[[Rodrik Studio ]] announced its PicoCPC expansion card, which was created with the help of [[FreddyV ]] (the author of the [https://github.com/FreddyVRetro/ISA-PicoMEM PicoMEM ISA card for IBM PC]).
[[File:PicoCPC proto2.jpeg|600px]] [[File:Modular PicoCPC.jpg|600px]]
The PicoCPC use a Pico2, connected via multiplexor. This let enough pin to add an I2S DAC, MicroSD and some more control signals. Final PicoCPC will be with soldered RP2350B.
Advantage of this model is on use of CH376 for USB : USB in FAT32&extfs, with nothing to do at the CPC side.
There is no external ROM, so the microntroller access the emulated RAM/ROM and USB/MicroUSB MicroSD at the same time: Direct write from the uSD to the CPC emulated RAM at 3MB/s (For example).
The PicoCPC is clocked at 375Mhz [https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/picocpc/msg248409/#msg248409 Source]366Mhz. So it is not as powerful as the [[RSF3]] clocked at 480Mhz. But it is more powerful than the [[M4 Board]] clocked at 168Mhz. [https://www.spinpoint.org/2015/10/23/cortex-m4-board/ Source]
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C3 mode to arrive in the next hardware release. And much more for the final hardware release: vocal synthesizer, cpr cartridges, usb, wifi, nfc, ...
The Pimoroni hardware is also being evaluated.
[[File:Pimoroni Picocpc.jpg|600px]]
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== News ==
In Here’s the translation into English of the description of the 07/03/2025 video, it is written:
*"Elle est encore loin d'être terminéeIt’s still far from being finished, mais avance bienbut it’s progressing well."
*"Dans ce qu'il manque What’s still missing:" *Charger et décharger des ROM depuis le basic *Copie des fichiers entre SD et disquette *Sauver des fichiers sur SD (pour l'instant le Pico ne sait que lire et lancer) *Formater des disquettes *Des affichages sur l'écran I2C pendant le Wizard *Toute la partie son *Toute la partie wifi *Toute la partie NFC
*"le prototype 2 va nécessiter un gros changement coté I/O mais ouvrira normalement plus de possibilités comme le mode mémoire C3 sur 464/664Loading and unloading ROMs from BASIC*Copying files between SD and floppy disk*Saving files to SD (for now, le passage à 512ko de mémoire étendue et le son."the Pico can only read and launch)*Formatting floppy disks*Displays on the I2C screen during the Wizard*All the sound part*All the Wi-Fi part*All the NFC part
*"À l'heure actuellePrototype 2 will require a major change on the I/O side but should normally open up more possibilities, je vois Juin comme like the C3 memory mode on 464/664, switching to 512KB of extended memory, and sound." "At the moment, I’m aiming for June as a tentativedate. Même si le Even if the code ne sera pas finiisn’t finished, le the hardware devrait l'êtreshould be."
In the comments of that video, Rodrik said:
* "Quand elle fonctionnera sur tous les CPC y compris les When it works on all CPCs, including the Plus et que je models, and the hardware est plus ou moins is more or less final. Je table vers Juin, I’m aiming for June."* "les fonctions vont évoluer, je l'ai écrit en The features will evolve; I wrote that in the description. Le prochain gros truc sera le son, synthétiseur vocal, mais aussi un The next big thing will be sound—voice synthesizer—but also a second AY et peut-être d'autres choses tordues comme chip and maybe some other quirky stuff like Adlib. Puis le wifi et le nfcThen Wi-Fi and NFC."* "Je compte mettre le wifi si I plan to add Wi-Fi later if possible plus tard et aussi L’USB, plus simple que la and also USB, which is simpler than micro SD pour transférer des chosesfor transferring things."* "je peux même dire qu'il est fort possible que les cartouches plus soit émulée bientôtI can even say it’s very likely that Plus cartridges will be emulated soon."* "Le wifi est prévu à plus long terme, le Wi-Fi is planned for the longer term; the separate Wi-Fi module wifi séparé pour pico2 n'étant pas encore disponiblefor Pico2 isn’t available yet."* "Il y a trop de cartesThere are too many boards, often too expensive, souvent trop cherhard to find, introuvables et avec des fonctions différentesand with different features. Dans l'idée la picocpc devrait coûter la moitié du prix d'un ddi5The idea is that the PicoCPC should cost half the price of a DDI5."* "Il y aura une boite autour, pour en faire un périphérique ressemblant à ceux d'époqueThere will be a case around it to make it look like a peripheral from back in the day."* "La partie The HDD est pas toppart isn’t great; binaries that load other binaries won’t work. In the end, les binaires chargeant des binaires ne fonctionneront pas. Je n'ai pu mettre que peu de jeux dessus au finalI could only put a few games on it." [[File:PicoCPC RSX info.jpg|600px]]
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== Links ==
*[[Media:Ch376ds1.pdf|CH376 datasheet]] USB flash drive or SD card controller
* [https://youtu.be/jfOszwaVW7w PicoCPC project presentation - 16/01/2025]
* [https://youtu.be/ysX8sibAoNk PicoCPC project update - 07/03/2025]
* [https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/picocpc/ Thread Topic on CPCwiki forum]
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[[Category:Peripherals]] [[Category:Hardware]]
[[Category:Music and sound]]
[[Category:Memory expansions]]
[[Category:DATA Storage]]
[[Category:Cartridges]]