There are a lot of RP2040 proto boards out there — heck, there are even a lot of small RP2040 boards out there! But we think this may be the smallest, fully-featured board that includes all I/O broken out, as well as power, reset, and options for making it even smaller baked right in!
Part of the secret of keeping I/O is by using 1mm pitch pin header footprints. These headers are available at your favourite parts distributor, and are commonly used in industry to save space. They are a bit tricky to hand solder, but with some practice and good quality flux, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
The other secret of this board is the ability to remove the USB-C connector to save on height if needed! The VBUS, D+, D- and GND pins are broken out to the side of the connector if you want to wire them up directly. And the SOIC EEPROM is hiding a footprint for a UDFN-8 EEPROM underneath it! So you can cut down the height even further if you really need to get it into a tight spot. All the design files are open, so if you’re really stuck for space, you could even try and get the boards manufactured thinner, but looking at the pictures I think they’re already as thin as you can easily buy!
If you need to squeeze some serious processing power into an incredibly small space, the proto2040 is for you. Check it out, and welcome seller Treble to Tindie!
