Olimex Teases an Ultra-Compact Open-Hardware Raspberry Pi Pico "Personal Computer" Carrier Board

Design includes video, audio, storage, and more — and should be ideal for everything from a MicroPython microcomputer to emulation.

Bulgarian open source hardware specialist Olimex has announced plans to launch a board based around the Raspberry Pi Pico and its RP2040 microcontroller, turning it into a fully fledged "small PC" — ideal for emulation.

Dubbed the RP2040-PICO-PC, Olimex' latest design acts as a carrier board for the Raspberry Pi Pico — launched earlier this year as the first microcontroller board from Raspberry Pi as well as the first device powered by its in-house RP2040 microcontroller silicon. Unlike most rival designs, though, it aims to turn the $4 device into a fully-functional personal computer.

According to details released by Olimex, the design — still a work in progress — adds a DVI-over-HDMI-port video output, 3.5mm analogue audio, microSD storage slot, and a USB Host socket for a keyboard. The carrier board also includes a physical reset switch, Serial Wire Debug (SWD), a debug UART, I2C connectivity, a Universal Extension (UEXT) header, and a charging circuit for a lithium-polymer battery.

All told, the compact board should be perfect for running interactive environments like MicroPython, emulating classic computers like the Acorn BBC Micro, or even running a native interactive operating system like Fuzix. Better still, the board will — like all Olimex products — be released under an open-hardware license.

Olimex has not yet shared pricing and availability, with interested parties advised to follow the company's Twitter account for updates.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
Latest articles
Sponsored articles
Related articles
Latest articles
Read more
Related articles