I have just one question: is this product meant for the "hobbyist" space only?
I like the RP2040
41–50 of 413 posts
Re: I like the RP2040
#42"(This is the same microcontroller, just two bugfix revisions.)" It is exactly the same microcontroller! They're just two different packaging options. One is a 7" reel with 500 units the other is a 13" reel with 3400 units. (See "Ordering code" in the datasheet ( https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/rp2040/rp2040-datasheet.p... ))
That said they have done a few bugfix revisions, RP2040-B0 is the original, -B1 has some refinements to the ROM code, and -B2 has further ROM changes and also fixes some silicon bugs from the earlier versions. If you're using the official SDK you probably don't need to care too much about which version you have though, because the standard high level libraries detect the hardware revision at runtime and enable or disable workarounds as needed.
Re: I like the RP2040
#43I 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…
I ended up cutting a section on Rust support from the post, but if you're open to Rust (iirc you were sceptical at some point?), async Rust is really pleasant to use in embedded. Dario Nieuwenhuis, one of the main people behind Embassy, gave a great overview talk at RustNL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7NtzyP9q8E
Re: I like the RP2040
#44The lack of built-in flash kills it for me. STM32 M3s with comparable throughput are cheaper and don't require an external flash chip (example: STM32F103C8T6 for $1.20 from jlc).
I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that.
Re: I like the RP2040
#45I have just one question: is this product meant for the "hobbyist" space only?
Definitely not. My understanding is they got significant market share on lunch - since it was during the pandemic chip shortage and they were the only ones with sub year lead times.
Re: I like the RP2040
#46The lack of built-in flash kills it for me. STM32 M3s with comparable throughput are cheaper and don't require an external flash chip (example: STM32F103C8T6 for $1.20 from jlc). I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that.
> I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that.
Unfortunately the Pi Foundation is seeking patents on the PIO architecture. I don't think they've been granted yet though.
Re: I like the RP2040
#47The lack of built-in flash kills it for me. STM32 M3s with comparable throughput are cheaper and don't require an external flash chip (example: STM32F103C8T6 for $1.20 from jlc). I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that.
> I love the generic PIO though, I really hope other manufacturers pick up on that. Unfortunately the Pi Foundation is seeking patents on the PIO architecture. I don't think they've been granted yet though.
That's really disappointing :/
Re: I like the RP2040
#48TL;DR: he likes it because there's only one version available, whereas most microcontrollers have many more than one variant. This seems like a very weak argument. IMO (just based on the specs; haven't actually used it), the main reason to use this is for the PIO stuff. That's a very niche use case though.
...because that means there's a lot of support and documentation for that 1 variant and lots of people have solved problems and written about it,
This is like the iPhone strategy against Nokia. When I worked at Nokia it produced many variant phones - each with a little more ram or a bit less or a better screen or a different chipset. This was because they thought that people bought on price and wanted to have a product at every price point.
The builds took more than a week to finish, the bug fixing was horrendous. The software sometimes had to work with not enough RAM sometimes with different chipset bugs, different graphics limitations. It was a nightmare to produce a quality product. Then out of e.g. 18 phone models we had to customise each one for 1000 operators in the world which intensified the pain and effort.
At that time Apple had one iPhone. It was over specified - lots of RAM, great graphics etc. They only had to test their code once - not 18 times.
Re: I like the RP2040
#49I have just one question: is this product meant for the "hobbyist" space only?
Definitely not. My understanding is they got significant market share on lunch - since it was during the pandemic chip shortage and they were the only ones with sub year lead times.
Ok, but does it fulfill military or automotive standards?
Re: I like the RP2040
#50I have just one question: is this product meant for the "hobbyist" space only?
Personally I wouldn't put it into a toothbrush (the benefit of right sizing is too high when you produce tens of millions of those), but for lower volumes I'd go for it.
Fwiw I'm working on my own consumer product/dev tool and I'm very happy with the RP2040.