What is the equivalent Arduino module of Rpi Zero 2 W

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Hi,

I am looking for a similar module in Arduino or an alternative module of Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. i.e. a breakout board with external battery power supply and wifi + bluetooth enabled.

I am new to Arduino family, please suggest something powerful than Rpi Zero 2 W or similar in Arduino.

Thanks in advance,
Arindam

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Hi Arindam,

A quick distinction between Pi Computers (Such as the Zero 2 W) and Arduinos:

  • The range of computers run an OS ontop of running the other tasks and a lot more computing power (specifically to run said OS) theyre great for tasks like browsing the web ect
  • Arduinos are microcontrollers with a slower clock speed but can handle timing dependent tasks with ease (running WS2812’s are a great example) and usually have much more in the way of peripherals, such as an ADC, more communication ports like I2C, UART, I2S…and the list goes on.

If you need Wifi+Bluetooth and an onboard battery supply, I’d take a look at Sparkfun and Adafruits spins of an ESP32. Check out the Feather and Thing dev boards. I’ve used the Feather with great success but havent had a chance to use the Thing just yet.

Note that these boards are aimed at more experienced makers and have a few knacks to getting them working as you want. Definitely check out the documenation before grabbing one!

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Thanks Liam. I had a look at the modules, I could find one - Adafruit HUZZAH32 – ESP32 Feather Board. Is it the latest one.

I am actually facing some trouble with RPi Zero 2 W in terms of performance and hence try to switch to micro controller. If you could suggest the latest one, which can perform same like Arduino Nano but with wifi and bluetooth plus batter supported power supply., it will be helpful

The purpose of the board is to extract the data from other sensor via i2c and transmit to PC. The data extraction will be done on 10ms - 20ms of time

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Hi Arindam,

I linked both of the boards in my reply above, watch out for the blue text :smiley:

What sensors were you looking to poll? A 100Hz polling rate is pretty high for I2C sensors and you might even run into issues using an MCU.

Doing some post processing on the numbers from the processor would speed up transmissions a ton. I’m not sure what protocol would be best for transmitting all of your data (MQTT might work??? Not sure) ESP-NOW would be worth checking out.

I wouldnt shop around to pick the newest model, since they’re advanced boards going with one thats been worked with a ton would be a better option.
The Nanos (And Uno’s) are quite slow compared to most of the newer boards can do (especially the ESP line and Nano RP2040 Connect)

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Hi Liam,

I will connect BNO055 sensor. I liked the module - Adafruit HUZZAH32 – ESP32 Feather Board (pre-soldered) | ADA3591 | Core Electronics Australia

Question is, how can it be powered externally, can I connect battery pack (powerbank) with it in the USB port?

I don’t know anything about the hardware and electronics, if you could help will be great.

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Hi Arindam,

Taking a look through the description it has a couple of ways it can be powered, 5V via the USB port - this has some efficiency losses as the voltage is converted down a couple of times.
Or you can use a LiPo on the JST port.

I’d take a look through the documenation here: Overview | Adafruit HUZZAH32 - ESP32 Feather | Adafruit Learning System
Its a treasure trove of information and where I learnt a lot. YouTube and reading through other forum topics help a ton too!

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