Waveshare RP2350-Plus Development Board w/ RP2350A Dual-Core MCU

The board supports drag-and-drop programming via USB mass storage. Connect it to your computer with a USB Type-C cable, and it will appear as a removable drive. Simply copy your compiled UF2 firmware file onto this drive, and the board will automatically reboot and run the new program. For advanced debugging, you can use an SWD probe with the exposed debug header pins.

The RP2350A combines an Arm Cortex-M33 core and a Hazard 3 RISC-V core. This allows developers to partition tasks: the Arm core typically runs the main application and complex libraries, while the RISC-V core can handle real-time, deterministic tasks or custom bit-banged protocols using the PIO blocks. This separation improves performance and responsiveness in multi-tasking embedded applications.

Yes, you can power it via a single-cell lithium (LiPo/Li-ion) battery connected to the dedicated BAT+ and GND pins on the battery header. The onboard MP28164 chip manages charging when USB power is present. The charging current and other parameters are fixed by the circuit design. Ensure your battery voltage is within the chip's acceptable input range for proper buck-boost operation.

You can develop for the RP2350-Plus using the official Raspberry Pi Pico C/C++ SDK, which supports the RP2350 microcontroller. It is also compatible with the Arduino IDE via community-supported board packages. MicroPython support is expected as the ecosystem matures. Start by installing the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK and configuring your toolchain to target the RP2350A's specific memory map and peripherals.

The 12 PIO state machines are small, independent processors that can execute simple programs to manipulate GPIOs with precise timing. They are perfect for generating or reading non-standard protocols like DPI for displays, WS2812B (NeoPixel) control, precise PWM, or reading sensors without burdening the main CPU cores. You write small assembly programs for the PIOs, freeing the main cores for application logic.