Raspberry Pi has launched the Pico 2 W, a miniature microcontroller board designed to facilitate scalable hardware projects. The new board is built around the RP2350, Raspberry Pi's well-documented microcontroller, which offers a unique blend of power efficiency, compact size, and affordability.

For those unfamiliar, microcontrollers are specialized electronic components that enable interaction with other devices or components. Unlike traditional Raspberry Pi single-board computers, microcontrollers don't run a full-fledged operating system; instead, code runs directly on the chip. This design approach makes microcontrollers ideal for applications where size, power consumption, and cost are critical factors.

The Pico 2 W boasts an impressive array of features, including dozens of input and output pins for seamless communication with other components. Hobbyists and developers can start building projects using a breadboard, eliminating the need for soldering, and later transition to soldering the microcontroller to other parts as needed.

In terms of programming, the Pico 2 W supports C, C++, and MicroPython, a Python-inspired language tailored for microcontrollers. This flexibility ensures that developers can choose the development environment that best suits their project requirements. Notably, the new board retains hardware and software compatibility with previous generation boards, ensuring a seamless transition for existing users.

Under the hood, the Pico 2 W features a dual-core, dual-architecture processor running at 150MHz, offering users a choice between Arm Cortex-M33 cores and open-hardware Hazard 3 RISC-V cores. This configuration provides developers with the flexibility to select the most suitable core for their specific project needs. The board also comes equipped with 4 MB of on-board flash memory and 520 KB of on-chip SRAM, making it an attractive option for resource-constrained applications.

In addition to its impressive specifications, the Pico 2 W supports Wi-Fi (2.4GHz 802.11n) and Bluetooth 5.2, enabling wireless connectivity for a wide range of applications. While the lack of 5GHz support may be seen as a limitation, it's likely that future revisions will address this omission. For users who don't require wireless capabilities, Raspberry Pi offers the Pico 2 without wireless features for a lower price point of $5.

The Pico 2 W's release is significant, given Raspberry Pi's growing presence in the industrial and electronics manufacturing sectors. As a public company, Raspberry Pi reported that the industrial and embedded segment accounted for 72% of its sales, underscoring the demand for microcontroller-based solutions in these industries. The availability of individual units and 480-unit reels of the Pico 2 boards further highlights Raspberry Pi's commitment to catering to the needs of industrial and commercial customers.

In conclusion, the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W microcontroller board is poised to revolutionize the way developers approach scalable hardware projects. With its unique blend of performance, power efficiency, and affordability, this tiny board is likely to find its way into a wide range of applications, from IoT devices to industrial automation systems.