We have a new SBC board that tries to imitate the Raspberry Pi Zero. This is the Waveshare RP2040-PiZero, but that includes an RP2040 microcontroller instead of a full SoC capable of running Linux, as is the case with the Raspberry Pi Foundation board.
For the rest, you will find a Identical design to the original Pi Zero, with similar ports, such as 2x USB-C, mini HDMI/DVI connector to connect an external display, microSD memory card slot for storage, and a 40-pin GPIO header for your DIY projects. It even has a 2-pin connector for LiPo batteries and a charging circuit.
Waveshare RP2040-PiZero: what does it offer?
Waveshare has added to its RP2040-PiZero support for MicroPython, Arduino, and the C and C++ programming languages SDK, which makes it quite interesting for a multitude of projects you can imagine. Additionally, you will be able to use existing PicoDVI and PIO-USB projects. Everything is very well explained and with code examples and diagrams in PDF format that you will find on its official wiki.
Perhaps the PIO-USB and microHDMI ports are one of the most notable things about this board, since there are also other clones similar to the original Pi Zero, but that lacked them. Also, if you are worried about the price, you should know that you can buy it at Aliexpress for only approximately $15, including shipping costs. On the other hand, you can also go to the official Waveshare store and find it for $9,99, although you have to add shipping costs...
Technical characteristics
Among the latests Moravia's compositions technical characteristics that you can find in the RP2040-PiZero, include:
- Microcontroller (MCU): Raspberry Pi RP2040, created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It has a dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ at 133 Mhz, with 264 kB of SRAM, 16 MB of SPI flash storage. The clock and timer, as well as the temperature sensor, are integrated on-chip.
- Storage: expandable using microSD memory cards.
- video connector: miniHDMI / DVI output signal.
- USB ports: 1x USB-C for data, using PIO-USB.
- Expansion: Color-coded 40-pin GPIO header. Includes 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 5x 12-bit ADC, 16x PWM and 8x programmable I/O.
- Modes: includes Low-power sleep and Dormant energy saving modes.
- Food: It can be powered by a 5V USB-C power supply, and by a rechargeable lithium battery.
- Dimensions: 65×30mm.