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nit: There are 6 different espressif microcontrollers in that table, not "dozens". Espressif also went many years with only the ESP8266, then many years more after introducing the ESP32 before this recent binge of releasing a new series every time they blink. ESP-IDF is really suffering for it, so I hope Raspberry avoid this fate or at least find a better way to support them all.
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Isn't that already covered by FPGAs? I mean, it is just a way of configuring ports. And FPGAs are much broader (also configuring computation).
The same features of pio can be implemented via FPGA, but it's a lot more complicated to do so, and probably you won't find FPGAs as cheap as on the pi
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> Especially for hobby projects, I don't think anyone is really in the business of counting up the savings of 0.01" in the hobby world. Like, how small are you actually aiming for, and is it really so bad that you can't add another 0.5" to your board? It's not really about saving board space. Decoupling capacitors need to be placed "close" to the chip, and at higher clock frequencies this can be an issue. There's eno…
> Decoupling capacitors need to be placed "close" to the chip All of these rules are just rules of thumb. The "rule" is that your Power Delivery Network (PDN) needs to have low-enough impedance to function properly. High parallel capacitance and low series inductance/resistance. Longer leads increases inductance and resistance so closer is preferred. But for even 100MHz designs, you're well under the size where 100mi…
It's good to know that the "closeness" requirement of decoupling caps is perhaps not as important as I had believed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't that already covered by FPGAs? I mean, it is just a way of configuring ports. And FPGAs are much broader (also configuring computation).
No, FPGAs work substantially different. You can think of an FPGA as a bunch of "programmable transistors". You've got a whole bunch of basic logic building blocks, and you program the wires between them to build a logic circuit. This means it is great for building relatively simple but high-speed logic (grab sample from sensor, do some additions and multiplications, store result in external DRAM chip, repeat at 5GHz)…
If you are an electronics hobbyist but don't want to make/design your own surface mount boards (like me) there are lots of very accessible RP2040 boards at very low prices. I've used it in the Raspbery Pi Pico ($5) which comes on a nice board with lots of IO. There is a W version for a bit more with WiFi. If you don't mind slightly less IO then you can order an RP-2040 Zero. I got 6 off AliExpress for about $12. Thes…
I also highly recommend shopping around for alternative RP2040-based dev boards. The official Pi Pico is surprisingly bad, and just about every alternative out there is better in one way or another. I mean, come on: no reset, huge form factor, only 2Mbit flash, micro USB - in 2024? Just about the only pro it has is that it is widely available.
As to your other points, I wouldn't mind more flash but I don't think the amount it has is particularly small. The micro USB, though, is a disappointment, though.
The PIO's really are the star of the RP2040 show, giving it a capability that competing chips like the ESP32 can't match. They are appearing all over the place in the console hacking space for this reason. Lower power consumption in steep modes for battery-backed applications would be a welcome addition in any V2 version though.
Where can I learn more about how they are used in console hacking? This sounds very interesting
https://github.com/polpo/picogus
Emulates all kinds of sound cards, including the Gravis Ultrasound.
https://github.com/FreddyVRetro/ISA-PicoMEM
Emulates a memory extension, but also so much more stuff.
I switched from ESP32 to the RP2040 because it's a much more reliable and documented device. My only concern right now with the RP2040 is that there are many ESP32 models with SPIRAM but it's not so simple to find a SPIRAM equipped RP2040 board. To be honest, given that the C development environment of the RP2040 is so good, you can make good use of the memory, but when one wants to develop a large MicroPython projec…
The issue is that its a comparison about apples to peaches. The RPI2040 is JUST the chip whereas the ESP32 come with tons of peripherals for your liking. From Wifi/Bluetooth Antenna, LI Battery Controller, Ethernet whatever, Display or Camera Connector - You choose. And then we have a multitude of even CPU choices and when running on a coin cell it makes a difference powering a second, unnecessary core or even wifi.…
I think you're mistaking the ESP32 devkits for the ESP32 itself. The thing that comes with an antenna, battery controller and any kind of connector whatsoever is a devkit or at least a module. The ESP32 itself is a small IC just like the RP2040.
For example you might be thinking of a devkit like this: https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/latest/esp32s...
Which is itself based on a module (e.g. ESP32-S3-WROOM-1), which just bundles the ESP32-S3 IC with a few niceties (like wifi antenna or connector).
The equivalent for the RP2040 would be the Raspberry Pi Pico, which does come with some minor niceties (like a wifi variant). There are other products that package it with different peripherals.
> So you are comparing the first of its kind SOC with a decade old Family of SBCs.
Neither the RP2040 nor ESP32 series are SBCs and neither has any SBC lineage. The Raspberry Pi SBCs were all Broadcom based, the RP2040 is a brand new IC developed by Raspberry Pi and afaik has no IP licensed by Broadcom.
I have mixed feelings about the RP2040. On the one hand, it's a great chip for hobbyists. It's cheap, it's easily available, it's easy to build a board around, and it offers plenty of stuff for your average application. On the other hand, it's definitely a bit lacking from a professional perspective. The peripherals are fine , but once you start looking into the details it's easy to run into limitations. That XIP int…
i'm curious what kinds of applications you've found fram most useful for. it seems like a really cool technology, but the price point is so high that i struggle to understand when you'd use it rather than a combination of sram (or psram) and nand
IE: if FRAM comes free with your MCU, might as well use it and take advantage of its benefits. For example: MSP430FR4132, just picking one such MCU off of Digikey (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments...)
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Most of what I know of FRAM comes from TI's marketing pages. https://www.ti.com/document-viewer/lit/html/SSZTA32
The issue is that its a comparison about apples to peaches. The RPI2040 is JUST the chip whereas the ESP32 come with tons of peripherals for your liking. From Wifi/Bluetooth Antenna, LI Battery Controller, Ethernet whatever, Display or Camera Connector - You choose. And then we have a multitude of even CPU choices and when running on a coin cell it makes a difference powering a second, unnecessary core or even wifi.…
Is there a non-Chinese equivalent of ESP that compares in terms of module integration re: Wifi et al? (but perhaps not cost)
For Wifi, the only competition I'm aware of is the wireless STM32 series from ST Microelectronics: https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32...
For BT, Nordic's nRF series is pretty popular. In the DIY world, I mostly know it in the form of the nice!nano, a keyboard controller.