iLabs CPico RP2350: A Raspberry Pi Pico 2 Alternative with USB-C, Expanded Storage, and Debugging Support

The iLabs CPico RP2350 is a compact microcontroller board designed as an alternative to the Raspberry Pi Pico 2. While it retains the Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller, it introduces several improvements, including a USB-C port, 8MB flash storage, 2MB PSRAM, a dedicated Reset button, and BConnect I2C and debug ports.

Despite these enhancements, the CPico RP2350 maintains compatibility with the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 in terms of its 40-pin layout, including two 20-pin GPIO headers and a BOOT button. It joins other similar alternatives, such as the Waveshare RP2350-Plus, which adds battery support.

Key Specifications of CPico RP2350

Processor: Raspberry Pi RP2350

-Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz (with Arm TrustZone and secure boot)

-Dual-core RISC-V Hazard3 @ 150 MHz

-A maximum of two cores can be used simultaneously

Memory: 520KB on-chip SRAM, 2MB PSRAM

Storage: 8MB QSPI flash

Security Features:

-8KB anti-fuse OTP for key storage

-Secure boot (Arm-based)

-SHA-256 hardware acceleration

-True random number generator (TRNG)

-Fast glitch detection

Connectivity & Expansion

-USB Type-C 1.1 for power and programming

-40 GPIO pins (26x GPIO, 2x UART, 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 16x PWM, 4x ADC, 3 PIO blocks with 12 state machines)

-BConnect I2C expansion

-BConnect CMSIS-DAP/UART debug support

Power Supply: 1.8V to 5.5V (via USB-C, 3A max)

Board Dimensions: 51mm x 21mm

The CPico RP2350 supports multiple programming environments, including MicroPython, CircuitPython, Raspberry Pi Pico SDK, and Arduino IDE. It functions similarly to the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 but offers additional flash storage, PSRAM, and enhanced debugging features.

For advanced debugging, developers can integrate the board with the BSWD iProbe (CMSIS-DAP compatible), which works with OpenOCD, GDB, and other debugging tools.

The iLabs CPico RP2350 is available for purchase at $9.18 through the company's online store. The BSWD iProbe, required for full debugging capabilities, is priced at $13.30.