Open Source picoLink: Raspberry Pi RP2040 CMSIS-DAP Debug Probe

One essential part of embedded development is the ability to debug the target application. The good thing with the Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 Eco-system is: One can use another RP2040 Pico board as a debug probe to debug other ARM Cortex-M devices.

But instead using a Raspberry Pi Pico board with some wires, why not building a dedicated board? The result is a small, versatile and open source debugging probe which virtually can debug any ARM Cortex-M device as a standard ARM CMSIS-DAP probe:

picoLink Debug Probe debugging a Raspberry Pi Pico Board
Continue reading

Using a Watchdog Timer with an RTOS

When something goes wrong in an embedded system, a watchdog timer is the last line of defense against a blocked or malfunctioning system. A watchdog is a special timer which needs to be ‘kicked’ in a special way, otherwise the timer will run out and reset the system.

For example, a watchdog is an important safety feature in the E-Vehicle charging controller with Raspberry Pi Pico-W RP2040:

EVCC Controller
Continue reading

BLE with WiFi and FreeRTOS on Raspberry Pi Pico-W

The Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040 is a very versatile microcontroller. It is not the least expensive or the most powerful microcontroller, but it is one which is available and has an excellent software and tool ecosystem.

This article shows how to use the Raspberry Pi Pico-W with BLE and optional WiFi, running with FreeRTOS.

Continue reading