Without waiting for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, you can now get the Raspberry Pi RP2350 board with WiFi and Bluetooth. Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 The board combines the RP2350A microcontroller with an ESP32-C6 module that provides 2.4GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 LE connectivity.
The board conforms to the Adafruit Feather form factor with 28-pin through-holes for I/O, making it compatible with the FeatherWings add-on board. It comes with a USB-C port for power and programming, as well as a JST connector and charging circuitry for those wanting to connect a LiPo battery.
Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 Specifications:
- Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2350A MCU
- CPU
- Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 processor @ 150MHz
- Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 150MHz
- Only two cores can be used at a time
- Memory – 520KB internal RAM
- 8KB OTP storage
- Package – QFN-60; 7×7 mm
- CPU
- Memory – 8MB PSRAM
- Storage – 8MB SPI Flash @ 133 MHz
- Wireless Module – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6-MINI-1 is connected to the RP2350A via SPI and UART and also has three GPIOs for control.
- SoC – ESP32-C6H4 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor, up to 160 MHz, 320 KB ROM, 512 KB HP SRAM, 16 KB LP SRAM, 4 MB Flash
- wireless
- 2.4GHz WiFi 6 with Target Wake Time (TWT) support
- Bluetooth 5.4 LE and Mesh
- 802.15.4 wireless with Zigbee, Thread and Matter
- PCB Antenna
- USB – 1x USB 1.1 Type-C (12 Mbps) port for power, data and programming
- expansion
- With 16-pin + 12-pin header
- Up to 16x more GPIOs
- 1x SPI, 1x I2C, 1x UART
- 4x analog inputs
- All pins are PWM enabled
- USB (5V), 3.3V, BAT, GND
- 2x BConnect connectors (TBD as there is no photo from underneath so only one is visible on top)
- With 16-pin + 12-pin header
- others
- Reset and Boot Buttons
- Charging LED, User LED
- NEOpixel RGB LED (TBD)
- power supply
- 5V via USB-C port or “USB” pin (requires Schottky diode)
- 1.25mm pitch JST connector for LiPo battery
- On-board LiPo charger with 500mA typical charging current
- Dimensions – 50.8 x 22.9 x 3.2mm (Adafruit Feather form factor)
- Weight – 9 grams
The ESP32-C6 module comes preloaded with ESP-AT firmware by default and is controlled by AT commands sent over UART from the Raspberry Pi RP2350, but also supports ESP host firmware through an SPI interface (work in progress). iLabs mentions Arduino/PlatformIO and CircuitPython support for the Raspberry Pi RP2350. I was surprised to see Arduino mentioned when other companies say it’s not available yet, but the explanation is that the Challenger+ RP2350 WiFi6/BLE5 relies on the arduino-pico-rp2350 repository, which is currently in alpha. Elsewhere on the website it says the board also supports the Raspberry Pi Pico C/C++ SDK, with MicroPython support coming soon.
For more information, including documentation and Arduino code samples, see iLabs store page The board retails for 249 Swedish Kronor (approximately $23.70 USD). If you don’t need wireless connectivity, the company has also announced the Challenger+ RP2350 BConnect board, which can be purchased for 149 Swedish Kronor (approximately $14.20 USD).
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time job, then left his job as a Software Engineering Manager to start writing daily news and reviews full-time in late 2011.
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