The peristaltic pump is a component in the Smart Hydroponics Kit and in newer versions of the Climate Action Kit. It moves water through two tubes connected to an “in” and an “out” port on the pump.

The pump can be attached to Forward Education’s building blocks using a flexible tie and programmed using the pump port on the breakout board.

Peristaltic Pump Side Angle

Water In

  • Attach one water tube to the “in” port
  • Submerge the other end of the tube into a cup of water

Water Out

  • Attach a second water tube to the “out” port
  • Place one end of a tube into an empty cup
A circled set of wires, with the red wire on the left, and the black wire on the right

Connect the breakout board

Plug the peristaltic pump into the pump port on the breakout board, with the red power wire on the positive (+) side of the pump port.

Handling & Care

An exclamation mark inside a triangle icon

This pump should not be submerged in water!

If the pump or any electronic components get wet, immediately disconnect them from power and allow them to fully dry before continuing their use.

Do not put the water tubing away while it is wet; let it finish air drying before putting it away with other components that are sensitive to water.

MakeCode Extension

Each time you use this component, you’ll need to add the extension to your MakeCode project. Depending on the type of kit you have, you can select one of the following extensions:

MakeCode Extensions Drawer

Create a new MakeCode File, and select the Extensions drawer from the toolbar.

Forward Education MakeCode extension for the Climate Action Kit

Search for fwd-edu by Forward Education, and add it to your project.

View Extension
Forward Education MakeCode extension for the Smart Hydroponics Kit

Search for smart-hydroponics by Forward Education, and add it to your project.

View Extension

Motors Blocks

Motors Drawer Makecode

From the toolbar, select the Motors drawer, and scroll to the Pump category.

The blocks within this category are used to control the motor output on the peristaltic pump.

Pump Is On

Boolean pump is on

A boolean block, which returns true or false based on the status of the pump.

  • True = Pump is on
  • False = Pump is off
Pump is On Code

Run Pump for Value (ms)

Run pump for 500 ms command

A command block, which turns on the pump for a specific length of time in milliseconds.

Click the “500” dropdown to select from the following options:

  • 100 ms
  • 200 ms
  • 500 ms
  • 1 second
  • 2 seconds
  • 5 seconds
Run Pump for Value (ms) Code

Turn Pump Off/On

Command turn pump off

A command block, which turns the pump on or off.

Click the toggle “OFF” to select “ON”.

Turn Pump Off/On Code

Related Content

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