New Waveshare IoT board uses Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, brings cellular connectivity and a custom version of MicroPython

Waveshare BG95-M3 Zero.

Waveshare has announced its BG95-M3 Zero, a single-board computer (SBC) that offers cellular connectivity as well as compatibility with Raspberry Pi HAT add-ons. It features its own processor and ships with Quectel’s QuecPython MicroPython firmware for easy programming.

The BG95-M3 Zero is in a Raspberry Pi Zero form factor (65 x 30 mm) and integrates an Arm Cortex-A7 processor running ThreadX RTOS. Most Quectel modules for cellular Internet of Things (IoT) usage depend on another board for a host processor. This allows hobbyists and IoT manufacturers to develop smaller smart products with cellular capabilities since there’s no need for an additional SBC to run the show.

This development board is equipped with a BG95-M3 module, which supports LTE Cat M1, LTE Cat NB2, and EGPRS cellular networking worldwide. It also supports GNSS positioning using GPS, GLONASS, BDS,  Galileo, and QZSS. The SBC includes an onboard nano SIM card slot positioned near the edge of the board for easy insertion and removal.

A group of five LEDs on the board indicate operating status. These include power, sleep, and network indicators. There’s also an LED that illuminates when a SIM card is inserted as well as a PWM function indicator.

The Waveshare BG95-M3 Zero SBC (Image credit: Waveshare)

The Waveshare BG95-M3 Zero has a 40-pin GPIO header and a USB Type-C port for flashing the firmware. The BG95-M3 Zero integrates an onboard MIPI interface for connecting to MIPI displays and Raspberry Pi peripheral devices. The board also has an onboard camera interface to support customized SPI cameras up to 30MP.

Pinout definition for Waveshare BG95-M3 Zero board (Image credit: Waveshare)

While the BG95-M3 Zero doesn’t offer Bluetooth or Wi-Fi support, Waveshare does produce larger boards with expanded networking capabilities. The EC200U-EU is available in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. There’s also the EC200U-AU available in Australia and Latin America.

Programming the SBC is done through QPYcom, a specialized development and debugging tool for QuecPython. QPYcom is Windows-only, but Waveshare notes that you can use plugins for Thonny IDE. VSCode, and other IDEs to program the board.