[Dprglist] New Raspberry Pi RP2040 boards

Thu Jan 21 11:02:34 PST 2021

Rud,
     Interesting observation, I suspect that they are also looking at the
microPython market. In terms of the Arduino market, they may be positioning
to join in the current transition to faster processors (like blue pill,
teensy, ESP32, etc).
Regards,
Doug P.

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 11:50 AM Rud Merriam via DPRGlist <
dprglist at lists.dprg.org> wrote:

> Looks like they are trying to compete with the Arduino market.
>
> -73 -
> *Rud Merriam K5RUD*
> *Mystic Lake Software* <http://mysticlakesoftware.com/>
>
> On 1/21/21 10:30 AM, Doug Paradis via DPRGlist wrote:
>
> -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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