Challenger RP2040 WiFi/BLE MkII

This product is a replacement for the Challenger RP2040 WiFi/BLE board.

The Challenger RP2040 WiFi/BLE MkII is an Arduino/Micropython compatible Adafruit Feather format micro controller board based on the Raspberry Pico chip, equipped with an WiFi/BLE chip that provides both WiFi as well as BLE functionality on the board.

The MkII version of the board now also has a Bi2C connector that allows the user to quickly connect various I2C based peripherals.

RP2040

RP2040 is the debut micro controller from Raspberry Pi. It brings their signature values of high performance, low cost, and ease of use to the micro controller space. With a large on-chip memory, symmetric dual-core processor complex, deterministic bus fabric, and rich peripheral set augmented with our unique Programmable I/O (PIO) subsystem, RP2040 provides professional users with unrivaled power and flexibility. With detailed documentation, a polished Circuitpython port, and a UF2 boot loader in ROM, it has the lowest possible barrier to entry for beginner and hobbyist users

For more detailed information about the RP2040 you can visit here.

WiFi/BLE

The Challenger RP2040 WiFi/BLE MkII board is equipped with a powerful combined single chip solution that provides the WiFi and BLE connectivity of this board. The chip we are using is the ESP32-C3FN4 from Espressif and it is a complete WiFi subsystem that complies with IEEE 802.11b/g/n protocol and supports Station mode, SoftAP mode, SoftAP + Station mode, and promiscuous mode. It also implements A Bluetooth LE subsystem that supports features of Bluetooth 5 and Bluetooth mesh.

This solution is based on an RISC-V micro controller core and comes with 4MByte of internal flash and 408Kbyte of internal SRAM as well as the advanced 2.4GHz radio.

The ESP32-C3 device comes pre loaded with the ESP-AT interpreter already programmed into flash. This interpreter provides the system with everything from low level TCP/UDP functionality up to high level functions such as a on board integrated web server, MQTT server and client functions and much more.

The RP2040 acts as a master in the system and can communicate with the ESP32-C3 over a high speed UART or an SPI channel.

From the get go the on board ESP32 delivers the following functionalities:

Basic AT Commands
Wi-Fi AT Commands
TCP-IP AT Commands
Bluetooth® Low Energy AT Commands
MQTT AT Commands
HTTP AT Commands
Web server AT Commands

Setting an MQTT client up for instance is a matter of three lines of code, couldn’t be easier to use.

Other cool stuff on the board

It comes with a sturdy USB-C connector, a battery connector that allows you to plug in standard 1 cell LiPo batteries. It also has an on board charger chip that charges the battery whenever a USB cable is connected or 5V is applied to the USB power header pin.

Pinout

On board antenna or U.FL ?

This board is available in two different antenna option versions. The most common version is with an on board chip antenna which just works straight out of the box. The second version has a U.FL connector on board which requires you to add an external antenna for your system.