Maker Pi RP2040 Simplifying Robotics with Raspberry Pi® RP2040

Maker Pi RP2040: Simplifying Robotics with Raspberry Pi® RP2040

Cytron Maker Pi RP2040 features the first microcontroller designed by Raspberry Pi – RP2040, embedded on a robot controller board. This board comes with a dual-channel DC motor driver, 4 servo motor ports and 7 Grove I/O connectors, ready for your next DIY robot/motion control project. Now you can build a robot while trying out the new RP2040 chip.

The DC motor driver on board can control 2x brushed DC motors or 1x bipolar/unipolar stepper motor rated from 3.6V to 6V, providing 1A current per channel continuously. The built-in Quick Test buttons and motor output LEDs allow a functional test of the motor driver quickly and conveniently without writing any code. V motor for both DC and servo motors depends on the input voltage supplied to the board.

Credit: 3D robot parts designed by Camilo Parra Palacio from OttoDIY Community.

Credit: Self-watering Planter 3D parts on Thingiverse.

Maker Pi RP2040 features all the goodness of Cytron’s Maker series products. It too has lots of LEDs useful for troubleshooting (& visual effects), can make quite some noise with the onboard piezo buzzer and comes with push buttons ready to detect your touch.

There are three ways to supply power to the Maker Pi RP2040 – via USB (5V) socket, with a single cell LiPo/Li-Ion battery or through the VIN (3.6-6V) terminals. However, only one power source is needed to power up both controller board and motors at a time. Power supply from all these power sources can all be controlled with the power on/off switch onboard.

Cytron Maker Pi RP2040 is basically the Raspberry Pi Pico + Maker series’ goodness + Robot controller & other useful features. Therefore this board is compatible with the existing Pico ecosystem. Software, firmware, libraries, and resources developed for Pico should work seamlessly with Cytron Maker Pi RP2040.

CircuitPython is preloaded on the Maker Pi RP2040, and it runs a simple demo program right out of the box. Connect it to your computer via USB micro cable and turn it on. You will be greeted by a melody tune and LEDs running light. Press GP20 and GP21 push buttons to toggle the LEDs on/off while controlling any DC and servo motors connected to it to move and stop. With this demo code, you get to test the board the moment you receive it!

While connected to your computer, a new CIRCUITPY drive appears. Explore and edit the demo code (code.py & lib folder) with any code editor you like, save any changes to the drive, and you shall see it in action in no time. That’s why we embrace CircuitPython – it’s effortless to get started. Wish to use other programming languages? Sure, you are free to use MicroPython and C/C++ for Pico/RP2040. Please look at this official news by Arduino and the unofficial Pico Arduino Core by Earle F. Philhower for those of you who love the Arduino ecosystem.

Features:

• Powered by Raspberry Pi RP2040
  • Dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor
  • 264KB internal RAM
  • 2MB of Flash memory
  • the same specifications with Raspberry Pi Pico
• Robot controller board
  • 4x Servo motors
  • 2x DC motors with quick test buttons
• Versatile power circuit
  • Automatic power selection: USB 5V, LiPo (1-cell) or Vin (3.6-6V)
  • Built-in 1-cell LiPo/Li-Ion charger (over-charged & over-discharged protection)
  • Power on/off switch
• 13x Status indicator LEDs for GPIO pins
• 1x Piezo buzzer with mute switch
• 2x Pushbutton
• 2x RGB LED (Neopixel)
• 7x Grove ports (flexible I/O options: digital, analogue, I2C, SPI, UART…)
• Preloaded with CircuitPython by default
• Mounting holes
  • 4x 4.8mm mounting hole (LEGO® pin-compatible)
  • 6x M3 screw hole

Maker Pi RP2040 VS Maker Pi Pico?

Board Layout:

Dimension:

88mm(L) x 64mm(W) x 13mm(H)

Packing List:

• 1x Maker Pi RP2040
• 4x Grove to Female Header Cable
• 1x Mini Screwdriver
• 1x Silicone Rubber Feet (Pack of 4)

Resources:

• Getting Started with Maker Pi RP2040 & Example Code
• RP2040 Datasheet
• Maker Pi RP2040 Schematic
• Maker Pi RP2040 VS Maker Pi Pico comparison table
• CircuitPython for Maker Pi RP2040
• 3D CAD
• Getting Started with RP2040 (Raspberry Pi official page)
• RP2040 Datasheet

* Raspberry Pi® is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
* LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies that do not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

Notes:

1. There may be slight size deviations due to manual measurement, different measuring methods and tools.
2. The picture may not reflect the actual colour of the item because of different photographing light, angles and display monitors.