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.