The New Raspberry Pi Debug Probe Offers RP2040

Oct 13, 2023

Raspberry Pi has launched a surprise new entry in its RP2040 microcontroller board range, taking aim at those who need to work with Serial Wire Debug (SWD) on the RP2040 or other Arm-based devices: the $12 Raspberry Pi Debug Probe.

"Ever since we launched Raspberry Pi Pico, and our RP2040 microcontroller, in January 2021, people have been using one Pico to debug programs running on another," Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton explains. "Inspired by this trend, today we’re launching the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe, a complete debug hardware solution for Arm-based microcontrollers, powered by RP2040, and priced at just $12."

Marking the third in-house board design to feature Raspberry Pi's RP2040, a dual-core Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller with clever Programmable Input/Output (PIO) blocks, the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe is a compact board which provides a micro-USB connection at one end and headers for UART serial and SWD debugging at the other — plus an unpopulated three-pin header to access UART on the board's own RP2040, if required.

According to Raspberry Pi, the board is primarily designed for use with the Raspberry Pi Pico and newer Raspberry Pi Pico W — but is compatible with any Arm-based microcontroller which supports Serial Wide Debug and operates with 3.3V logic.

"The Raspberry Pi Debug Probe exposes the SWD signals on a three-pin JST connector, conforming to the Raspberry Pi Debug Connector Specification," Upton says. "We provide adapter cables to connect without soldering to breadboard, and to the debug connector on Raspberry Pi Pico H and WH. The Raspberry Pi Debug Probe [also] functions as a USB serial adapter, over the same USB connection as the SWD bridge. It exposes the UART signals on a second three-pin JST connector, again conforming to the Raspberry Pi Debug Connector Specification."

More information on the board is available on the Raspberry Pi website; supplies of the board, in a bundle which includes translucent plastic case, USB cable, and three debug cables, are in the channel now at authorized resellers.

Those who already have a Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico W, meanwhile, can use the Picoprobe firmware to convert it into a device functionally equivalent to the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe — just lacking the handy JST connectors.