Raspberry Pi Projects

Raspberry Pi Projectshttps://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/Raspberry Pi Projects: You can find all the coolest new Raspberry Pi project or activities right here on element14. Research new Pi Project idea and more...en-USTelligent Community 12<link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/adding-wireless-capability-to-custom-rp2040-rp2350-projects-pi-radio-module-2---anyone-tried-it?CommentId=09ac890d-6dcd-4651-ac22-2f0091321ab1</link><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:26:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:09ac890d-6dcd-4651-ac22-2f0091321ab1</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Ah, great, that will be very helpful to confirm the connections! Funnily enough I ordered a Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 but missed that there was a W variant of that.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/adding-wireless-capability-to-custom-rp2040-rp2350-projects-pi-radio-module-2---anyone-tried-it?CommentId=958e7727-a5c9-4f0d-bc34-822be59be898</link><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:16:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:958e7727-a5c9-4f0d-bc34-822be59be898</guid><dc:creator>veluv01</dc:creator><description>The pimoroni pico plus 2W has it.The schematic is available for it. Apparently, it can only be used with the rp2040 and rp2350's.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/adding-wireless-capability-to-custom-rp2040-rp2350-projects-pi-radio-module-2---anyone-tried-it?CommentId=a30a19de-826b-449a-be83-f22a98c92747</link><pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:12:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:a30a19de-826b-449a-be83-f22a98c92747</guid><dc:creator>embeddedguy</dc:creator><description>Would be nice to add some sub-ghz module. You can have better range with that.!</description></item><item><title>Blog Post: Adding Wireless Capability to Custom RP2040/RP2350 Projects: Pi Radio Module 2 - Anyone tried it?https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/adding-wireless-capability-to-custom-rp2040-rp2350-projects-pi-radio-module-2---anyone-tried-itTue, 30 Jun 2026 16:29:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d93937ff-6138-456b-99e8-0609a81acecdshabazI just noticed the other day that this thing existed; it supports 2.4 GHz wireless (not 5 GHz), and Bluetooth LE (BLE); the manufacturer part code is RMC20452T , also known as RM2 and it costs about $4. Underside; the board is 16.5 x 14.5 mm in size (but you'll need some space for a ground plane): The RM2 is useful for custom RP2040 or RP2350 projects where WLAN (again, annoyingly just 2.4 GHz)/BLE is needed; not useful for anything else as far as I'm aware. From a software perspective, coding should be no different to using a Pi Pico W. The RM2 should be very easy to drop into KiCad projects, since the footprint/symbol/3D model is available . The RM2 datasheet (PDF) seems easy enough to follow, but is extremely basic; and I found it a bit confusing regarding a 'reset' line it mentions, but the text is silent on that later. It is not clear what line that refers to. There are no suggested layouts, the PDF just states a good ground plane is needed, and shows the copper fill keepout area. Note that there isn't a version with antenna connector, however, one workaround would be to place the module on a PCB (large enough to have a ground plane, or perhaps use parts of an enclosure for that) and run the interface wires a short distance to the microcontroller, if you needed the antenna positioned somewhere not feasible on the main circuit board. Personally, if it were me, I would try to use the module in that way, i.e. on a separate PCB with short wires, before integrating onto a larger PCB; I'd much rather have it separately and position it for the best signal. Anyone see a use for this module? Or if anyone has seen it in use, any photos showing how it was deployed in the design would be great to see. At some point I'd like to experiment with creating a PCB for it, but I was wondering if anyone else had given it a shot, or were planning to, or would like to! Thanks for reading.RP2350Pi Pico WRM2wlan2.4ghzwireless lanrpiexpertrp20402.4 ghzwirelessPi Radio Module 2RMC20452Tpi pico<link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/getting-custom-rp2040-boards-produced-and-assembled-with-kicad-part-2?CommentId=a6f2abdd-0282-44cd-bc59-70d8fe5c8249</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 17:21:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:a6f2abdd-0282-44cd-bc59-70d8fe5c8249</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>I've updated the PCB at the RP2040 custom minimal board repository , so that is uses a surface-mount connector suggested by geralds and it's simplified the USB data lines routing too. I tried uploading the design to a usual PCB manufacturer, and it looks good. Here's the costing for ten boards (add your shipping costs and tax on top of that). Of course, this is just for informational purposes, I'm not going to order this specific board as-is, since it's a minimal design with no GPIO connected (apart from an LED!). It is up to the user to append their own circuitry, e.g. header pins if nothing else). A couple of points regarding the online assembly service experience so far: (1) It can happen that the PCB assembly manufacturer is unable to render some of the components in the 3D view. They were displayed with a checkerbox pattern. I believe that means the manufacturer will ckeck the layout manually, so instead I decided to change the component to one that was recognized. This was an annoying iterative process admittedly. (2) Some components can appear with an offset or incorrect rotation. Rotations can be solved immediately by clicking an icon in the 3D view on the website (this is the simplest way but like me, some might prefer to go back and modify in their files), but if there is an offset, that's more long-winded. I had to move the component in the footprint editor (i.e. select all, then right-click and from the pop-up menu in KiCad go to Position->Move Exactly), which is really annoying since of course that means that the PCB needs to be modified because the component will move. For example, the USB connector was off the PCB by precisely 5 mm (I don't know why!). My original (0,0) position, i.e. origin of the component, was at the location shown with the red arrow. That position made sense to me, because it was the most important reference mechanically, it is where the connector ends. However, I had to move the component such that the origin was at the green arrow location, 5 mm inward. In practise, while this is feasible with the very simple board that I had, with a more complex board you definitely won't want to be doing this. You could edit the positions in the CSV file generated by the Fabrication Toolkit in KiCad, but then you'd need to remember to re-edit that, if you ever re-ran that toolkit. Probably best to make a checklist and add notes for such things for the specific board, so you don't forget. One other observation, is that all this might seem like a lot of work to set up, and it really is. But then when I thought about it, manufacturing an entire board should rightly be expected to be a lot of work. Normally that's a whole team-worth of work (design engineers, PCB engineers, mechanical engineers, parts procurement and parts library management, and so on), so it's impressive a lot of that can be collapsed into an online ordering process, but you do still need to do an amount of work to get through it.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=51aec4be-02db-401d-852f-a91bc5739bc5</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:40:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:51aec4be-02db-401d-852f-a91bc5739bc5</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Done, it's now updated at the GitHub repo . I ended up changing a few of the USB connector pads slightly to work around the connector peg holes, it was easier to get rid of DRC errors this way, than to tighten the design rule settings for the entire board. I think it should still be reliable, since it's only a fraction of a millimetre, and those pads are larger than the others anyway.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=dc35bf49-b2c7-430d-8738-8efb8554f676</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:dc35bf49-b2c7-430d-8738-8efb8554f676</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>I swapped the pair connections: I'm impressed; it's easier to route that SMD USB-C connector than the through-hole one! Instead of any via on the data signals, there is just one via for the 5.1k resistor. I'm really happy with that. Now just tidying up a few things and will then update the GitHub repo.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=186d0c36-4d64-49f4-b581-adfbb2231e89</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:35:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:186d0c36-4d64-49f4-b581-adfbb2231e89</guid><dc:creator>geralds</dc:creator><description>yes, it looks good. Is U4 right placed? I must rotate it. Or have you changed the diode-pair in the schematics?</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=743615e7-0400-429b-ad5f-942905c67b71</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:24:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:743615e7-0400-429b-ad5f-942905c67b71</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Ah no problem, I made a few tweaks to the footprint because GCT had used an slightly unusual way of combining some of the pads (it was fine, but just different to how I make pads), and I believe it's looking good: Just working on the traces to that now, and I swapped the LED to surface mount too.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=fca3d8fe-51c0-4da3-8c99-8bd78ac4381b</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:18:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:fca3d8fe-51c0-4da3-8c99-8bd78ac4381b</guid><dc:creator>geralds</dc:creator><description>Hi shabaz You're welcome. But sorry, a bit mistake happened including into the zip file - the step file of the USB4930 was missing. Please, here is it: community.element14.com/.../USB405_2D00_GF_2D00_A_5F00_USB4930_2D00_00_2D00_A_5F00_GCT.zip Gerald ---</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=43261e25-aad0-4cf8-8c31-cdc3521e7f2c</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:47:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:43261e25-aad0-4cf8-8c31-cdc3521e7f2c</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Hi Gerald, Thank you, this is awesome! Loading it up into KiCad now..</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=fcb6f713-d6c2-4cdc-a10d-fc3a9490fdb7</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:46:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:fcb6f713-d6c2-4cdc-a10d-fc3a9490fdb7</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Hi, The minimal design already had ground plane around the crystal (but a bit too close), I created a small keepout and added the via fence, not essential but probably not a bad thing, since that is a sensitive part of the circuit - and more relevant if more circuitry gets added later nearby. I use that 4085 regularly too for the same reasons, reliable and easy-to-hand-solder.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=ac5b6fbc-c752-4c1b-804a-3e9ef7556821</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:17:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:ac5b6fbc-c752-4c1b-804a-3e9ef7556821</guid><dc:creator>arvindsa</dc:creator><description>The USB4930-00-AA is good too specially For Pick and Place machines, this is a better option since there is no compromise on the durability.. Whereas the one I recommended is good for hand soldering.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=b3876240-2eb6-4131-82ae-ffc5fbb4ee63</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:02:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:b3876240-2eb6-4131-82ae-ffc5fbb4ee63</guid><dc:creator>geralds</dc:creator><description>Hi shabaz Now, I've updated the component USB-C. You have now a SMD variant as well. Alternative I selected is: USB4930-00-AA; https://gct.co/connector/usb4930 The price at Farnel is about 0,460 EUR excl. (10x per pack.). https://at.farnell.com/gct/usb4930-00-a/usb-c-buchse-abgew-usb-2-0-16pos/dp/4843852 Please check this, hopefully this is good for your project. Here the created component, both variants: community.element14.com/.../USB4930_2D00_00_2D00_A_5F00_GCT.zip This type of selection is because it has through holes for the shield as well as locating holes for correct placing the component on the PCB. The variants of the USB's. Best Regards Gerald</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=041260bd-0281-421e-a8bd-c1d392755b42</link><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2026 03:38:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:041260bd-0281-421e-a8bd-c1d392755b42</guid><dc:creator>arvindsa</dc:creator><description>Ah, shabaz Appreciate your views, you've done a thorough analysis, and I see now, they did add fence around the crystal. That's not a good move from their end. I think what the designers did is they put in the ultra level of best practices out of force of habit for this simple board. Only the circuit is minimalistic not the board layout For the USB-C, My absolute favorite is https://in.element14.com/gct-global-connector-technology/usb4085-gf-a/usb-conn-2-0-type-c-r-a-rcpt-16pos/dp/2924867 , it aint cheap. I do have cheaper option but they are from local stores. but this USB4085-GF-A is something i love because (sorry for the unsolicited opinion) They are entirely through hole. I can solder it by hand and is not reliant on the PCB's PAD and solder strength. They can take large level of abuse. The USB has overhangs the PCB and so for case, it is easy to bring the USB flush with the casing without weird design of the PCB</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=7d47e88d-9fb6-44af-9fcf-eb3521adfcda</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 17:52:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:7d47e88d-9fb6-44af-9fcf-eb3521adfcda</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Hi, I agree with your and geralds conclusion, they are not really needed. There's a couple of comments from RPI regarding needing a couple of capacitors very close to the RP2040 (one for 3.3V decoupling, and the other for 1.1V decoupling(, so a bit of supply polygon there can be useful just to practically get more connections to those capacitors, to reduce the series inductance. I don't think RPI did as good a job on the 1.1V decoupling in that minimal board, so I just now modified it slightly. The orange arrows show the pin and capacitor for 3.3V decoupling, and the green is for 1.1V (previously, there was only one connection to that 1.1V decoupling capacitor on each end, now there are three as you can see. Other than that, I too don't like having too much unnecessary power planes on top, but on a 2-layer board (especially larger ones) some copper balancing is needed to prevent the PCB curving, so if there are large empty areas I will either tie them to ground, or supply (depending on what connections are nearby). Some people just fill the entire top side with one big polygon, say at 3.3V or GND, which is valid too, but it does visually get difficult to follow traces when troubleshooting. Another option is to fill it all on top but then insert "no fill" keepout rule polygons in dense areas. They can all be valid options, sometimes it's just personal preference. I wasn't happy with the crystal footprint, I just now modified that too, with keepout polygons, so that there is never copper fill too close to it since that will just be stray capacitance. I added a bottom-layer keepout too, although probably unnecessary for 2-layer boards. Plus the via fence is likely unnecessary for crystals, but if it were changed to an oscillator module, then it could be helpful to reduce emission. I'll upload these changes to the Github repo, but first I want to make those USB connections in the method that Gerald mentioned. And will also look for an easily-available and low-cost SMD USB-C connector, since it will save a bit of cost during assembly. EDIT: also, I will try to find a cheaper crystal, since the one used in the minimal design costs as much as the RP2040 chip.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=96cb898d-52de-4f3b-8275-2a6f2d10bce2</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:54:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:96cb898d-52de-4f3b-8275-2a6f2d10bce2</guid><dc:creator>arvindsa</dc:creator><description>Yes, heat does increase with increased frequency. I primarily work with STM32 Series and Nordic 52 and never worked with RP MCUs, So i am following this with curiosity. . The QFN Packages come with thermal pads and their datasheets recommend, it be grounded along with vias to wick the heat to other side. Also another additional recommendation would be the other side of PCB under the thermal pad (connected via) can be kept without solder mask to improve heat transfer away from the system. But other chips have one thing common, the heat dissipation is via ground or an isolated net. And again, You are correct in saying that thermals is something to pay attention to, infact thermals is something many beginners overlook especially the thermal reliefs for each pad. I solder the one PCB using hands with MHP-50. It is a 50x50mm soldering plate and The ground planes do help conduct the heat to other areas of PCB and sort of works like a reflow profile. But it does not work when i have large 3V3 polygons which i use for specific reasons (Switching currents etc). It would be interesting to learn if RPi Found a way to improve heat dissipation via VDD plane too.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=1a2dbcc1-8a6e-40be-a53a-d11feac7adde</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:35:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:1a2dbcc1-8a6e-40be-a53a-d11feac7adde</guid><dc:creator>geralds</dc:creator><description>Yes, I completely agree with you. I'm also curious to hear what Shabaz has to say about it. In the 2.part under Summary, he mentioned: "...whereas I skipped all that, considered a few basics ( copper fill to avoid board warping and I tried to make the layout less likely ...." -->>> >> the top layer has the 3V3 polygon fulfilling the board, the 1V8 is just under the chip, the bot layer has the GND polygon fulfilling the board. I've been rereading the datasheets for the RP2040 and RP2350 controllers because of this project. The point the developers apparently also see is this, I belief: Heat generated by increasing the frequency/MHz. The higher the system frequency in the chip, the hotter it gets. The core can operate up to 200MHz, then it gets really hot. That's exactly what needs to be considered. I think that's what matters with Raspberry Pi. >> But --- the tracks from the GPIO's are very long and extrem diagonal routed. The components are very small, 402 for R and C and wide placed in the prairie. So, my view is: always pay attention to thermal issues (do we need a heat-sink, cooling fan, or no...), especially where speed and high-power consumption is involved. The deformation of the circuit board is definitely not good. This will cause a lot of problems with the traces, solder joints, components, etc. The more copper area there is, the more stable the circuit board is.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=01d68292-2a9d-4d70-811d-7fbf19c6caef</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 13:04:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:01d68292-2a9d-4d70-811d-7fbf19c6caef</guid><dc:creator>arvindsa</dc:creator><description>I know that the pcb was from 3rd party. I put the question to Shabaz for his take on the originaldesign cos he would have studied the original design with more context. If RPi foundation made it for maker community in mind, it would give an impression to makers that such complicated fills is needed. And might even intimidate them.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/products/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi_projects/b/blog/posts/making-a-custom-rp2040-project-with-kicad-part-1?CommentId=02a0800f-ef0f-4585-8da5-dab59bd2db55</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 12:59:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:02a0800f-ef0f-4585-8da5-dab59bd2db55</guid><dc:creator>geralds</dc:creator><description>Hi arvindsa {"...can you think of any reason why these 3.3V copper fills exist?"...} This comes not from Shabaz, this comes from the original from RPI; please read the book https://pip-assets.raspberrypi.com/categories/814-rp2040/documents/RP-008279-DS-1-hardware-design-with-rp2040.pdf The RPI example created this lot of polygons. You're right, they are not needing. As well the 1V8 wire was created with a polygon, this is also, I would say, wrong. The point of the other hand is the temperature drain through the board. This is made with the GND pad. I think that this is enough. Or, but this pad you can make a bit larger. And no - we don't need an engineering bureau.</description></item></channel></rss>