This Open Source RP2040 Development Board Looks Like a Magic Spellbook

With a microcontroller, a display, and a few buttons, you have a hardware platform that can be reused for a thousand different electronics projects. That’s why so many development boards currently on the market feature these exact components. But if you need a certain look, these generic boards probably aren’t going to cut it.

If by chance you’ve got a fantasy-themed project on your mind, then a development board created by an embedded software engineer named Kati could be exactly what you’re looking for. Called the Spell Tome, the platform is split into two PCBs that are sandwiched together to give the assembly a book-like appearance. All of the important hardware is on the bottom PCB, while the top one is just for looks.

The functional board is populated with the essentials: a Seeed Studio XIAO RP2040 development board, a 1.3-inch OLED display, four push buttons, and a power switch. There is also a AAA battery holder and a boost converter to power the hardware.

Kati is using the Spell Tome to spice up RPG board games, but what you use it for is up to you. The KiCad PCB design files and assembly instructions have been released under an open source license, so you can do what you please with it. Further information is available in the project’s GitHub repository.