Waveshare RP2040-PiZero – A Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor

Waveshare RP2040-PiZero board is a Raspberry Pi Zero lookalike that features a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller instead of a Linux-capable application processor.

But RP2040 board comes with the same layout as the Raspberry Pi Zero and similar ports including two USB Type-C ports, a mini HDMI/DVI connector, a microSD card slot, and a 40-pin GPIO header, but also adds support for LiPo batteries with a 2-pin connector and a charging circuit.

RP2040-PiZero specifications:

• MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM
• Storage – 16MB SPI flash, microSD card slot
• Video – Mini HDMI port that can output DVI signals
• USB – 1x USB Type-C port for data using PIO-USB host/device implementation
• Expansion – 40-pin color-coded header with 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 4x 12-bit ADC, 16x PWM, 8x Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support
• Misc – “Clock and timer on-chip”, temperature sensor.
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB Type-C port
  • Support for Lithium battery via recharge/discharge header
  • Low-power sleep and dormant modes.
• Dimensions – 65mm x 30mm

Waveshare provides support for MicroPython, Arduino, and the C/C++ SDK and leverages existing projects for HDMI/DVI output (PicoDVI) and USB data (USB-PIO). You’ll find instructions to get started, code samples, and the PDF schematic in the wiki.

It’s not the first time we have covered a Raspberry Pi RP2040 board that (somewhat) follows the Pi Zero form factor, as SB Components StackyPi claimed to do so, but without the “PIO-USB” and micro HDMI ports, so the Waveshare board is a closer match.

Waveshare RP2040-PiZero can be purchased on Aliexpress for about $15 including shipping, as well as directly from the company’s store for $9.99 plus shipping.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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