The Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect Is Small, But Versatile
The Arduino team first mentioned the Nano RP2040 Connect in January 2021, and now, it’s officially here. In a blog post on Arduino’s website, the team announced that the Nano RP2040 Connect is available for purchase.
The Pi-built RP2040 chip is a 32-bit dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ microcontroller, clocking in at 133MHz. It also features 264KB of SRAM, as well as 16MB of off-chip flash memory. These are the same specs that you’ll find on the Raspberry Pi Pico, but Arduino has put its own spin on things.
“It’s young, but proving to be incredibly popular with makers, as well as electronics manufacturers,” the Arduino team said. “It’s going to be incredibly exciting to see how the Arduino community reacts to it.”
Unlike the Pico, Arduino’s RP2040 Nano Connect features a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, and RGB LED, which allows for a wide array of DIY applications. And thanks to its u-blox NINA-W102 chip, you can expect Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. This also makes it one of the only RP2040-based boards that come with Wi-Fi out of the box.
The RP2040 Nano Connect doesn’t have the word “connect” in it for no reason. It’s fully compatible with the Arduino Cloud, allowing you to program the device from your web browser, as well as operate it via the Arduino IoT Remote smartphone app.
The Arduino RP2040 Nano Connect also comes with 22 digital I/O pins, 20 PWM-enabled pins, and eight analog pins. For a full rundown of the RP2040 Nano Connect’s specs, check out its Docs page on Arduino’s website.
Arduino RP2040 Nano Connect: Pricing and Availability
You can buy an Arduino RP2040 Nano Connect from the Arduino Store. It’ll cost you $25.50, which is a fairly steep jump from the Raspberry Pi Pico’s price of just $4. But it’s obvious why the Nano Connect would be more expensive, as it comes with a few more bells and whistles, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Arduino team also noted that there will be a “limited supply” of RP2040 Nano Connects at launch. However, it has also sent the board to third-party sellers, so you may be able to grab it from a reseller if you can’t get it from Arduino.
