What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 17:40:09 GMT

Please put aside one unit for me. I will communicate instructions shortly.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 02:51:07 GMT

I didnt want to sell them, but I can find a way : )

Pico Eurocard Rev 2.0 - Free (just pay shipping)

If you want one, please let me know on that thread, but there is some (minor) assembly as mentioned. Otherwise, the ones that everyone has recommended look pretty good too!

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Jan Cumps — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 23:40:36 GMT

I have 198x magazines where they introduce SMD soldering. Since then, there has been a lot of info on how to do that. And tools that are in everyone's range. It's easier for everyone, to design a PCB, to solder. And you get neater results.

If, in 2022, someone thinks that SMD designs are a limiting factor, I don't entertain that feeling.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 23:24:09 GMT

I'm happy to solder on the SMD parts so that if you ever want to expand the board, you won't need to do any SMD, and as Jan says, you only need to add stuff as you require it

It is actually just a 5-minute job for me to solder the SMD items, so it's no trouble at all. But I understand if (say) you prefer a board with (say) Grove connectors or other plug-on modules etc., since this board doesn't have that, it's really for either 0.1" jumper wires, or direct soldered wires.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Jan Cumps — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 23:03:06 GMT

Don't follow your 2nd reaction. The board works without additional components too.
There are steps:

if you want a prototype area for your Pico, you just need the board and 2 headers.
if you want debug functionality (I would like to say: yes you want that), add the Seeed Pico board

This will give you an environment with flexibility.

Do you want a more powerful 3.3 or 5V supply: add it
.Do you want a rotary encoder? add it.
etc...

I like the design because this is an almost uncommitted expansion board. You can start from this board with just a Pico. It gives you expansion, at the cost of a PCB.
When you want to add a programmer/debugger (you should do that - it's an unlock to wealth of features) ,you can do that.

When you are not looking for a generic prototyping kit, and If you have a specific breakout solution that meets your specific requirements, this is not what you are looking for.

When you need a board to freely experiment, it's a gem.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 22:11:28 GMT

Bit more production-friendly version, with all the surface-mount parts now only on one side.

I'll ask JLCPCB and/or Elecrow for a quote including supplying and soldering the SMD parts, and supply a bag of the headers and jumpers and buttons/LEDs, so that there is enough to get going (the DC-DC converters, rotary encoder etc can be sourced by the user as required, since they are not essential to use the board).

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Jan Cumps — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:54:21 GMT

[quote userid="37381" url="~/products/raspberry-pi/f/forum/51968/what-raspberry-pi-pico-development-board-do-you-recommend/202174"] I was gravitating towards the https://www.pishop.ca/product/pico-explorer-base/[/quote]

If you need the LCD, yes. Else a plain breadboard might be more flexible, and something that would be useful without the PiCo too.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:34:29 GMT

Also I think it's better as a free (well, material cost) option than a commercial product that would then push the price up, because I doubt I could turn this into a high-volume product. Kickstarter effort would then require marketing effort to get the volume up etc., just not feasible to spend this time for a product that isn't intended to be a business.

I suppose I could check to see how much it costs to get the surface-mount parts populated (there is only one MOSFET, and about 16 resistors/capacitors), and then stick (say) 100 of them on eBay or Amazon at just cost price, for through-hole assembly with locally sourced parts by the user not me, and if they sell then great, and if they don't then it's not a lot of money spent. That would be less work than a Kickstarter I reckon.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

ralphjy — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:02:58 GMT

Ok, just some input - I mentioned there were a couple of quirks if you buy the one from Amazon vs ThePiHut (I haven't tried the PiHut one but looked at its schematic).

1) The FET driving the buzzer has a floating input if you don't connect it, so the buzzer could turn on which is annoying (I added a 1Mohm pulldown on the back)

2) The default state of the switches is to be pulled high (3.3V) - I would have preferred the default to be "low", but this is a minor issue

The board from PiHut has a BJT driver for the buzzer and low defaults for the switches. I've tried a couple of boards from Amazon and the quality has been good.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 16:56:17 GMT

Thanks for the input. I was gravitating towards the https://www.pishop.ca/product/pico-explorer-base/ I rather like the size of the board in your suggestion. The price is less also.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Jan Cumps — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:14:28 GMT

It is officially vetted by a Belgian user 😋

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

cstanton — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 12:57:10 GMT

[quote userid="176966" url="~/products/raspberry-pi/f/forum/51968/what-raspberry-pi-pico-development-board-do-you-recommend/202040"]Is your board something Newark / element14 will be (is already?) stocking?[/quote]

Typically before it gets to that stage for consideration, it helps to have passed the regional/global certifications for safety/testing, such as IPC Standards/CE mark, etc. and demonstrated to have had mass appeal (probably why a lot of products go through Kickstarter).

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

ralphjy — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 03:41:39 GMT

Lots of great products mentioned here. Guess the Pico has really established a foothold...

I found an inexpensive ($16.99) breadboard kit on Amazon that I've used for quick prototyping - GeeekPi Raspberry Pi Pico Basic Starter Kit. It appears to be a knockoff of a kit from ThePiHut - Raspberry Pi Pico Breadboard Kit, with a few quirks, but it was easier to get in the US.

Here I'm using it with a Pico W, OLED display, and BME280 sensor.

I also use (and have) a lot of Grove sensors from Seeed, QWIIC sensors from Sparkfun and Stemma/Stemma QT sensors from Adafruit, so I have a few really inexpensive ($3.80) Grove Shield for Pi Pico that I use for prototyping compact sensor projects.

Here is a project that I'm just starting where I've 3D printed a plate to hold the Pico and Shield - a Grove Vision AI camera will be mounted on the left side.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 01:14:04 GMT

I visited your link and found a Canadian supplier. I think it might be a starting point.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

robogary — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 13:31:23 GMT

Good article find, it listed the protoboard used. The Pimoroni development board is called explorer, there are several links to it, this one worked for me. Pricing looked reasonable. www.okdo.com/.../

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 11:47:10 GMT

Thank you for the responses.

I seem to recall a member had done an awesome Pico review a while ago. To wait out a midnight coughing fit from a nasty cold, I combed the site and rediscovered this link. /products/roadtest/rv/roadtest_reviews/964/raspberry_pi_pico It makes reference to a development board. I have to go take a look.

At the time I felt the link was a one-stop-shop resource for getting up and running on a Pico.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 11:26:28 GMT

My first reaction was to send a message to secure a board and see that you are compensated. After a sober second thought I have to ask myself that if I take you up on your offer will I have the time to get collect the parts, solder up the PCB and invest the time for some initial testing.

My home is undergoing renovations and a new grandson just arrived. By taking you up on the offer I need to feel I can commit to an end. RIght now I have to say any commitment is difficult.

Thanks for the offer just the same. I look to a ready-made Christmas present. At least then if it doesn't get used it only impacted me.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 02:37:51 GMT

No paid orders unless anyone requests hundreds of them hehe, but if you can send me your address in a private message, I can send you one of the spare boards for free (I don't have many, since I only ordered a handful, but can definitely send one).

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

colporteur — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 02:14:06 GMT

Are you taking orders?

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 00:23:07 GMT

I wish/hope they can but I don't know who to ask. Since not everyone will want 5-10 boards from a PCB manufacturer and the associated shipping costs from China, it would be useful for people to buy just one or two.

I quite like the large size, since it has the built-in debugger and power supplies. Kind of all-in-one for projects.

The one that Gough Lui links is interesting too, I just noticed they have LEDs on all ports which is pretty neat. I was just thinking, there is a cheaper way to do that using a different method on the Pico-Euro board. On the right side of the Pico-Euro board, the outputs are ordered on consecutive pins, since this is useful for PIO projects (PIO benefits from ordered pins). It is easy to connect a logic analyzer on banks of pins, but there could also be a plug-on custom PCB with LEDs on it (e.g. 8 LEDs), that can be removed and connected to different banks of 8 pins when desired. Far lower cost to do that than having dozens of MOSFETs and LEDs soldered.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

ntewinkel — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 23:32:40 GMT

Is your board something Newark / element14 will be (is already?) stocking? Is that a possibility, cstanton ?

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

shabaz — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 22:57:48 GMT

Hi Sean,

I'm biased too, but if you want the DIY option, then in https://github.com/shabaz123/pico-eurocard there is a zip file there called exportpico_euro_v_2_0.zip.

If that file is sent to a PCB factory, then the board that arrives can be used as-is (apart from buying the Pico), since the Pico is very complete.

In other words, by just soldering on the Pi Pico (either directly or with header pins), then the board can be used to patch wires to external breadboard, or to the perfboard area already on the PCB.

Then, whenever you feel like it, additional parts can be soldered on depending on needs. For instance, a couple of buttons and LEDs, or a 3.3V or 5V regulator, if you want to power other things too.

This is the completely populated board (but as mentioned, you could start with just the Pico soldered on). The board has space for two Picos (thanks to an idea from Jan Cumps ). The second Pico is a smaller XIAO RP2040 (it is just used as a debugger when C/C++ coding using the Pico SDK. If you're using Arduino or Python, then it's not required.

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

ntewinkel — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 22:09:51 GMT

I'm glad you pointed out that blog post!
I was neck deep in renovations and missed it back then!

And I'd be biased towards choosing this one too 🙂

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Gough Lui — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 21:42:14 GMT

For Ethernet based projects, I've been quite happy with the Wiznet EVB PICO series - https://goughlui.com/2022/10/23/quick-review-wiznet-w5100s-evb-pico-w5500-evb-pico-development-boards/

For Wi-Fi, I'd probably stick with the Pico W.

For just microcontroller, the Pico is a good choice, but you might want something smaller.

Regardless, the Maker Pi Pico base-board is helpful if you want something a little maker friendly - and it's cheap too www.cytron.io/amp-p-maker-pi-pico .

- Gough

RE: What Raspberry Pi Pico development board do you recommend

Fred27 — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 20:12:40 GMT

I'd say that the Pico is a development board. It might be worth getting some expansion boards that take your fancy, but none of these are essential for getting to grips with it. It just depends on what interests you and what the retailers in your country have.

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pico-rgb-keypad-base?variant=32369517166675
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/pico-display-pack?variant=32368664215635

It might be worth getting 2 Picos - especially if you're paying for shipping anyway - as one Pico can be used as a debugger for another Pico.