Add Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity to your Raspberry Pi RP2040 project by adding an Adafruit AirLift ESP32 co-processor. The AirLift's ESP32 module can be placed into either a WiFi mode  (we've published a guide about using the AirLift's WiFi mode with Pico here) or BLE mode, giving you the option of adding two different methods of wireless connectivity to your RP2040 project.

This guide will cover getting started using BLE to connect an RP2040 board with the Bluefruit LE Connect App along with examples for a UART echo server and wirelessly changing the color of a NeoPixel RGB LED.

A few notes before we begin:

  • You can not use the WiFi and BLE mode on the Adafruit AirLift simultaneously, so select your transport wisely.
  • CircuitPython's AirLift support only provides BLE peripheral support, BLE central support is under development. This means you can not connect the RP2040 to BLE devices such as heart rate monitors or thermometers, but you can make the RP2040 act as a BLE peripheral.

Parts

Angled shot of black rectangular microcontroller "Feather RP2040"
A new chip means a new Feather, and the Raspberry Pi RP2040 is no exception. When we saw this chip we thought "this chip is going to be awesome when we give it the Feather...
$11.95
In Stock
Angle shot of Raspberry Pi Pico RP2040
The Raspberry Pi foundation changed single-board computing when they released the Raspberry Pi computer, now they're ready to...
Out of Stock
Angled shot of Adafruit AirLift FeatherWing.
Give your Feather project a lift with the Adafruit AirLift FeatherWing - a FeatherWing that lets you use the powerful ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor. You probably have your...
$12.95
In Stock
Top view of Adafruit AirLift Breakout Board.
Give your plain ol' microcontroller project a lift with the Adafruit AirLift - a breakout board that lets you use the powerful ESP32 as a WiFi co-processor. You probably...
$9.95
In Stock
1 x FeatherWing Doubler
FeatherWing Doubler - Prototyping Add-on For All Feather Boards
1 x USB-C Cable
USB-C Cable for RP2040 Feather
1 x USB Cable
USB cable - USB A to Micro-B - 3 foot long
1 x Breadboard
Full sized breadboard
1 x Breadboarding Wires
Breadboarding wire bundle

This guide was first published on Mar 26, 2021. It was last updated on Mar 28, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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