Home > Components > Boards > Raspberry Pi Pico W

Raspberry Pi Pico W

The RP2040 microcontroller you love, now upgraded with fully certified 2.4GHz Wi-Fi capabilities.

Component Preview

Raspberry Pi Pico W

The Raspberry Pi Pico W retains all the power and flexibility of the original Pico (including the RP2040 dual-core processor and PIO subsystem) but adds an Infineon CYW43439 wireless chip. This allows it to connect to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, making it the perfect platform for IoT projects, smart home devices, and remote data logging.

BoardsMicrocontrollerRP2040Wi-Fi

Overview

Because the Pico W shares the exact same form factor and pinout as the original Pico, it is a drop-in replacement for existing hardware projects. The wireless chip is connected internally via SPI to the RP2040.

NOTE

Onboard LED Difference: On the standard Pico, the onboard LED is connected directly to GP25. On the Pico W, the onboard LED is connected to the WL_GPIO0 pin of the wireless chip. You must use specific wireless library functions (like cyw43_arch_gpio_put) to toggle the onboard LED.

Pin Reference

The Pico W has 40 pins configured in a dual in-line package (DIP) style, identical to the standard Pico.

Pin Group	Description
GP0 - GP28	26 General Purpose I/O pins (3.3V logic only). All can be used for digital I/O and PWM.
ADC0 - ADC2	3 of the GPIO pins (GP26, GP27, GP28) have hardware Analog-to-Digital Converter capabilities.
VBUS	Micro-USB input voltage (typically 5V). Used for powering 5V peripherals.
VSYS	Main system input voltage (1.8V to 5.5V). Used to power the Pico from an external battery.
3V3(OUT)	Regulated 3.3V output for powering external 3.3V sensors.
GND	Multiple ground pins distributed around the board.
RUN	Reset pin. Pulling this low resets the RP2040.

Configurable Attributes

(Currently, microcontroller boards in the simulator do not have configurable graphical attributes. You upload code to them directly via the editor.)

Wiring Diagram (Blink Example)

A typical configuration for testing digital output. Note that the layout is identical to the standard Pico.

1. Connect a 220-ohm resistor to pin 18.
2. Connect the other end of the resistor to the Anode of an LED.
3. Connect the Cathode of the LED to GND.

Example Code

This code demonstrates a standard LED blink routine. In OpenHW Studio's autocoding blocks, the board's setup configuration defines 18 as the target for led_1.

void setup() {
  // autocoding for led_1 start
  pinMode(18, OUTPUT);
  // autocoding for led_1 end

  // put your setup code here, to run once:
}

void loop() {
  // autocoding for led_1 start
  digitalWrite(18, HIGH);
  delay(1000);
  digitalWrite(18, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  // autocoding for led_1 end

  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
}

Simulation Notes

• The OpenHW Studio simulator provides a virtual Wi-Fi environment for the Pico W. However, you must use the appropriate Pico W SDK or Arduino Core libraries to interact with the simulated wireless chip.
• Standard digital I/O, PWM, and I2C/SPI functions work identically to the standard Raspberry Pi Pico.

---

← Previous: Raspberry Pi Pico

Next: Soil Moisture Sensor →