Maker and Developer Abdullah Yıldırım, also known as Ronin, has created a custom LoRa module that works with one of our favorite microcontrollers, the Raspberry Pi Pico. This custom module also integrates with Arduino and introduces Wi-Fi connectivity with the help of an ESP8266.
If you’re unfamiliar with LoRa (Long Range) devices, this is a type of wireless frequency that can be used for a variety of applications, including underwater communication. There are two different LoRa modules used in this project. Yıldırım designed one to use an RFM95 LoRa module and the other uses an RA-01 module. A Pico is connected to one along with a screen to display details about the communication status with the other LoRa setup.
In the demonstration video, Yıldırım is testing the system with a Raspberry Pi Pico. Because he’s not using a Pico W, it has no native Wi-Fi capability. The ESP8266 chip provides this feature which is useful in this case, as the project is intended to be used with other boards beyond the Raspberry Pi Pico.
The custom PCB was designed from scratch By Yıldırım and was produced via PCBWay. Yıldırım was kind enough to make the design available for anyone interested in printing their own. It comes with no surface-mounted components so some soldering is necessary to get off the ground. It’s designed to work with an ESP8266EX and has a series of resistors, a button and more. A full list of components needed is listed on the project page.
According to Yıldırım, the software side of the project was created using Arduino IDE. If you want to get a closer look at the code used in this project, head over to the official project GitHub page as Yıldırım has opted to make the system completely open source.
If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the demo video shared to YouTube and don’t forget to peruse the project’s GitHub page for a closer look at how it all goes together. Be sure to follow Yıldırım, also known as Ronin, for more cool creations and future Pi projects.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
