It’s honest to say that when the Raspberry Pi Pico arrived in late January 2021, it had two evident omissions. First was a scarcity of reset button (after all you may add your individual) however the largest omission was Wi-Fi. In an age of thumbnail sized IoT boards, it felt just like the Raspberry Pi Pico was behind the instances. In our Raspberry Pi Pico overview we marked the dearth of Wi-Fi as a con, however we nonetheless love the $4 microcontroller that introduced the RP2040 SoC to the world.
With a shock June 2022 launch, we see a brand new Raspberry Pi Pico, this time correcting one of many omissions. The Raspberry Pi Pico W is a $6 microcontroller that appears very like its predecessor, however underneath a tiny silver case lies a Wi-Fi chip which takes the Pico into the world of IoT. It is probably not the primary RP2040 board to supply Wi-Fi – however we’re positive that the Raspberry Pi Pico W goes to go straight onto our record of greatest RP2040 boards.
Throughout the international chip scarcity, Raspberry Pi’s RP2040 SoC has been in plentiful provide. Raspberry Pi even used the chip in its Construct HAT Lego suitable board for the Raspberry Pi because of dwindling STM32 microcontroller shares. Pi Founder and CEO Eben Upton has mentioned that they will make 1000’s of RP2040 chips. That is in stark distinction to different Raspberry Pis which are sometimes briefly provide. The Raspberry Pi Pico W may change many Raspberry Pi Zero W primarily based tasks, similar to low0powered robots and knowledge assortment tasks.
Is the Raspberry Pi Pico W higher than the unique? Ought to we throw away our previous Picos? Can we connect with the world? To be taught all this and extra we have to put it on the bench.
Raspberry Pi Pico W {Hardware} Specs
| Raspberry Pi Pico W | Raspberry Pi Pico | |
|---|---|---|
| SoC | RP2040 Arm Cortex M0+ Twin Core at 133 MHz | RP2040 Arm Cortex M0+ Twin Core at 133 MHz |
| RAM | 264KB SRAM | 264KB SRAM |
| Storage | 2MB Flash | 2MB Flash |
| Connectivity | Infineon CYW43439 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi with onboard antenna | None |
| Related by way of SPI | ||
| GPIO | 40 Pin GPIO | 40 Pin GPIO |
| 26 Multi-function pins | 26 Multi-function pins | |
| 23 x Digital I/O | 23 x Digital I/O | |
| 3 x Analog Inputs | 3 x Analog Inputs | |
| 2 x I2C | 2 x I2C | |
| 2 x SPI | 2 x SPI | |
| 2 x UART | 2 x UART | |
| 1 x Arm Serial Wire Debug (SWD) | 1 x Arm Serial Wire Debug (SWD) | |
| Energy / Knowledge | Micro USB for knowledge and energy | Micro USB for knowledge and energy |
| Dimensions | 51 x 21 mm | 51 x 21 mm |
| Value | $6 | $4 |
As you may see there isn’t actually a lot distinction between the unique Raspberry Pi Pico and the brand new Pico W. We’ve the identical GPIO, microUSB port, dimensions and SoC. The one distinction is the inclusion of Infineon’s CYW43439 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi chip. Taking a look at Infineon’s datasheet for this chip, we noticed that it is also able to transmittingBluetooth 5.2, however within the Raspberry Pi documentation, there isn’t a point out of this. Upton informed us that Bluetooth is just not as of but enabled within the Pico W’s firmware. How lengthy till some enterprising hackers allow Bluetooth on the Pico W for themselves? We will wait and see.
Getting on-line with the Raspberry Pi Pico W
In case you have ever used an ESP8266, ESP32 or different MicroPython suitable Wi-Fi dev board, you then’ll discover that the Pico W is precisely the identical. We adopted the instance script to connect with our Wi-Fi community and observed that it was inventory MicroPython.All it took have been 5 strains of MicroPython and our Raspberry Pi Pico W was fortunately related to the Web.
import community
wlan = community.WLAN(community.STA_IF)
wlan.lively(True)
wlan.join("SSID","PASSWORD")
print(wlan.isconnected())
We then examined our connection utilizing uPing from Shawwwn which mimics the ping command. We confirmed that we had a connection to the broader world, and this actually opens up the chances of the Pico W.
Taking the check additional, we used urequests, a community request module, to obtain knowledge on air raid siren standing in Ukraine. We received the info as JSON, saved it right into a dictionary. We then used the Ukrainian metropolis, Kharkiv as the important thing to go looking the dictionary for its standing. This standing was then displayed within the Python REPL, and by way of a strip of NeoPixel LEDs.
Can we take our assessments additional? Positive! We put in a model of uMQTT, a model of MQTT (Message Question Telemetry Transport, a publish / subscribe knowledge communication protocol) and used our personal dealer. Our Pico W would publish a message utilizing a selected matter, the damaged would then ship that message to a subscriber. On this case our subscriber was my laptop computer working Node-RED. The message made it via the community, and appeared within the debug space of Node-RED.
Why is that this necessary? Properly now we’ve a $6 IoT board from Raspberry Pi Ltd that may use a plethora of sensors after which ship the info over a dependable community, the place it may be collated and labored on. We now not have the overhead of a full Linux OS to cope with. All of that is executed on a $6 microcontroller as an alternative of a $10 to $15 single board pc.
The benefit with which we received on-line was astounding. Although we’ve loads of expertise with MicroPython’s community module, even a newbie would be capable of write and perceive the 5 strains of code wanted to make the connection. That is what the Raspberry Pi Pico ought to’ve had from day one. However for the unique $4 value level there needed to be a sacrifice, and Wi-Fi was it.
The closest Raspberry Pi we are able to examine to the Raspberry Pi Pico W is the Raspberry Pi Zero W: he authentic and the newer Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. Computationally, the Pico W is gradual, even in comparison with the Zero W, but when we don’t want the horsepower and bloat of a full Linux OS, or in case your undertaking doesn’t want a digital camera, then the Pico W is sensible. It’s low-cost, low energy and can be utilized with most of the sensors and inputs used on the Zero W. If all we’re doing is amassing temperature / humidity and air stress knowledge, do we’d like a Linux OS?
Normal use of the Raspberry Pi Pico W
The Raspberry Pi Pico W comes identical to every other Pico, with no header pins. Which means that we have to get away the soldering iron and solder up the 40 GPIO pins prepared for the breadboard. We did simply that utilizing our Pinecil soldering iron and after connecting by way of the micro USB port (we nonetheless want the Pico had USB-C), we then attached a strip of WS2812B (NeoPixels) for a undertaking. Utilizing a group created MicroPython library we quickly had these RGB LEDs shade altering and pulsing with mild.
For primary electronics and breadboarding tasks, the Raspberry Pi Pico W behaves precisely like its predecessor. We wrote a couple of strains to “blink” and LED on and off to show that our {hardware} was working.The Pico W GPIO pinout is identical so all it’s essential do is flash your code onto the Pico W, change the older Pico and away you go. We additionally examined I2C connectivity utilizing an I2C HD44780 16 x 2 LCD display screen and it labored with zero points.
The Raspberry Pi Pico launched analog inputs to a Raspberry Pi board, and the Pico W retains those self same three analog inputs. We mocked up a fast demo utilizing a 10K Ohm potentiometer (a variable resistor with resistance between 0 and 10 Kiloohm) and have been capable of see uncooked ADC values scrolling alongside the REPL.
Raspberry Pi Pico W Software program Assist
The Raspberry Pi Pico could have been launched with help for simply MicroPython and C++, however in a really brief period of time we noticed help for a lot of various programming languages. First off there was CircuitPython, a fork of MicroPython underneath the stewardship of Adafruit and Scott Shawcroft.
CircuitPython is the head of straightforward to make use of and it has develop into our most popular means to code for the Pico. On the time of writing there isn’t a model for the Raspberry Pi Pico W, however we imagine that can change as soon as the board is formally launched.
The Raspberry Pi Pico W does help C/C++ however we’ve been unable to check this given time constraints. Whereas C/C++ does supply an improved degree of efficiency, many customers will favor MicroPython / CircuitPython for its ease of use. The model of MicroPython supplied on our overview mannequin was “MicroPython v1.18-673-gdf8d97171 on 2022-06-24”, a reasonably current launch which helps the Pico W {hardware}. MicroPython on the Pico W labored exceptionally properly with Thonny, the chosen editor for Pico MicroPython improvement.
What about add on boards? The similar GPIO pinout lends itself to reusing our previous Pico addons. Proper now, the varied third-party resellers are enjoying catch up. A brand new Raspberry Pi Pico W means they should check and replace their software program to ensure that us to reuse our previous package. Resellers typically bundle its libraries right into a bespoke firmware which will be flashed to the Pico as a UF2 file. For now we can not reliably check addons, however we will and give you the knowledge in a future replace.
Different Wi-Fi Enabled Growth Boards
Within the time that the Pico has been with us, there have been a couple of notable makes an attempt so as to add Wi-Fi connectivity to Raspberry Pi’s RP2040 processor The primary was by way of Adafruit’s Airlift Featherwing Co-Processor. We managed to connect with and use this board with a Raspberry Pi Pico. A extra “refined” various got here within the type of Pimoroni’s Pico Wi-fi, which got here as a “pack” that slotted over all the GPIO. Whereas straightforward to make use of, we had no GPIO to play with.
Till now, the obvious selection was Arduino’s Nano RP2040 Join, which retails for $28, over 4 instances the price of the Pico W. Arduino’s board comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, an IMU, microphone and a cryptographic coprocessor which may offset the upper price.
For those who want skilled options, by all means go for the Arduino Nano RP2040 Join, however most people will in all probability discover the Pico W a greater worth.
Some makers could now be considering that you would be able to purchase an ESP32, ESP8266, W600 and so on for across the similar value. You’re fairly appropriate. I’m additionally a part of these communities and share a love for these boards, one in every of which powers the decorations at Christmas time.
For these of us who’re seasoned with Wi-Fi improvement boards, the Pico W is extra of a curiosity. For $6 we are able to dip our toe and spend a pleasing afternoon hacking round. However for these of us new to the scene, and that’s the place an excellent proportion of Pi customers come from, the benefit of use and value of the Raspberry Pi Pico W are backed up with numerous tutorials and discussion board posts already in most people’s imaginative and prescient.
What Initiatives Can We Construct With the Raspberry Pi Pico W?
The world is our oyster! With Wi-Fi connectivity we are able to now construct distant management robots, collect knowledge and transmit it to the world, collect data and show it on LCD and OLED shows. For $6 we’ve a robust microcontroller (it might even play Doom!) with sufficient smarts for machine studying and pc imaginative and prescient.
The addition of Wi-Fi will see the Raspberry Pi Pico W powering many tasks which finally would’ve been powered by the $10 Raspberry Pi Zero W. The Pico W can be an much more compelling board if and when somebody allows its Bluetooth 5.2 functionality. With Bluetooth, one may flip the Pico W right into a wi-fi pc peripheral similar to a recreation controller or mouse.
Backside Line
At $4 the Raspberry Pi Pico was an excellent funding. At $6 the Raspberry Pi Pico W is a superb funding. If you understand the Pico, then you’ll have no bother with the Raspberry Pi Pico W. New customers will choose it up comparatively rapidly due to a large number of guides and sources.
Raspberry Pi has a monitor report of coming with out energy buttons, and the dearth of a reset swap remains to be a evident omission, we don’t like unplugging the cable every time we have to reset, however we are able to forgive Pico W.
The Raspberry Pi Pico W is the best starter microcontroller. We’ve strong {hardware}, good software program (it’s going to get even higher with time) and compatibility with equipment and addons that finally we are going to already personal. Proper now $6 doesn’t purchase you a lot, however with the Raspberry Pi Pico W we get the world.