);
}

// Function to move Motor A forward
void motor_a_forward() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN1, true);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN2, false);
}

// Function to move Motor A backward
void motor_a_backward() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN1, false);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN2, true);
}

// Function to stop Motor A
void motor_a_stop() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN1, false);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_A_PIN2, false);
}

// Function to move Motor B forward
void motor_b_forward() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN1, true);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN2, false);
}

// Function to move Motor B backward
void motor_b_backward() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN1, false);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN2, true);
}

// Function to stop Motor B
void motor_b_stop() {
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN1, false);
    gpio_put(MOTOR_B_PIN2, false);
}

int main() {
    // Initialize GPIO pins
    setup_motors();

    // Example: Move motors forward for 2 seconds, then backward for 2 seconds
    while (true) {
        motor_a_forward();
        motor_b_forward();
        sleep_ms(2000);  // Run forward for 2 seconds

        motor_a_backward();
        motor_b_backward();
        sleep_ms(2000);  // Run backward for 2 seconds

        motor_a_stop();
        motor_b_stop();
        sleep_ms(1000);  // Stop for 1 second
    }

    return 0;
}

And following the documentation of the Pico I tried to run the following MicroPython code using minicom:

from machine import Pin
import time

# Motor A control pins
motor_A1 = Pin(9, Pin.OUT)
motor_A2 = Pin(10, Pin.OUT)

# Motor B control pins
motor_B1 = Pin(7, Pin.OUT)
motor_B2 = Pin(8, Pin.OUT)

# Move Motor A forward
motor_A1.value(1)
motor_A2.value(0)

# Move Motor B backward
motor_B1.value(0)
motor_B2.value(1)

time.sleep(2)  # Run motors for 2 seconds

# Stop both motors
motor_A1.value(0)
motor_A2.value(0)
motor_B1.value(0)
motor_B2.value(0)

[GeekyTim]

We don't currently support using the Pico with the EduKit 3.

The motor speed is usually controlled with PWM, so perhaps try using PWM on the pins?