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The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced an update to their Raspberry Pi Pico 2, a wireless microcontroller with a new onboard Wi-Fi chip, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W. It comes at a surprisingly low rate of 7 dollars. The Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W could be used as the centerpiece of all your Internet of Things (IoT) projects. Even the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 is priced at 5 dollars, making a two-dollar difference. It is now available to buy through both online and offline stores, such as retailers.
Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W
The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s newly updated Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W is a 7-dollar microcontroller that can avail wireless connectivity to your DIY projects. The difference between the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W is its additional Wi-Fi capabilities, giving an additional 2 dollars.
The Pico 2 W comes with a Wi-Fi chip supporting 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11n), an older yet widely used standard, ideal for most smart home devices like sensors, cameras, and even speakers (such as HomePod mini). It also benefits from Bluetooth 5.2, making it much more flexible in its ability to make wireless connections in today’s Internet of Things (IoT) projects. Even though that lack of 5GHz wifi may feel limiting, its affordable price and its compatibility with literally thousands of devices make it an attractive option for a wide variety of uses.
Compatibility, accessories, and working
The board features one USB 1.1 port and is compatible with the Raspberry Pi Pico accessory ecosystem. This means it can connect with sensors, displays, and robotics kits to further your project. For prototyping, most users start with a breadboard to connect components without soldering. Once the design is finalized, the microcontroller can be soldered for a more permanent setup. It includes a dual-core processor.
A pair of Arm Cortex M33 cores and a pair of Hazard 3 RISC V cores, running at 150 MHz, onboard memory: 4 MB of flash storage and 520 KB of a chip SRAM for code and data. This dual architecture design allows for flexibility: developers can choose between Arm and RISC-V cores. Which are both widely used and configurable in software. Where full-fledged Raspberry Pi computers run an operating system, microcontrollers don’t. Instead, do your code run directly on the chip. To get started programming, the Pico 2 W supports C, C++, and MicroPython, a Python-inspired language built especially for microcontrollers.
Small board, big possibilities
The Pico 2 W is designed specifically with low-power, high-customization projects in mind. Its input/output pins allow it to attach to a variety of external components and thus can be used in any number of applications. Some examples from the Raspberry Pi community include IoT sensors for a weather station or environmental monitoring. Custom smartwatches or clocks.
Industrial and mass production applications of Raspberry Pi Pico 2
Raspberry Pi’s microcontrollers are not just for hobbyists. As of the year, 72% of Raspberry Pi sales come from industrial and embedded systems. Companies use these boards for manufacturing and other electronics applications. For large-volume manufacturing, the Pico 2 W is available in qualities of 480-unit reels and in bulk from Raspberry Pi to meet commercial requirements.
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Future of Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W
The Pico 2 W brings affordable, flexible, wireless capabilities together for everything from DIY projects to industry systems. If you don’t need the wireless functionality, the non-W model is available for just $5. For now, the Pico 2 W is available for preorders, with broader availability expected soon.
