The maker community has embraced the RP2040, the SoC at the heart of the Raspberry Pi Pico. Arturo182, known for his Serpente range of CircuitPython boards has unveiled an RP2040 based board, Meta Pico which shares the Raspberry Pi Zero form factor.
How about a @Raspberry_Pi RP2040 in a Zero format? With a microSD slot, Qwiic/Stemma QT connector, a Neopixel, and USB Type-C, this makes a quite usable board, and it's compatible with many existing RPi Zero HATs! I'm running @CircuitPython on it right now. pic.twitter.com/m6pC9wZlK0February 5, 2021
Mimicking the Raspberry Pi Zero's 65 x 30 mm size, Meta Pico (not the final name) comes with a microSD slot, a Neopixel and a Qwiic / Stemma QT connector for compatible addons. Keen eyes will note that the GPIO returns to the traditional 2 x 20 pin layout of 40 pins. Arturo182 confirms that it is compatible with many HATs designed for the Zero range of boards.
With 8MB of onboard flash, we have four times the storage of the Raspberry Pi Pico, but the added MicroSD slot means we can add plenty of storage for larger projects. Power and data connectivity for the Meta Pico is provided via a USB C interface.
A neat feature of this board, not found with the original Raspberry Pi Pico is a reset button, a trivial addition but this will save the mechanical strain exerted each time the USB C lead is inserted / removed. Of course, you can also make your own reset button on the original Pico.
In the Twitter thread, Arturo182 shows Meta Pico playing a game via an Adafruit 1.3 inch TFT display and joystick connected to the GPIO of the Meta Pico. Arturo182 confirms that the board works with CircuitPython and, as it is an RP2040, it will also work with MicroPython and C.
(Image credit: Arturo182)
There is no word on pricing or availability, but we hope to see this board in our workshop very soon.
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Les Pounder is an associate editor at Tom's Hardware. He is a creative technologist and for seven years has created projects to educate and inspire minds both young and old. He has worked with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to write and deliver their teacher training program "Picademy".
