Raspberry Pi is seeking to ring within the new yr with a free improve for all Raspberry Pi Pico W customers, unlocking the $6 board’s previously-unavailable Bluetooth 5.2 radio in each C/C++ and MicroPython.
The Raspberry Pi Pico W launched in June last year as a follow-up to the unique Raspberry Pi Pico, the corporate’s first machine to make use of an in-house chip: the dual-core RP2040 microcontroller. Whereas boasting near-complete compatibility with the unique, the brand new board packs in a radio that launched with Wi-Fi connectivity — however the {hardware}’s Bluetooth capabilities have been locked behind a a scarcity of software program help.
The Raspberry Pi Pico W’s radio, hidden underneath a metallic cap beneath the PCB antenna, is to lastly expose its Bluetooth capabilities in a coming replace. (📷: Gareth Halfacree)
That, fortunately, is to vary very quickly: The builders engaged on the Raspberry Pi Pico software program improvement equipment (SDK) have put Bluetooth help on the roadmap, making ready it for the 1.5.0 launch. “I would count on to see help publicly launched this month,” Raspberry Pi’s Alasdair Allan confirmed on Mastodon, “with MicroPython help following alongside quickly after.”
As soon as the software program replace has been shipped, builders will be capable to use each the two.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi and the Bluetooth 5.2 options of the on-board Infineon CYW43439 radio module — even concurrently, ought to they so select — over the SPI bus. The replace shall be out there to all Raspberry Pi Pico W boards as a easy firmware improve, with no new {hardware} required.
These seeking to monitor progress on the replace can comply with the problem on the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK GitHub repository, the place the software program is made out there underneath the permissive BSD 3-Clause license.
