We’re at a fortunate moment: microcontrollers available at modest prices are edging into the capability level previously reserved for full-fat systems and can, through emulation, run software beyond classic 8-bit home computers, consoles, or old arcade games. A project we’ve been watching for a while is tiny386, an emulator for ESP32 boards that provides a 386 PC with just enough 486 and 586 instructions enabled to run a modern Linux kernel. Now we’re pleased to note that this platform is making it to the RP2350, with ports for both the FRANK emulation platform and the Waveshare Pi Zero boards. You can now have a 32-bit PC with all the peripherals, including VGA and DVI/HDMI, for the cost of an inexpensive development board.

Having seen tiny386 run on its minimum-spec ESP32 platform, we’ll concede that while it’s usable, it’s not the fastest experience, but the RP2350 port promises better performance.

Driven by a desire for privacy, customization, and lower costs, there’s growing interest in AI models which can be run on local hardware. Few of them go as far as [Tim], though, who built an image generation diffusion model which can run on an RP2350 microcontroller.

As might be expected, its capabilities are limited. The resolution is 128×128, it only generates images of human faces, and it takes about twenty seconds per image – still impressive for such limited hardware. It runs on a Waveshare RP2350 development board, and it can output the generated image over USB or display it with the aid of a VGA adapter board.

AI Image Generation on an RP2350 Microcontroller
https://cpldcpu.github.io/2026/08/28/ai-image-generation-on-a-rp-pico-2-microcontroller/

RP2350B bells&whistles board also comes with 4MB SPI flash and a microSD card slot for storage, an optional 8 MB of PSRAM, and features one HDMI output, up to 46 GPIO pins through two 30-pin headers, and two USB Type-C ports: one for the RP2350B and the other for the RP2040 debugger.

The board is open-source hardware (KiCad design files) and is compatible with firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, including the PicoDVI library for HDMI output.

A standalone Hi-Res WAV recorder for digital audio sources, built on the Raspberry Pi Pico / Pico 2. Captures S/PDIF (TOSLINK) input directly to microSD card with no PC required — supporting up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, with smart auto-split, blank detection, and optional Wi-Fi-synced timestamps.

What it does

pico_spdif_recorder turns a Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) or Pico 2 (RP2350) into a dedicated S/PDIF-to-WAV recorder. Feed it a digital audio stream from a CD player, DAT deck, MD recorder, or any TOSLINK source, and it writes raw, untouched PCM data straight to a microSD card as standard WAV files — bit-perfect, with no host computer in the loop.
Key features

Bit-perfect digital capture — 16-bit or 24-bit, 2-channel, at 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 kHz (and experimentally up to 176.4 / 192 kHz)
Automatic sample-rate detection — locks to whatever the source is outputting; no manual configuration
Smart silence-aware splitting — auto-starts on sound detection, auto-stops on long silence, and seamlessly splits tracks on short blanks (gapless, no samples lost)
Manual split — instant, gapless track break via serial command
Resolution toggle — switch 16-bit / 24-bit on the fly with a button or serial command
NTP-synced timestamps — when built for Pico W and connected to Wi-Fi, recorded files carry accurate wall-clock timestamps (with timezone, on exFAT)
Status LED — slow blink while recording, fast blink during background file housekeeping
WAV Tagger companion tool — Python post-processor (in /wav_tagger) that merges/splits files based on YAML album metadata and writes UTF-8 ID3v2.3 tags

Hardware

Minimal external parts:

Raspberry Pi Pico, Pico W, Pico 2, or Pico 2 W
A TOSLINK receiver module (DLR1160 or equivalent) S/PDIF input (see the related pico_spdif_rx project for switchable inputs)
microSD card socket (SPI wired — SD-XC / V30 class recommended)
Optional: two tactile buttons (Start/Stop, 16/24-bit toggle)

What do you do when you’re a starving student and you need a 400 MHz logic analyzer for your digital circuit investigations? As [nanofix] shows in a recent video, you find one that’s available as an open hardware project and build it yourself.

The project, aptly named LogicAnalyzer was developed by [Dr. Gusman] a few years back, and has actually graced these pages in the past. In the video below, [nanofix] concentrates on the mechanics of actually putting the board together with a focus on soldering. The back of the build is the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and the TXU0104 level shifters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaSM0-yAvQs

https://github.com/gusmanb/logicanalyzer