RP2040 Pi Zero Development Board is a Mix of Low-cost, Small Form Factor, High Power and Multiple Connection Interfaces

Waveshare, a China-based Electronic Specialist whose expertise over the years has unveiled some of the most reliable electronic components and modules for engineers, designers, and makers around the world, recently released a new cost-effective development board with a mix of small form factor, high power and an interesting series of connections.

The new RP2040 Pi Zero board is a low-cost board powered by the Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core ARM Cortex M0+ processor with an operating frequency of up to 133MHz and up to 16MB of external flash memory. The RP2040 Pi Zero board also integrates multiple interfaces which allows for more possibilities such as an onboard DVI port that can drive most HDMI screens, a PIO-USB port, and a 40-pin GPIO header compatible with some Raspberry Pi HATS. It also features a TF card slot, a battery connector, and a microSD card socket that provides room for more storage and access to 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 12-bit ADC, and 16x PWM interfaces. The product page mentioned that the RP2040-PI Zero development board has support for C/C++, Micropython, and Arduino – a potent board for robotics and machine learning applications.

The RP2040 Pi Zero board combines the Zero form factor of the Raspberry Pi Zero and the RP2040 SoC of the Raspberry Pi Pico board. Further comparisons show that the RP2040 Pi Zero has up to 16MB of external flash as well as a microSD card slot, but the Raspberry Pi Pico only comes with just 2MB flash. The only downside to this RP2040 Pi Zero board is that it lacks support for WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Key Features and Specifications Include:

• Dual-core ARM Cortex M0+ processor @ up to 133 MHz
• 16MB NOR Flash
• 264KB of SRAM
• 1x MicroSD card slot
• 1x DVI port
• 40x GPIOs
• 1x onboard TF card slot
• 1x USB Type-C port
• 1x onboard PIO-USB port
• Compatibility with 7-inch HDMI LCD and 1.3-inch LCD HAT
• 1x Reset button
• 1x Boot button
• 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 4x 12-bit ADC, 16x controllable PWM interfaces
• 8x Programmable Input and Output state machines for custom peripheral support
• Temperature sensor
• On-chip clock and timer
• Sleep and Dormant Modes at minimum power consumption
• Onboard Lithium battery header suitable for mobile scenarios
• 1x 3.7V Battery connector (PH2.0)
• Dimensions: 65mm x 30mm

The Waveshare RP2040 Pi Zero board is currently selling for $10 on the company’s online selling platform. Other useful details on the board including links to some professional tech support and manuals and development resources are also available there.

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