OLIMEX RP2040-PICO30 Universal Connector User Manual

: June 1, 2024
: OLIMEX

Table of Contents

OLIMEX RP2040-PICO30 Universal Connector
Product Information
Product Usage Instructions
Introduction
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

OLIMEX RP2040-PICO30 Universal Connector

OLIMEX-RP2040-PICO30-Universal-Connector-PRO

Product Information

Specifications

Industrial grade RPi Pico (RP2040) with 30 GPIOs exposed
UEXT connector with SPI, I2C, UART signals
LED with enable jumper
16MB of Flash memory option available
+5V line from USB-C for power
+3.3V line capable of sourcing up to 2A @ 3.3V
4 extra GPIOs compared to original RPi Pico design

Hardware Overview
The RP2040-PICO30 features a USB-C port, Flash memory, UEXT connector, LED with enable jumper, Boot button, RESET button, and DEBUG PIN.

GPIOs Details
The board includes notable GPIOs like VBUS, VDD_SYS, +3.3V, 3V3_EN, and additional GPIO pins compared to the original RPi Pico design.

UEXT Connector
The UEXT connector provides Universal EXTension capabilities with signals at 3.3V levels and supports I2C, SPI, and UART communication protocols.

Product Usage Instructions

Powering the Board
Ensure the board is powered either through the USB-C port or an external 5V source. Avoid simultaneous power from USB and VDD_SYS to prevent short- circuit.

GPIO Configuration
When using GPIO pins that are not led out in the original RP2040-PICO design, ensure proper initialization as INPUT to avoid conflicts.

Accessing Schematics
The latest schematic for RP2040-PICO30 is available on the manufacturer’s GitHub repository for reference.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Can I power the RP2040-PICO30 from an external 5V source?
A: Yes, you can power the board from an external 5V source but ensure not to connect it simultaneously to USB power to prevent damage.
Q: What is the purpose of the UEXT connector?
A: The UEXT connector provides a universal extension interface with signals for +3.3V, GND, I2C, SPI, and UART communication protocols.

Introduction

RP2040-PICO30 is a re-design of the popular Raspberry Pi Pico (with RP2040) board with these improvements:

All 30 of RP2040 GPIOs are available to the user
USB-C power supply connector which allows more current to be used by the board
SY8089A 3.3V 2A (3A peak) DCDC power supply
2MB or 16MB Flash versions are possible
RESET button added
Four layer board for better noise immunity and USB differential pair routing
UEXT connector (pUEXT 1.0 mm step connector)
Dimensions: 21 x 51 mm

RP2040-PICO30 keeps same layout and pinout as the original Raspberry Pi Pico (RP204), however the four extra GPIOs are placed on locations that are GNDs in the original design (original deisgn has 8 GNDs on the headers, while RP2040-PICO30 has 4 GNDs exposed). The original RP2040-PICO exposes only 26 out of the 30 RP2040 GPIOs and RP2040-PICO30 solves this issue.

Important notice: RP2040-PICO30 keeps the same layout as Raspberry Pi Pico, however in order to expose the 4 extra GPIOs, we sacrfice 4 of the GNDs (that are exposed in the original design). RP2040-PICO30 adds the four missing GPIOs: GPIO23, GPIO24, GPIO25, GPIO29 on four of the eight GND pads. When you use RP2040-PICO30 on RPi Pico board make sure these GPIOs are INPUTS!

Order codes for RP2040-PICO30 and accessories:

RP2040-PICO30 industrial grade RPi Pico (RP2040) with 30 GPIOs exposed
RP2040-PICO30U RP2040-PICO30 with UEXT, LED, R10, R15, R16
RP2040-PICO30-16 RP2040-PICO30 with 16MB of Flash (max possible for RP2040)
RP2040-PICO30U-16 RP2040-PICO30 with 16MB of Flash, UEXT, LED, R10, R15, R16

HARDWARE

RP2040-PICO30 hardware layout:

OLIMEX-RP2040-PICO30-Universal-Connector-1

RP2040-PICO30 GPIOs:

Table1. Notable pins

Power-related
VBUS| +5V line coming from USB-C, can be used as output
VDD_SYS| +5V line that can be used as output or input but if you want to use it as an input (to power the board from an external 5V source) make sure that the board is not powered (connected) to USB! Having power source connecting to USB and VDD_SYS simultaneously would lead to short-circuit and damage.
+3.3V| +3.3V line, can be used as output which can source up to 2A @ 3.3V
3V3_EN| Input, when pulled to GND stops the 3.3V DCDC converter
GPIO-related
GPIO23

(Pin #28 from the original RPi Pico layout)

| This GPIO is not led out in the original RP2040-PICO design and on this place there is GND line so if you use RP2040-PICO30 in RP2040-PICO design make sure to initialize it as INPUT
GPIO24

(Pin #23 from the original RPi Pico layout)

| This GPIO is not led out in the original RP2040-PICO design and on this place there is GND line so if you use RP2040-PICO30 in RP2040-PICO design make sure to initialize it as INPUT
GPIO25

(Pin #18 from the original RPi Pico layout)

| This GPIO is not led out in the original RP2040-PICO design and on this place there is GND line so if you use RP2040-PICO30 in RP2040-PICO design make sure to initialize it as INPUT
GPIO29

(Pin #13 from the original RPi Pico layout)

| This GPIO is not led out in the original RP2040-PICO design and on this place there is GND line so if you use RP2040-PICO30 in RP2040-PICO design make sure to initialize it as INPUT

Basically RPi Pico has 8 GNDs in total exposed on the connectors. While RP2040-PICO30 has 4GNDs and 4 extra GPIOs.

RP2040-PICO30 schematics:
RP2040-PICO30 latest schematic is available at our GitHub.

UEXT connector:

UEXT connector stands for Universal EXTension connector and contains +3.3V, GND, I2C, SPI, UART signals.
UEXT connector can be in different shapes.
The original UEXT connector is 0.1” 2.54mm step-boxed plastic connector. All signals are at 3.3V levels.
As the boards become smaller and smaller, we introduced smaller form-factor UEXT connectors too alongside the original UEXT connector:
- mUEXT is 1.27 mm step-boxed header connector which is with same layout as UEXT;
- pUEXT is 1.0 mm single-row connector (this is the connector used in RP2040-PICO30).

We are in process of releasing adapter that can be used to into connect devices with different type and size of UEXT connectors. Olimex manufactures several MODULES compatible with this connector. There are temperature, humidity, pressure, magnetic field, light sensors. Modules with LCDs, LED matrix, relays, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi, GSM, GPS, RFID, RTC, EKG, sensors, and more.

pUEXT signals:

OLIMEX-RP2040-PICO30-Universal-Connector-4