New Pico W

I'm going to wait until it's a bit more mature : ) Just historically it takes Pi org a while to sort things out. I couldn't see in the user docs how the credentials are secured (I hope they get sent into the Infineon chip and stored there). 

I'm going to wait until it's a bit more mature : ) Just historically it takes Pi org a while to sort things out. I couldn't see in the user docs how the credentials are secured (I hope they get sent into the Infineon chip and stored there). 

It looks like this first round is their "mvp" "minimal" get it out the door option. In the write up they state: "we have not enabled Bluetooth on Pico W at launch, but may do so in the future."  So there's some work still left to do. To fully compete with the ESP32 lineup they will need to get all of that functionality running, but Espressive has quite the head start, so I'm with you on the wait and see bit. I'd be up for a round of experimentation though if e14 sends out samples :) 

Agree, ESP32 is exceptionally good, with excellent C libraries for functionality, and super-mature. I've not tried MicroPython on ESP32 so I don't know what that's like. I hope the Pico network library is stable and becomes feature-rich soon.. and BLE is very important too! 

Have you ever had serial clock or power issues with ESP32? Almost every person I've known work with it has had issues with the 3v3 power on their dev boards.

I haven't seen any issue so far, but I don't have a dev board, I've soldered the ESP32 module onto a breakout board, and then wired that to the 3.3V supply.

For the supply, I've used a single cell LiPo, and then wired that to a LTC3534 chip, which is a buck-boost to 3.3V, at up to 500 mA (the ESP32 may need about ~260 mA peak for WiFi, from memory - I may have got that wrong). That worked well.

However, the LTC3534 is expensive, so for a homemade dev-board PCB layout that I was working on, I decided to use TPS63031 instead, it was a lot cheaper, however now it has a 2-year lead-time : ( Since then, I've considered replacing it with MP2171GJ-Z which is a buck converter so not as good, but at least it's available, and low-cost.

Just peeked at the Pico-W datasheet, they are using a RT6154 buck-boost (PDF datasheet), which looks good, but zero stock everywhere.

I’m still just using the old 8266 WeMos d1 mini boards for my sensors, and they’re surprisingly reliable at super low prices. No BLE on those though. I did get some esp32 boards to experiment with over the winter, but renovations and other physical labour projects kept me too busy. I’m hoping the BLE allows for a nicer wifi provisioning experience.

 Please don’t get me wrong though - I can sound (very ) negative when it’s really just my musings out loud. I’m excited to see this new affordable  wifi dev board option from the Pi foundation - I expect some new-product issues but I have faith that they’ll ultimately have a sweet little easy to program wifi board at easy to afford pricing.

I should add that the current existing Pi Pico is already pretty amazing. The size, power, and price, as well as the easy python programming, makes it a much nicer option for my projects than the very limited digispark and pro-mini type boards at similar costs. I’m not sure how the Pico compares for power use, but I’m only using plug-in usb powered projects at the moment.

shabaz said:

I haven't seen any issue so far, but I don't have a dev board, I've soldered the ESP32 module onto a breakout board, and then wired that to the 3.3V supply.

That would be a good explanation why you haven't had problems then :) it'd make sense that the configuration the people I've known use it may have some questionable issue with the boards they've had, I don't have a link to hand else I'd share it.

There's a weird trend to locate components in rows etc, like this:

Not saying that's the cause (sometimes it's worse, this layout might be acceptable) but there isn't any technical reason for laying out the components like this, and that just makes me wonder if the design is suboptimal in other ways too. 

I used the same LDO regulator as in the photo above for a project, but laid it out like this, no neat row of components, and a bit of heatsinking at least.

shabaz said:

There's a weird trend to locate components in rows etc, like this:

Either people really like orthogonal organisation, or it's faster for the pick and place machine when it's distributing multiple components of the same type close together.

shabaz said:

I used the same LDO regulator as in the photo above for a project, but laid it out like this, no neat row of components, and a bit of heatsinking at least.

I'm no PCB designer, though I keep meaning to try, what do you tend to aim for when you're designing like this? cost or some other factors?