RP2350: Compact IoT board comes with 4G LTE, GPS, NB-IoT, battery and Raspberry Pi support

A new and compact board comes with the RP2350, meaning a microcontroller with very limited computing power in absolute terms. It is therefore not intended to speed up desktop operating systems, for example. As its name unsurprisingly suggests, the Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT is aimed more at IoT projects. 

For such applications, however, users should benefit from many features, and the feature set goes well beyond that of very typical boards with the RP2350. There is a GNSS module, for example, which supports GPS and Galileo. This allows the current position to be recorded. WiFi is available for wireless connectivity. Power can be supplied via USB Type-C, although the Challenger+ RP2350 NB-IoT can also be powered independently of the grid using a battery.

An 8MB flash memory module is on board as well. Programming is possible using the Arduino IDE, while MicroPython and CircuitPython are also supported. As is common, sensors and actuators can be connected through the corresponding pin headers. The system could be used to record environmental data, for example. This data can be transmitted not only via WiFi but also through cellular connectivity. This would require a corresponding cellular plan, although the manufacturer offers a suitable SIM card that is also said to work in various countries. In any case, the board itself costs the equivalent of around $60.