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Raspberry Pi Pico: Transform the new single-board computer into an expanded development board with the Kiwikit

The Kiwikit can be manufactured using PCB files under the open MIT license. (Image source: Hammond Pearce)
The Kiwikit can be manufactured using PCB files under the open MIT license. (Image source: Hammond Pearce)
The Kiwikit expands the Raspberry Pi Pico with several ports and even a small display. The development board also has two LEDs, three buttons and breakouts for several GPIO pins, among other features.
Alex Alderson, 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 ...
ARM Gadget Internet of Things (IoT)

The Raspberry Pi Foundation only announced the Raspberry Pi Pico a month ago, but someone has already created an expanded development board for it. Developed by Hammond Pearce, the Kiwikit provides physical connections that the Pico lacks, which should be useful when creating projects using the US$4 microcontroller.

According to Pearce, the Kiwikit includes the following features:

  • Three general purpose buttons
  • Reset button
  • Two general-purpose LEDs
  • Power LED
  • I2C SSD1306 display
  • I2C AT24 EEPROM
  • LDR for analogue experimentation

Pearce designed the Kiwikit in KiCAD and had JLCPCB manufacture it, but he has no plans to mass-produce the development board. Instead, Pearce has published the PCB files on GitHub, should you wish to have one produced. Accordingly, Pearce has uploaded schematics too, which you can find here.

As for the Pico itself, the Pi Foundation has included a custom RP2040 microcontroller, a dual-core ARM Cortex-M0+ processor, 264 KB of RAM and 2 MB of flash storage. There is also a micro USB 1.1 port, 26 GPIO and a temperature sensor, among other features.

(Image source: Hammond Pearce)
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> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 02 > Raspberry Pi Pico: Transform the new single-board computer into an expanded development board with the Kiwikit
Alex Alderson, 2021-02-23 (Update: 2021-02-23)
Alex Alderson
Alex Alderson - News Editor - @aldersonaj
Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.