[Dprglist] New Raspberry Pi RP2040 boards

[Doug Paradis]

-All,
    Another article of interest on the Rpi pico. Cost is $4, and has micro
python and C/C++ support.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/4-raspberry-pi-pico-launches?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=whatsnewnow&utm_medium=title

Regards,
Doug P.

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 3:32 AM Murray Altheim via DPRGlist <
dprglist at lists.dprg.org> wrote:

> Summary: There are two new, small and low-cost Raspberry Pi
> computer boards based on a new RP2040 chip (developed by the
> Raspberry Pi Foundation), now or soon to be available, along with
> a new line of accessories and carrier boards. There's also two
> RP2040 boards from Adafruit using their Feather and ItsyBitsy
> form factors.
>
> ----
>
> The RP2040 boards from Raspberry Pi are respectively called the Pico
> and the Tiny2040 and are different from previous Raspberry Pis in that
> they don't run a Linux operating system, they run either a single C/C+
> or MicroPython program which is loaded (like an Arduino) over USB.
>
> These boards are considerably smaller and lighter than other Pis, and
> rather than dual-row GPIO pins their IO pins are spread around the
> perimeter of the board.
>
> The Pico is about the size of an Arduino Nano:
>
>    Raspberry Pi Pico
>    https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico     £3.60
>    https://www.adafruit.com/product/4883 (loose headers)    US$5.00
>    https://www.adafruit.com/product/4864 (no headers)       US$4.00
>
> Pimoroni are releasing a series of support boards for the Pico, such
> as:
>
>     Pico Explorer Base (LCD, mini breakboard, motor drivers, etc.
>     kinda nice for a small robot)
>     https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pico-explorer-base    £22.20
>
>     Pico Breakout Garden Base
>     https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pico-breakout-garden-base   £12
>
> The latter provides 4 I2C and 2 SPI sockets for their Breakout Garden
> series of sensors, displays, etc.
>
> The Tiny is about the size of a postage stamp, with 12 IO pins, 4 as
> optional 12-bit ADC channels:
>
>    Tiny 2040
>    https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/tiny-2040             £8.40
>
> [It's notably more expensive than the Pico.]
>
> Adafruit has also packaged the RP2040 in both their Feather and
> ItsyBitsy form factors:
>
>    Adafruit Feather RP2040
>    https://www.adafruit.com/product/4884                    NA (yet)
>    Adafruit ItsyBitsy RP2040
>    https://www.adafruit.com/product/4888                    NA (yet)
>
> Here's a description of the 2040 CPU:
>
>      About the RP2040
>
>      The RP2040 microcontroller is a dual core ARM Cortex M0+ running at
>      up to 133Mhz. It bundles in 264kB of SRAM, 30 multifunction GPIO
>      pins (including a four channel 12-bit ADC), a heap of standard
>      peripherals (I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, clocks, etc), and USB support.
>
>     One very exciting feature of the RP2040 microcontroller are the
>     programmable IOs which allow you to execute custom programs that
>     can manipulate GPIO pins and transfer data between peripherals -
>     they can offload tasks that require high data transfer rates or
>     precise timing that traditionally would have required a lot of
>     heavy lifting from the CPU.
>
> As alluded to in that last paragraph, I'll be curious to see how any
> of these RP2040 boards can be used as a slave processor when connected
> to a Raspberry Pi, a topic we've been discussing a fair bit lately. In
> the SDK documentation there's sections on how to connect to an RP2040
> board from a Raspberry Pi over USB or GPIO, and how to connect to a Mac
> over USB. It looks like the GPIO connection is over UART.
>
> The Pimoroni Pico product page at:
>
>    https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico
>
> has a section at the bottom with links to some fairly extensive
> documentation:
>
>    * Raspberry Pi Pico Datasheet - An RP2040-based microcontroller board
>    * RP2040 Datasheet - A microcontroller by Raspberry Pi
>    * Hardware design with the RP2040 - Using the RP2040 microcontroller
>      to build boards and products
>    * Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico - C/C++ development with
>      the Pico and other RP2040-based microcontroller boards
>    * Pico C/C++ SDK - Libraries and tools for C/C++ development on the
>      RP2040 microcontroller
>    * Pico Python SDK - A MicroPython environment for the RP2040
>      microcontroller
>
> Quite exciting!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Murray
>
> [Legal Notice: I hold no fiduciary interest in Pimoroni, Adafruit,
> foamtiles.com or any other electronics or foam tile wholesale or retail
> establishment.]
> ...........................................................................
> Murray Altheim <murray18 at altheim dot com>                       = =  ===
> http://www.altheim.com/murray/                                     ===
> ===
>                                                                     = =
> ===
>      In the evening
>      The rice leaves in the garden
>      Rustle in the autumn wind
>      That blows through my reed hut.
>             -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu
>
>
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