Justin Michaud
RP2040 Microcontroller
Board Design
This RP2040 board was my first attempt at designing a complete microcontroller PCB from scratch. The layout was based on the minimal reference design from the RP2040 documentation, with additional features such as USB-C power input, a simple 5V-to-3.3V LDO regulator, a LiPo charging circuit for a single-cell battery, and basic control features like a reset button and boot header.
Lessons Learned
While the board successfully powered up and ran code, several layout mistakes required wire jumpers to correct after assembly. Debugging and fixing these issues provided valuable hands-on experience with PCB bring-up and troubleshooting. The lessons learned from this project directly influenced later designs, including improvements applied to subsequent boards such as the AVR-based modules and other embedded systems projects.
