Event season hit hard this year. Maker Central, Evolve26, Hardware Pioneersā¦ all incredible, all exhausting, and all packed with inspiration. Add in a wave of new Pico ecosystem releases, and July arrived before I even noticed.
Letās dive into whatās new, what Iāve been building, and whatās coming next.
š§ Whatās New in Pico News
š§© Pico SDK v2.3.0
A āminorā update on paper ā but absolutely not minor in practice.
The headline feature is new memory flexibility, especially around the XIP cache. You can now place certain variables or structures directly into the 16KB cache, giving you faster access than flash can ever offer. Itās small, but powerful when used well.
PSRAM support also matures in this release. We finally get standardised define names for different PSRAM sizes and chipāselect configurations, plus heap allocation/freeing functions. Iāve been waiting for these ā they make PSRAM feel like a firstāclass citizen rather than an addāon.
š” coreMQTT v5.0.2
As someone whoās built multiple MQTT projects (and even a full course on MQTT for the Pico W), this caught my eye.
If youāre sticking with MQTT v3, stay on coreMQTT v2.3.1 ā itās stable and recommended. But if you want MQTT v5 features, v5.0.2 is the upgradeā¦ with some interfaceābreaking changes.
Why MQTT v5?
- Better failure reason codes (debugging heaven)
- Session expiry control
- Custom metadata in headers
- Proper request/response pattern
- Topic aliases
Some of these solve problems Iāve had to hack around in past projects.
š§± Bare Pico 2 from an RP2354A
At Hardware Pioneers, Raspberry Pi showed me a Pico 2 built from the RP2354A ā a chip with flash, RAM, processor, and clock all on the die. Add power regulation and you basically have a complete board.
This makes designing custom RP235x boards dramatically simpler. Expect to see more creative boards popping up soon.
š¤ Projects on the Bench
šŗ Waveshare RP2350 Touch 7 Review
Huge screen, onboard PSRAM, and a surprisingly tricky LVDS touch interface. Iām building a more stable LVGL example to help others get started.
š LiFePO4 Charging for Droids
Charging LiFePO4 packs in situ through USBāC PD has been a journey ā including frying a diode and discovering the charger runs hot enough to need cooling. But it works now, and itās solid.
š” LVGL vs Pico Graphics on Interstate 75 W
The Interstate 75 W can drive two HUB75 LED panels, which is brilliant ā but the default graphics library isā¦ limiting. Switching to LVGL unlocked everything I needed for an engaging Evolve26 display.
š Waveshare Pico RGB LED Board + LVGL Canvas Tutorial
From giant screens to tiny ones: this 55mm RGB LED board is perfect for droid displays. Iāve built LVGL Canvas demos with animated, characterāstyle visuals.
š Event Season: The Road Trip
Maker Central, Evolve26, Hardware Pioneers ā each one packed with conversations, ideas, and people who genuinely love building things. It was energising and humbling.
Not everything went perfectly (does it ever?), but thatās part of the fun. Iām considering writing a full ābehind the scenes of being showāreadyā blog. If youād like that, let me know.
š„ YouTube Channel Updates
You can now join the channel as a paying subscriber. It genuinely helps cover project costs, and in return you get early access to videos the moment I upload them ā often a monthās worth at once.
After a hectic few months, Iām slowing down slightly for summer. Expect two deepādive videos per month, with normal weekly releases returning in September.
š Thank You
Thanks for reading, and for being part of this journey. Your support keeps the builds coming. Tell me what youād like to see next ā more LVGL deep dives, more RP2350 experiments, or more droid engineering?