Raspberry Pi Pico-Compatible Development Board

A custom Raspberry Pi Pico-compatible development board built around the RP2040 microcontroller, designed from scratch in KiCad 10. The board recreates the core hardware of the official Raspberry Pi Pico—including power management, USB connectivity, status LEDs, and a debug interface—while exposing all GPIOs through edge headers.

This project was undertaken to gain hands-on experience with the complete PCB design workflow, including schematic capture, component selection, PCB layout and routing, design verification, and manufacturing file generation.

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Overview

The board includes:

• RP2040 microcontroller
• QSPI flash memory
• USB Micro-B interface
• 3.3 V power supply
• BOOTSEL and RESET buttons
• SWD debug interface
• GPIO edge connectors
• Power and status LEDs
• Test points

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Features

• RP2040 (Arm Cortex-M0+) microcontroller
• USB Micro-B interface for programming and power
• External QSPI flash memory
• 3.3 V regulated power supply
• BOOTSEL and RESET push buttons
• SWD programming/debug header
• GPIO breakout via edge connectors
• Power and status LEDs
• Test points for debugging
• Two-layer PCB, designed entirely in KiCad

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Software Used

• KiCad 10

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PCB Design

Front

Back

Layout

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Schematic

Page 1

Page 2

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Manufacturing Files

Everything needed to fabricate and assemble the board is included in this repo:

• Gerber files — for PCB fabrication
• Drill files — for through-hole and via drilling
• Bill of Materials (BOM) — for component sourcing and assembly

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Learning Outcomes

Building this board gave me hands-on experience with:

• Schematic design
• PCB layout and routing
• Power supply design
• USB interface design
• Component selection and footprint management
• Design Rule Checks (DRC)
• Generating manufacturing-ready files

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Future Improvements

• Replace USB Micro-B with USB Type-C
• Add onboard voltage/current monitoring
• Improve decoupling capacitor placement
• Optimize routing for manufacturability

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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Author

Srushti D Hebbar GitHub