Thort Werx's Picotronix Is a Low-Cost Modular Bench Tool, Powered by a Pair of Raspberry Pi Pico 2s

Norm Jackson and colleagues at Thort Werx are looking to put a low-cost mixed-signal oscilloscope and logic analyzer on every desk, turning to a pair of Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller boards to power the Picotronix — opening for crowdfunding soon.

"We've built a dual [Raspberry Pi] Pico 2-based mixed-signal capture system (oscilloscope + logic analyzer) using MicroPython and PIO/DMA [Programmable Input-Output/Direct Memory Access] in the RP2350," Jackson tells us via email. "The project highlights many of the amazing features of the RP2350 and advanced techniques to build real time complex designs using MicroPython."

The Picotronix itself takes the form of a compact box with a color LCD display as its primary user interface. Inside the housing are a pair of Raspberry Pi Pico 2 boards, based around the second-generation RP2350 microcontroller — meaning the user's choice of two Arm Cortex-M33 or free and open Hazard3 RISC-V cores running at a stock 150MHz and 520kB of on-chip static RAM (SRAM). In the Picotronix, it's the Arm cores that are used to play host to the MicroPython firmware and custom code that takes advantage of the chip's Direct Memory Access (DMA) and Programmable Input/Output (PIO) capabilities to boost performance.

Jackson says the device is currently capable of being used as a two-channel oscilloscope, an eight-channel logic analyzer, and for easy voltage and frequency measurements — but that's not all. Its front connectors allow for the use of modular "picoPod" boards, which can extend the device's functionality, with planned picoPods including waveform generators, high-speed analog to digital converters (ADCs), variable threshold logic inputs, and what Jackson teases as "special purpose adapters" for further expansion.

"The current status of the project is that the hardware boards (including most of the plug-in [pico]Pod modules) have been prototyped and tested and require one last spin before committing to manufacture," Jackson tells us. "The low level PIO state machines have been verified and programmed in MicroPython. The software for release is currently in alpha status where we are moving the working components into a set of Virtual Instruments accessible from an LCD menu."

More information is available on the Picotronix website; a Kickstarter campaign is planned for the near future, with pricing estimated at $99 without or $129 with LCD and $9–49 per picoPod, and interested parties are invited to sign up to be notified when crowdfunding opens.