Product description
This board brings you the Raspberry Pi RP2040 chip in the Adafruit Feather format, featuring a built-in LiPo charger, battery connector, and included (but unmounted) header pins for flexible integration. It’s compatible with FeatherWing add-ons, enabling rapid prototyping with displays, relays, sensors, and more.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 50.8 × 22.8 × 7 mm (without headers), weight: 5 g
- RP2040 – 32-bit dual-core Cortex M0+, approx. 125 MHz
- 3.3 V logic and power
- 264 kB RAM, 8 MB SPI Flash (for MicroPython/CircuitPython)
- No EEPROM
- 21 × GPIO
- 4 × 12-bit ADC (one more than the Pico)
- 2 × I2C, 2 × SPI, 2 × UART, 16 × PWM outputs
- The 8 digital GPIOs not used for ADC or comms are arranged for optimal PIO compatibility
- Built-in LiPo charger (>200 mA) with status LED
- Red LED on pin 13, onboard RGB LED (Neopixel)
- STEMMA QT connector for solder-free I2C with Qwiic, STEMMA QT or Grove modules
- Reset and Bootloader switches – no cable unplugging needed for code upload
- SWD pads available for debugging
- Four mounting holes
- 12 MHz crystal for accurate timing
- 3.3 V regulator, up to 500 mA output (not continuous)
- USB-C connector
About PIO (Programmable I/O)
The two configurable PIO blocks include eight state machines that offload simple I/O tasks from the main CPU. Operating independently, they can monitor pins and prepare data without interrupting core processing.
With clock speeds up to 133 MHz, the RP2040 may struggle to communicate with slower devices via traditional methods. PIO machines solve this by handling protocols autonomously, freeing the CPU for computation while the PIO collects data in the background.
This is especially useful for obscure protocols or unusual displays that require custom "bit-banging"—generating signal sequences without needing to interpret the protocol. All this happens with precise timing and no burden on the RP2040 cores.
- All PIO machines can access all GPIO pins
- Operate from 2 kHz to 133 MHz
- Read/write pins, manage FIFO, increment counters in one cycle
- Generate clocks, control servos, dim LEDs, and more
PIO is an excellent entry point to assembly-style programming thanks to its minimal instruction set (just nine commands) and strong documentation.
