Cover image for Wukong 2040

Wukong 2040

This 18650 battery powered board is great value for money, and is jam packed full of features; ideal for small robot projects.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

3 April 2023 by Kevin McAleer


👍 Recommendation

This is a great board for the price and is jam packed full of features. Its ideal for small robot projects with the 12 servo headers, 4 motor headers and onboard 18650 Battery holder and charger.



Wukong 2040 by Elecfreaks

The ELECFREAKS Wukong2040 Breakout Board For Raspberry Pi Pico is a Raspberry Pi Pico expansion board, aimed at education, and hobbyists.

The Pico or Pico W (not included) simply slots into the header socket on the board and can be powered by the onboard 18650, or by the Pico’s Micro-B USB connector.

The board is very reasonably priced at $9.99, much cheaper than other Pico expansion boards that have less functionality. This makes it very accessible and affordable for the education and hobbyist market.

Features

pinouts

Unique features

The board has 2 unique features - the 18650 battery holder and the Lego compatible base.


18650 LiPo battery power

The 18650 brings more than enough power to keep your projects going without being tethered to a computer or power supply, and the onboard charging means you dont need any additional plugs to chargers the battery up.


12 Servos

The 12 servos headers provide plenty of capability for a spider robot, or projects that require many servo headers.


4 Motors

The board also features 4 motor headers, which is an improvement over many other boards that only offer 2 headers. 4 Motor headers means we can add 4 wheel drive, which is essential for Mecanum wheeled robots.


Buzzer

The Buzzer can make simple beeps, or if you add a bit more code, you can play simple melodies. This brings a lot of extra fun to any robot project!


2 User buttons

The board has two user buttons, each placed next to an RGB LED light. These are competely user programmable, and means you can add onboard controls to your robot.


RGB LED lights

Another clever addition to the board are the two RGB LEDs, which are actually an RGB LED Strip, which only requires one data pin to control. RGB Lights are both fun and practical as they add the ability to add status indicators, as well as some sparkle to any project.


Review Score

Below is the Kevs Robots review framework. First, each product is scored out of 5 for each of the 9 areas. The total score is then calculated by adding the scores for each area and dividing by 9. The total score is then rounded to the nearest whole number.

Scoring area 1 2 3 4 5
Price Very Expensive, verging on not worth it Expensive, but worth it for the value add Affordable, similar in price to competitors Cheap / great value for the parts and features Free / Very low cost
Ease of use Hard to use, complex operations requiring multipe steps Many steps, some of which as complex. Some steps to construct or operate, some of which are complex Few steps, simple to do Very easy to use / use is obvious and clear
Functionality Very little innovation or usefulness Does less then you’d expect, but still useful Practice, does what you expect but no more Quite a few innovative functions, does more than you’d expect Amazing features & innovation, industry leading
Availability Very difficult to get hold of any variation or version Little available; some variations or versions are available Available in some countries and stocks mostly available Available in most countries & mostly in stock, short wait for stock replenishment All versions and variations widely available in all countries & in stock
Aesthetics Design is not pleasing to the eye; poor colour choice, parts do not fit together, no cohesive design Design is acceptable, some elements do not work together well Design is functional, no overall cohesion Design is functional with some flair, most elements work together well Very pleasing to the eye, complimentary colour choices, great fit and finish, with an overall cohesive design
Build Quality Poor construction, with gaps or overlapping parts. Poor quality materials used Functional construction, cheap materials Functional construction, acceptable materials used Durable design, some parts are high quality, most are acceptable Solid construction, parts fit together as intended with no unexpected gaps or overlapping parts. High quality materials and parts used
Documentation Single language instructions, no diagrams, basic features only Basic instructions, technical specifications in a few languages, little no diagrams, no example code Basic instructions, technical specifications in a few languages, diagrams for use. Some example code Documentation available in multiple languages, with all features covered and diagrams for use. Some example code Documentation available in multiple languages, with all features covered and simple diagrams for use. Mechanical and circuit diagrams also included. Example code. Advanced topics covered too
Packaging Little to no thought given to environment. Wasteful use of space leading to higher shipping costs. Excess layers of packaging Some thought given to environmental packaging & recycling. A few layers of packaging Some thought given to environmental packaging materials & recycling. Single layer of packaging Environmentally friendly, packaging designed for recycling with some effort. Packaging is has mostly efficient use of space to cut down on shipping costs Environmentally friendly, packaging designed for easy recycling. Packaging is small with efficient use of space to cut down on shipping costs
Environmental No consideration given to sourcing, production, supply, delivery or disposal of product, with toxic chemicals used in production No consideration given to sourcing, production, supply, delivery or disposal of product Product is efficient to operate, but may have poor environmental production or disposal impacts Most of the product is sourced from recycled materials, no toxic chemicals used in production, some thought given to production and delivery energy used Product is sourced from 100% recycled materials, with no toxic chemicals used in production. produced with clean energy, packaging designed to lower delivery costs and disposal of product is taken care of

total is 4.1


🎁 🤝 See the transparency notes for details.

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