RP2040 Zero Guide • TENSTAR

Intro text

RP2040 Zero is a compact development board based on the RP2040 microcontroller. It is a good choice for small DIY electronics, embedded systems, sensors, displays and automation projects.

This guide explains the main features of RP2040 Zero, its pinout, setup options and common use cases. You can use it as a quick starting point before building your own project.

What Is RP2040 Zero?

RP2040 Zero is a small microcontroller board built around the RP2040 chip. It offers strong performance in a very compact format and is suitable for projects where space matters.

The board is commonly used with Arduino IDE, MicroPython and CircuitPython. It can control LEDs, sensors, displays, buttons, relays and other electronic modules.

Main Features

RP2040 microcontroller
Compact Zero-style board size
USB connection for programming
GPIO pins for sensors and modules
Support for Arduino IDE and MicroPython
Suitable for DIY, IoT and automation projects

RP2040 Zero Pinout

The RP2040 Zero pinout includes GPIO pins, power pins and communication interfaces. GPIO pins can be used for digital input, digital output, PWM, I2C, SPI and UART depending on your project.

Important notes:

GPIO logic level is 3.3V
Do not connect 5V signals directly to GPIO pins
Use GND connection between all connected modules
Check the pinout before connecting displays, sensors or power modules

View RP2040 Zero Pinout

Buy RP2040 Zero

Need this board for your project? View the available RP2040 Zero product page below.

Buy RP2040 Zero

RP2040 Zero Specifications

The RP2040 is a microcontroller developed by Raspberry Pi in the United Kingdom.
It features a dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ processor with a flexible clock speed of up to 133 MHz.
The chip includes 264 KB of SRAM and 2 MB of onboard Flash memory.
A USB-C connector ensures easy connectivity and convenient updates.
Its castellated module design allows direct soldering onto carrier boards.
Supports USB 1.1 in both device and host modes.
Includes low-power sleep and dormant modes for energy efficiency.
Enables drag-and-drop programming via USB mass storage.
Provides 29 multifunction GPIO pins (20 accessible via edge pins, others via solder pads).
Offers multiple interfaces: 2 × SPI, 2 × I2C, 2 × UART, 4 × 12-bit ADC, and 16 PWM channels.
Built-in precise clock and timer.
Integrated temperature sensor.
Includes hardware-accelerated floating-point libraries.
Equipped with 8 programmable PIO state machines for custom peripheral support.

Arduino and MicroPython Setup

RP2040 Zero can be programmed with Arduino IDE or MicroPython. For beginners, Arduino IDE is usually easier to start with. MicroPython is useful when you want fast testing and simple scripts.

Typical setup steps: