The process of doing this is very simple, simply press the BOOTSEL button when connecting the Pico to your computer.

This is accomplished by utilizing UF2 files. One of the nice features is that the Pico supports drag and drop programming/flashing. With 26 GPIO boards there are loads of options to connect sensors, screens, inputs and outputs. The dual core chip give a lot of flexibility to create project which require a bit more processing power, as do the PIO state machines. In this blog post we will be focussing on the Pi Pico implementation of the RP2040. There are other boards with varying pinouts and functions available with this microcontroller.

The Pi Pico is built around the RP2040, the actual microcontroller that powers it. The small footprint of microcontrollers like the Pico allows it to be integrated into DIY projects easily. These specs are in line with some of the more popular microcontrollers like teensy and ESP32 devices.

8 × Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support.

1 × USB 1.1 controller and PHY, with host and device support.

2 × UART, 2 × SPI controllers, 2 × I2C controllers, 16 × PWM channels.

26 multi-function GPIO pins, including 3 analogue inputs.

RP2040: Dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor, flexible clock running up to 133 MHz.The main technical specifications of the Pi Pico are:

Download pi pico pinout for free