RP2040 Thing Plus Hookup Guide

Contributors: Nick Poole, santaimpersonator

Software Overview

The Raspberry Pi foundation provides excellent documentation for the RP2040 on their website. This includes information for users to program the RP204 with MicroPython and C/C++ through the Pico SDK. Arduino, has also announced the release of their Mbed RP2040 Arduino core. The instructions below, are meant to help users setup and utilize the following programming environments on Windows 10 computers:

• Arduino IDE
• Pico SDK (C/C++)
• MicroPython
  • REPL
  • rshell

For utilizing the Pico SDK (C/C++) and MicroPython on Mac OSX and Linux based computers, users can follow the instructions provided by the Raspberry Pi Foundation documentation:

• Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico (PDF)
• Raspberry Pi Pico C/C++ SDK User Manual (PDF)
• Raspberry Pi Pico Python SDK User Manual (PDF)

Arduino IDE

Most users will be familiar with the Arduino IDE and it's use. As a point of reference for professional developers who aren't aware, the Arduino IDE is an open-source development environment, written in Java, that makes it easy to write code and upload it to a supported board. For more details, feel free to check out the Arduino website.

To get started with the Arduino IDE, check out the following tutorials:

Installing the RP2040 Board Definition

Install the latest Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 board definitions in the Arduino IDE. Users unfamiliar with the board definition installation process can reference our tutorial below.

Installation Instructions:

1. Search for RP2040 in the Boards Manager.
   
   
   Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 listed in the Boards Manager. (Click to enlarge)

2. To complete the installation process, selected the Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 core and click on the INSTALL button that appears in the lower, right-hand corner. The board definition and upload tools will be installed automatically; users will notice that this may take a while.
   
   Note: Users may need to disable their anti-virus software when installing the Arduino Mbed OS RP2040 board definition. We ran into issues, where the installation of the upload tools for the Arduino core were blocked by the anti-virus software. Arduino is already aware of the issue, they are working to get their files white-listed. For more information, users can reference this GitHub issue.

3. Programming Tip:

   The board may not show up on a COM port, if users who have already programmed their board through a different method. A simple solution is to:

   1. Download the picoprobe.uf2 file from the Raspberry Pi foundation's Pico board documentation page
      Click to download the picoprobe.uf2 file
   2. Copy the picoprobe.uf2 firmware file to the board (while it is in BOOTSEL mode)
   3. If the board isn't automatically listed on a COM port users should reset (or unplug and re-plug in the board to the computer)
      
   Note: If users have the Arduino IDE's Tools drop down menu open looking for a new COM port to be added, the Arduino IDE doesn't automatically repopulate and update the listed COM ports. To update the available COM ports list, users should close and then re-open the Tools drop down menu and navigate to the available COM ports.

Pico SDK

In order to program the RP2040 with C/C++, users will use the Pico SDK (software development kit) provided by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has written a user manual, which includes software documentation and examples to accompany the Pico SDK. The foundation has also provided online documentation that can be used as a reference manual.

As documented in the user manual, the Pico C/C++ SDK can be used with various integrated development environments (IDEs). In order to utilize the SDK, users will also need to install a few dependencies. The Raspberry Pi Foundation also provides examples for the basic functionality of the RP2040 in their pico-examples GitHub repository.

Pico SDK on Windows 10

On Windows 10 computers, the simplest way to get started with the Pico SDK is to use the installation script from the pico-setup-windows GitHub repository.

Users will need to download and use the installation executable files from the releases section:

• For 32-bit systems, users will want to use the executable ending in x86.exe
• For 64-bit systems, users will want to use the executable ending in x64.exe

Installation Instructions:

1. Use the setup script from the pico-setup-windows GitHub repo
   • Download release executable for your system architecture:
     Click to go to the latest release
2. Run the downloaded executable
3. Utilize the default configurations
   • Feel free to customize the installation for your computer system
   • Note the file path to the installed Pico folder
     
     Installation file path. (Click to enlarge)
4. Un-select the Clone and build Pico repo completion option before clicking Finish button
   • By selecting this option, the executable will automatically build the Pico SDK for the Raspberry Pi Pico board and not the RP2040 Thing Plus.
   • Additionally, users who haven't configured their computer system's PATH variable for the installed dependencies will run into various errors.
     
     Installation completion options. (Click to enlarge)

5. Configure the computer system's PATH variables for the installed dependencies:

   User Variables:

   Variable	Value
   PICO_SDK_PATH	C:\<path to installed Pico folder>\pico-sdk Note: Users will need to modify this variable if the Pico folder is moved.
   Path	C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin

   System Variables:

   Variable	Value
   Path	C:\Program Files\CMake\bin
   Path	C:\Program Files (x86)\GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain\10 2020-q4-major\bin Note: The release value 10 2020-q4-major will likely change over time.
   Path	C:\Program Files\Git\cmd
   Path	C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin
   Path	C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin
   Path	C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.28.29910\bin\Hostx86\x86 Note: The version/release values 2019 and 14.28.29910 will likely change over time.
   Path	C:\Program Files\<PythonXx>\ Note: The version/release value for the Python program will likely change over time. Note: The file path may also vary. For the Python 3.6, our file path was: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\
   Path	C:\Program Files\<PythonXx>\Scripts\ Note: The version/release value for the Python program will likely change over time. Note: The file path may also vary. For the Python 3.6, our file path was: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts\

   For more information on configuring the PATH variable, check out the tutorial below:

   Configuring the PATH System Variable

   March 23, 2021

   A simple guide for configuring the PATH variable on Win 10, Mac OSX, and Linux systems.

   Favorited Favorite 1

Build Instructions:

Executing the pico-setup.cmd script will download all the relevant RP2040 GitHub repositories, update all the submodules, and build the examples for the Pico SDK. (Users will need to modify the pico-setup.cmd script to build the examples for the RP2040 Thing Plus and not the Raspberry Pi Pico board.)

1. Navigate to the installation location of the Pico folder
2. Modify the pico-setup.cmd script on line 62, replace cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" .. with:
   • cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" .. -DPICO_BOARD=sparkfun_thingplus
   • cmake -G "NMake Makefiles".. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DPICO_BOARD=sparkfun_thingplus (for debugging)
     
     Modification for the Pico SDK build configuration. (Click to enlarge)
3. Execute pico-setup.cmd
   • If users run into errors, they may need to call pico-env.cmd from the terminal/command prompt and then call pico-setup.cmd
4. Users will find the builds for the example code in the pico-examples\build folder. In each of the built example folders, users will find the .uf2 file associated with the individual example.
5. Once the board is in BOOTSEL mode, user can copy the .uf2 file over to program their board.

MicroPython

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has provided support for the RP2040 microcontroller with MicroPython. Additionally, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has written a user manual, which includes documentation and some basic MicroPython examples.

As documented in the user manual, the MicroPython can be used with various integrated development environments (IDEs). In order to utilize the SDK, users will also need to install a few dependencies. The Raspberry Pi Foundation also provides MicroPython examples to accompany the book (noted above), which can be downloaded from their GitHub repository.

Read–Eval–Print Loop (REPL)

Users can access the REPL with their favorite serial terminal to instantly program the RP2040 microcontroller. After the MicroPython firmware is copied to the board, it will reset and show up on the computer's serial (or COM) port. Make sure to configure the serial terminal emulator for a baudrate of 115200 bps.

Remote MicroPython Shell on Windows 10

Installation Instructions:

1. Install prerequisites
   • Python 3
2. Install Remote MicroPython Shell (rshell)
   • In PowerShell (run as admin), type pip3 install rshell

Programming Instructions:
Below is an example of how to upload a program to the board using rshell on Windows 10.

1. Change the working directory to the location of the program file
2. Open rshell
   • In PowerShell or the Command Prompt (run as admin), type rshell
3. In the remote shell, connect to the COM port for the RP2040 Thing Plus
   • Type connect serial COM[#] [baudrate]
     • To connect to COM3: connect serial COM3 115200
     • *Use the device manager to find the COM port for the RP2040 Thing Plus
4. In the remote shell, copy your program file to the RP2040 Thing Plus
   • Type cp [file name] /[board name]
     • By default MicroPython executes two files on restart or power up:
       • boot.py – this script is executed when the pyboard boots up. It sets up various configuration options for the pyboard
       • main.py – this is the main script that will contain your Python program. It is executed after boot.py
     • By default rshell will name a board pyboard when connecting to the COM port (unless otherwise specified)
       • *The command boards, in rshell, will list the boards that it is connected to, their names, and the connection
5. Once the user presses the RESET button, the board will disconnect from rshell and the RP2040 microcontroller will execute the boot.py and main.py files stored in its flash.