Raspberry Pi Pico
Analog IN - Potentiometer

A potentiometer is a simple way to check how to read analog components. I have connected this one 3V3, GND and the middle pin to GP26.

Pico Circuit

Here is the Fritzing diagram showing that,

Pico Circuit

In the first program, I just get and print a simple reading from the ADC.

import board 
from time import sleep 
from analogio import AnalogIn 

pot = AnalogIn(board.GP26) 

while True: 
    print(pot.value) 
    sleep(1)

This program converts that to a voltage level.

import board 
from time import sleep 
from analogio import AnalogIn 

pot = AnalogIn(board.GP26) 
voltage_converter = 3.3 / 65535 

while True: 
    volts = round(pot.value * voltage_converter,1) 
    print(str(volts) + "V") 
    sleep(1)

In this final program, I just want to have a byte representing the reading.

import board 
from time import sleep 
from analogio import AnalogIn 

pot = AnalogIn(board.GP26) 

while True: 
    reading = pot.value // 256 
    print(reading) 
    sleep(1)

Most potentiometers are not going to give you guite the full range of values that an ADC could theoretically read. The rounding in the last program might give you a value that you can make more use of in your project.