The Arduino Uno Q is the latest Arduino Uno form factor board from the well-known and renowned stable that first democratized access to microcontrollers. Before Arduino, sure, we had microcontrollers, but they were expensive and cumbersome. Arduino disrupted this norm, and from it emerged the modern microcontroller community.

So is the €39 Arduino Uno Q just an updated Arduino Uno R4? Oh no, it is something much more. The Q stands for Qualcomm, which recently purchased Arduino and now has its Arm-based Dragonwing SoC on the Arduino Uno Q. Still, the Arm CPU isn’t alone, as the Arduino Uno Q also has an STM32U585 microcontroller. Essentially, an Arm Cortex M33 (the same as the Raspberry Pi Pico 2’s RP2350) that runs the Arduino sketches (your projects) alongside the main CPU.

Who is the Arduino Uno Q for? What can you build with it? Does it perform better than just buying a Raspberry Pi 3 and Pico 2? Let's find out.

• The Arduino Uno Q is the first Arduino board after Qualcomm’s recent acquisition of Arduino.
• The Arduino Uno Q can be used as a single board computer, or it can be used via USB or over a Wi-Fi connection.
• The board integrates a Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC for AI and LLM capabilities, with an STM32 microcontroller for real-time control of GPIO.
• The Arduino Uno Q supports a new IDE, Arduino App Lab, which integrates Python and Arduino’s C language to build projects.

Arduino Uno Q Specifications

Look and Feel of the Arduino Uno Q

At a quick glance, the Arduino Uno Q and the Arduino Uno R4 appear the same, but they are quite different. The first noticeable difference is the omission of a DC power jack. The older Arduino Uno boards had a DC barrel jack and in all my years of tinkering with Arduino, I probably used it less than a dozen times.. If you want / need to supply a power source greater than 5V, the VIN pin can be used with a 7-24V supply.

The USB-C port provides power (5V, 3A max) and data connectivity, allowing you to connect the Arduino Uno Q directly to your PC. It also provides, via a hub, access to DisplayPort / HDMI, USB, and power. Using the Arduino Uno Q with a USB-C dock, HDMI display, keyboard, and mouse takes some getting used to. By which I mean, actually sitting down and writing code directly on the Arduino board. In the past, I’d plug it into a PC, write some Arduino code in the IDE, compile and flash the code to the Arduino, and off it went. But sitting here in the Arduino App Lab, writing the code and uploading it to the STM32 just feels alien.

Interestingly, Arduino recommends using the 4GB model as a single board computer, yet the first model released is the 2GB, which leads to a subpar SBC experience. If you prefer the more traditional Arduino workflow, you can connect via USB or Wi-Fi to a PC running the Arduino App Lab. All of your code runs on the Arduino Uno Q, but development and creation take place on your much more powerful PC. This is my preferred means of using the Arduino Uno Q.

When powering up the Arduino Uno Q, the gorgeous 8 x 13 LED matrix illuminates to show an animated Arduino logo, a nice touch that distracts from the rather slow boot process, 34.6 seconds to be exact. Not horrific; the Raspberry Pi 5 is around 20-25 seconds, depending on whether you use a microSD or an SSD. But it feels like a long time for those of us used to powering up an Arduino and seeing the code run straight away.

Qualcomm Dragonwing

The Arduino Uno Q boots directly into a version of Debian Linux, and it is pretty vanilla. The GNOME interface is pleasant and gets the job done. You could use the Arduino Uno Q as a low-power Linux desktop; it would certainly be a conversation starter. But ultimately, the desktop OS is more for getting the Arduino App Lab running than a full desktop OS. Perhaps this will feel a little different when the 4GB model is released. The paltry 2GB of RAM is just enough to get things working.

The newest addition to an Arduino is born from Qualcomm’s recent purchase of Arduino. The Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 is a quad-core Arm Cortex A53 SoC

The Arduino Uno Q is no Linux PC powerhouse, but it doesn’t have to be. Sitting around the Raspberry Pi 3 / Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W level of computing power, the Qualcomm Dragonwing SoC has enough compute to run Linux, and its two 13MP Image Signal Processors (ISPs) support two cameras, with AI inference models that can run on the CPU and GPU. That makes it a potent package for entry-level AI and IoT projects.

But this is not an Arm desktop PC. If you want that, go for a Raspberry Pi 5. The upside of a lower-power CPU is that when the Arduino Uno Q is used as a desktop PC, it draws around 3.3 W at idle and peaks at 4.5W with all four CPU cores under full load. For 90% of the time under stress, the Arduino Uno Q pulled 4.4W. We have to remember that there is no way to just power the STM32 microcontroller. We need to power up the Qualcomm SoC to access the microcontroller. This means that the ultra-low power afforded by a microcontroller project is lost. If that is a concern, then stick to a microcontroller-based board.

How does the Dragonwing communicate with the real-time STM32 microcontroller, and vice versa? The answer is “Bridge,” specifically Arduino's RPC (Remote Procedure Call) library, which enables sketches written for the STM32 to access Linux services and vice versa. The libraries are written in Python for the Dragonwing and Arduino C for use with the STM32. They are both abstracted enough to be easy to use.

The GPIO

The Arduino Uno Q has the same tried-and-tested GPIO pinout as the older Arduino Uno boards. The pinout reference is printed on the side of the connections, and it is great to see the ~ is still printed, reminding me which pins are PWM-compliant for my robot and Neopixel projects.

The Arduino Uno Q also has two higher-density connectors that are earmarked for high-speed camera/displays, audio, SDMMC, and as an expansion with more GPIO pins. Sadly, I cannot test this aspect of the board because, at present, there are no breakout boards or add-ons that support the interface. But I can see these interfaces being used to dock the Arduino Uno R to another board, enabling extra features like robotics in a simpler form factor.

The QWIIC interface is most interesting. It is the same interface as StemmaQT, MakerPort, and QWIIC, which really does make quick work of connecting up a project. QWIIC is essentially a breakout of the I2C interface, but you don’t strictly have to use it for I2C components, although many add-ons do. You’ll need to purchase compatible QWIIC addons, such as those found in the Arduino Plug and Make kit.

Connect up your sensors, in my case, an accelerometer, then load up your code. I chose to use the accelerometer example, and I quickly saw how the STM32 read the raw data from the sensor, which was processed by the Qualcomm Dragonwing to identify the pattern of movement. Lastly, the output was rendered to a web UI in real time. Powerful learning potential!

Arduino Shield Compatibility

Using the Arduino Uno form factor is a smart move for the Arduino Uno Q, chiefly because it provides access to the extensive Arduino Shield ecosystem. Much like Raspberry Pi HATs, Arduino Shields connect to the Uno form factor GPIO and provide extra functionality for projects. And much like the Raspberry Pi, the Arduino Uno Q introduces a period during which shield/HAT compatibility is in flux, despite the same form factor.

I’ve got Shields for Ethernet, IoT, NFC, GSM phone connectivity, RGB LED matrices, etc. The problem with the shields is that they either require a compatible library or a compatible pinout for the shield. It seems that my Adafruit RGB Matrix does not work with the Arduino Uno Q, my collection of Maplin (a now defunct UK electronics retailer) Arduino shields were also impacted by these conditions. If you rely on a shield for your project, stick with an older, well-supported, and known-to-be-compatible Arduino.

Arduino App Lab

No matter how you choose to use the Arduino Uno Q, you’ll be using the new Arduino App Lab in some form. Initially, I used it directly on the board, connecting a screen, keyboard, mouse, etc., via a USB Type-C hub. It worked, and I was able to write a simple “LED Blink” script, but the experience was slow and left me wondering if something was happening as I waited for something to happen. As I’ve already said, the best way to use the Arduino Uno Q is via the Arduino App Lab on your more powerful PC.

The Arduino App Lab is slick and looks great. But I found myself struggling to understand the concepts and workflows necessary to build a project. I’m not (that much of) an idiot, and I can easily write and flash code to my other Arduinos and clones. But the extra steps for the Arduino Uno Q led me to really sit down and read the documentation. Luckily, Arduino has great documentation, but there were times when I was lost. For example, using the Serial.println() is not supported on the Arduino Uno Q, replaced with Monitor.println(), but I was unable to get this working despite following the instructions.

The Arduino App Lab also introduces “bricks,” packages of Python code that bring functionality via an easy-to-use workflow. Some bricks provide AI-relevant features, such as keyword spotting (used in the Hey Arduino! example), while others link to external APIs for weather and web-based user interfaces. Some bricks run as-is; others require a container to run; all are handled by the Arduino App Lab.

Adding a brick to your project is easy. Just click on Bricks, select what you need, and the brick is part of your project. Follow the API documentation to integrate it into your Python code, and you will soon have a keyword-powered LED, etc. I like this feature, largely because it makes using external resources a trivial process for newcomers.

The Arduino Uno Q workflow is really pushing for using the Qualcomm SoC and the STM32 via the RPC “bridge.” You can just write Arduino code directly in the Arduino App Lab, there is no real reason for using the bridge unless you want the power of the Dragonwing SoC. But by doing that, you are really wasting the potential that this board has. You could just use any Arduino or clone board and save yourself the extra spend.

If the Arduino App Lab isn’t for you, then the Arduino IDE 2.3.6 works with the STM32 side of the Arduino Uno Q. After updating and installing the board, I was able to flash the Blink sketch to the Arduino Uno Q. I also tried to upload the Adafruit NeoPixel strandtest sketch to the Arduino Uno Q, but it didn’t work. I checked the wiring, pins, and configuration, but nothing worked. I transferred the project to an Arduino Uno and flashed the sketch. It worked.

I dug a little deeper, and it seems that the STM32 is not supported by Adafruit’s NeoPixel library, so I had to search for something that was compatible. I couldn’t find anything compatible with the STM32 from the Arduino libraries, so I had to abandon that element of the test.

Overall, the Arduino App Lab is a great start, and as the Arduino Uno Q gains traction in the community, it will see more features and tweaks. The workflow takes a little getting used to, but it does simplify the link between the Python code and the Arduino code, which will help newcomers cut their teeth.

Testing the Included Examples

The Arduino Uno Q includes a set of examples covering a wide range of projects you can build with it. From the simple “blink an LED” to AI-based image identification, via web user interface-controlled LEDs and a voice-controlled LED matrix. Some of these projects rely on just the board, but those that use some form of AI often need extra components connected to the USB Type-C port. So you’ll need to dig out a compatible hub. This is where it gets messy, as we now have a hub, Arduino Uno Q, a microphone, and USB-C power to make a voice-controlled project.

I tested the “Hey Arduino” project and can confirm it worked, but it took ages to get the container running for the example. We’re talking 55 seconds from clicking Run to the project being available. Ok, a minute isn’t too long to wait, but if I were integrating this into a project, I would have to ensure that this and the time it takes the Arduino Uno Q to boot, 34.6 seconds, are both factored in.

The projects themselves are great; they illustrate how to use the Arduino Uno Q, and more importantly, they show how to create a project that uses both the Dragonwing and STM32 in one project.

Why is that important? The Arduino Uno Q is a hybrid device; it is neither a dedicated Linux SBC nor a microcontroller, it is both at the same time. This isn’t the first time that Arduino has created a hybrid board. The Galileo was a joint project with Intel, and it brought an Intel Quark X1000 CPU to a new form factor. It ran a Linux distribution based on Yocto and was compatible with Arduino shields. I’ll be honest, Galileo was an interesting idea, and back in the day, I reviewed a unit, but it was a very different beast from the typical Arduino with an Atmel chip.

There was also the Arduino Yún, a microcontroller-based board featuring the legendary ATmega32u4 and an Atheros AR9331 CPU that supported Linux. More recently, we have the Radxa X4, which features an Intel N100 CPU running any operating system you choose and a built-in Raspberry Pi RP2040, as seen in the Raspberry Pi Pico. Sure, for the Radxa X4, there wasn’t a bridge between the two, but there is a serial connection, and with just a few Python libraries, you could make your own bridge between the Intel and Arm CPUs.

AI Performance

The Dragonwing SoC at the heart of the Arduino Uno Q runs Linux, supports a Python bridge, and handles AI tasks. The thing is, due to the memory and processing restrictions, we can run an LLM, but it is tiny, and performance is slower than other SBCs.

To prove a point, I installed tinyllama:1.1b via ollama, and in a prompt, I asked it “What is an Arduino?” The answer was forthcoming, if a little slow. It took 28 seconds to start formulating an answer, and this led me to test how a series of Raspberry Pis would perform. The Raspberry Pi 500+, a keyboard version of the Raspberry Pi 5, started answering the question in 2 seconds! Even the older Raspberry Pi 4 managed 4 seconds. Sadly, the Raspberry Pi 3B+, a board with similar specifications to the Arduino Uno Q, didn’t have enough RAM to start the LLM.

If you’ve got an old Raspberry Pi 4 laying around, spend $10 on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2, and learn how to connect the two using your own serial bridge. You’ve just built your own Arduino Uno Q clone.

Who is the Arduino Uno Q for and what projects will they create?

Those already invested in the Arduino ecosystem will love the Arduino Uno Q, and I can see many AI / LLM-based projects being created with it. Robotics, sensor monitoring, smart homes, and more can be achieved with the Arduino Uno Q. Merging the AI-centric Qualcomm SoC with the STM32 for the GPIO is a smart move. The electronics for your project run on a real-time microcontroller, while the Arm CPU handles all of the AI, Linux, and Python aspects of the project.

Bottom Line

I love the Arduino. It is the board where I cut my teeth with electronics and microcontrollers. The Arduino Uno Q is an interesting board, but ultimately the spec is a little too old and reproducible with kit that many electronics enthusiasts will already have to hand.

That said, if you are a fan of the Arduino and its form factor, you will love the Arduino Uno Q and the ecosystem it brings. The hardware is good, and the Arduino App Lab is a great starting place to learn how to merge the two sides of the Arduino Uno Q into one project.

My worry with the Arduino Uno Q is that it becomes just like the Intel Edison, Galileo, and Arduino Yun. The Intel projects were born of collaboration, whereas the Arduino Uno Q is the result of Qualcomm’s purchase of Arduino. Could that give the Arduino Uno Q more support than previous attempts? Time and popularity will ultimately be the means by which this is measured.

Recent AI market plays have produced all sorts of inter-company investments and flat-out acquisitions. Most of those are somewhat predictable, but occasionally an unexpected deal comes out of left field. Mobile chip giant Qualcomm is acquiring microcontroller expert Arduino for an undisclosed sum. Along with its acquisition, Qualcomm also announced a new Arduino Uno Q board and Arduino App Lab IDE software.

The chipmaker claims that buying Arduino allows it to deliver "a full-stack edge platform," or in other words, edge-device AI, with Arduino microcontrollers as the hardware piece of that puzzle. That would make a measure of sense, given Qualcomm's remarks that this acquisition should dovetail nicely with its acquisitions of the Edge Impulse IoT AI platform and IoT DevOps provider Foundries.io.

Since its founding in the mid-2000s, Arduino has grown to become the default option for anyone wanting an affordable microcontroller, thanks to the open-source design of the hardware and software. The devices spawned thousands of clones and an immense community that makes it exceedingly simple for newcomers to join in. The main distinction between an Arduino and a Raspberry Pi is the former is microcontroller based, the latter being a micro-computer. Though, Raspberry Pi has entered the microcontroller scene with its Raspberry Pi Pico, powered by its own RP2040 and RP2350 custom silicon.

The immediate question likely to be on most enthusiasts' minds, then, is what will happen to Arduino now that it's owned by one of the largest technology companies on the planet. For its part, Qualcomm states that Arduino will "preserve its open approach and community spirit" and "retain its independent brand, tools, and mission".

While that statement sounds good at face value, Qualcomm's (in)famous legal team might take umbrage with the amount of "-duino" clones out there. The Arduino ecosystem is a free-for-all (in a good way), and if Qualcomm adds any barriers to Arduino device usage, like forced product registrations or more restrictive licensing, that could put a significant chill on the project.

The devices themselves (and their clones) are ubiquitous and can be found most anywhere that sells electronic components and even big-box retailers. Any tightening of the supply chain or preferential resellers would also carry a negative impact.

Having said all that, there's no denying that having immediate and direct access to Qualcomm's technology and resources might prove a substantial benefit to Arduino. Chips and designs ought to be far easier to source, and Qualcomm's weight in purchasing components could result in even more affordable or better-performant Arduino devices.

For many of us (me included) our gateway to the world of making was via the Arduino. It may not have Megabytes of memory, and Gigabytes of storage, but it does have GPIO pins that we can control using code. The Arduino Uno is still a powerful machine for imagination and experimentation, but what if you’re just getting started with electronics? Well you will need a kit, and the $78 Arduino Plug and Make Kit makes it so much easier to get started, thanks to a great series of tutorials, and a range of “Modulino” add on boards that simply connect to each other.

Is the Arduino Plug and Make Kit for you? What can we make with it, and more importantly, is it worth our money? Let's find out.

Arduino Plug and Make Kit Technical Specifications

Assembling the Arduino Plug and Make Kit

Inside the rather lovely box is everything we need to get started. The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi board is the heart of the kit, but it's the “Modulino” boards that are the stars. Each of these boards are basically Stemma QT / Qwiic add-on boards for RGB LEDs, distance and temperature sensors, rotary encoders, buzzers and buttons. It's next to impossible to incorrectly plug these in and that makes them ideal for learners

• Modulino Knob: for super-fine value adjustments
• Modulino Pixels: eight LEDs to shine bright, dim down, or change color – you choose!
• Modulino Distance: a time-of-flight proximity sensor to measure distances with precision
• Modulino Movement: to perfectly capture movements like pitch, roll or tilt
• Modulino Buzzer: to generate your own alarm sounds or simple tunes
• Modulino Thermo: a sensor for both temperature and humidity data
• Modulino Buttons: three buttons for quick project navigation

All of the Modulino’s are standard electronic components which have been made into modules that use the I2C protocol to communicate with the Arduino. This means that we can daisy-chain the modules using the included wires.

The Arduino Uno R4 introduced the Qwiic connector to the Uno range, and it is great to see it being used so effectively in this kit. We can build the Modulino boards on our desk, or into a project enclosure, but Arduino also provides a 140 x 140mm board on which we can build a project. This board is made from PCB material, and is essentially a large PCB, but it doesn’t become part of the circuit. Rather it is there to offer a mechanical means to attach the Modulino and Arduino boards using the supplied screws and nuts. It's a great way to secure and demonstrate a project, and it reminds me of the display stands used at events.

Once you are done with your project, it all fits back into the box, yes, even when it is assembled. So next time you build a project, you can just take it out of the box and get started.

Using the Arduino Plug and Make Kit

The Arduino Plug and Make kit has a full range of tutorials that take advantage of the Arduino Cloud, an online IDE where we can create projects which are called “things” that are a mix of web dashboards and Arduino code “sketches.”

You don’t need to know anything about the Arduino Cloud to use this kit. Follow the getting started example and use the provided template to create a web interface (dashboard) for your first Thing. The dashboard will suggest combinations of Modulino boards to build example projects. Adding the Modulino Buttons and RGB LEDs will create a simple race game, where players have to press a button to get to the other side of the strip before their opponent does. Using the temperature modulino will get the temperature and humidity and then display this information on the Arduino Uno R4’s 12 x 8 LED matrix.

Let's back up a little, how does this Arduino Uno R4 WiFi communicate with our web app? Arduino has thought about this, and part of the install process sees your Arduino and Cloud IDE paired together, so that they can communicate using the Uno’s onboard ESP32.

With the getting started project out of the way, Arduino has a series of supporting projects that we can use to get to grips with the kit. I tested out the gesture controlled lamp, and the 8-bit synth. The tutorials were easy to follow, and the writers explain what the context, purpose and goals are for each section that we work through. Once you are confident with the kit, you are free to make your own “Things” using the Modulino boards.

Keep in mind though that the free tier for the Arduino Cloud has limitations on the resources that you can use, so you may have to pay for the next tier, or delete some old project files. The free tier has become better over time, and I can see why Arduino places limitations on the free tier, but I’d still prefer to write my code using the offline editor. And while I can easily do this, the problem is that it loses the purpose of this kit. You see, creating Things and dashboards is part of the appeal of this kit, and something that the offline IDE is not capable of doing to the same standard as the Arduino Cloud.

If you are buying this kit, then most of the intended audience will be new to Arduino, perhaps moving on from the Raspberry Pi. You’ll be ready to follow the Arduino Cloud process, and likely eager to drop some cash on a paid tier. For this old Arduino hacker, I’ll use the Arduino Cloud when I need to, I still prefer to use an offline IDE, which has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

Who is the Arduino Plug and Make Kit For?

Educators, learners, eager minds, you’re the audience for this kit. If you are an experienced Arduino user, there isn’t much to see here. Sure the Modulino boards are interesting, to an experienced maker, but you’ll likely have a huge stash of boards and sensors already.

Bottom Line

I like this kit; it offers everything a beginner needs to take their first steps with the Arduino. The kit price is right. The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is $27 on its own, so we’re paying the difference for the Modulino boards, tutorials and supporting hardware.

The Modulino boards are great, and offer a quick and easy workflow to using sensors and add-ons with your Arduino. The Modulino standard is basically Qwiic / StemmaQT and that means we can purchase a plethora of additional components to create further projects. Your mileage may vary though, as the Arduino Uno R4’s Qwiic connector introduces an issue with the wire library which is used for I2C communication. Some libraries are for other Stemma QT or Qwiic boards, so read up before you make a purchase.

The Arduino Cloud is great fun, and the free tier should be enough for all but the most serious users. It's not a perfect product, I find the Arduino Cloud workflow to be a little cumbersome, but once you get into the flow, you’ll do ok. Educational users will love this kit, and will likely add it to their classrooms.

CBC reports that a Canadian engineering student has built what is claimed to be the world’s smallest arcade machine. Victoria Korhonen, who studies electromechanical engineering at Fanshawe College in London, Ont., 3D-printed, assembled, and programmed a fully functional miniature Pong arcade cabinet to achieve the record.

Korhonen’s arcade machine measures approximately 64mm tall, 26mm wide, and 30mm deep. It undercuts the current Guinness champ, which measures 67 x 30 x 34mm in every dimension.

According to the budding engineer and creator, this arcade cabinet project took about six months to complete. It sounds like a labor of love, with Korhonen repeatedly recounting color matching, redesigning, reprinting, and restarting the project from scratch.

The world’s smallest arcade machine isn’t just a (tiny) piece of hardware. "Everything's done completely from scratch, so the coding system, the A.I., the paddle size, the board," said Korhonen. "Everything you see is completely hand programmed, so that took quite a bit of work."

Since the text-based CBC website skirted around this, we were glad to learn from the accompanying news video that an Arduino microcontroller powers the arcade cabinet. The video also shows how well this version of Pong plays on a tiny cabinet with similarly tiny controls.

Korhonen describes herself as a big gamer and a dedicated electromechanical engineer and seems to be very pleased with this world record achievement.

Guinness will officially certify the tiny new arcade machine as a world record. If the submitted measurements, plans, and reports are up to scratch, Korhonen's Pong machine should secure the record in approximately three months.

This isn’t Korhonen’s first world record. After getting together with classmates to take a photo using the world’s longest selfie stick, she already has her name in the hallowed book. Actor Ben Stiller was the previous holder of that particular record.

Korhonen isn’t going to be satisfied with two world records. She already has her sights on creating the world’s most miniature humanoid robot.

Single-board computers (or SBCs) like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino just keep getting smaller. But sometimes that doesn't quite fit the bill. If you're looking for something with a little more flexibility, you might want to check out this awesome custom Arduino PCB put together by maker and developer Rajesh K T with Edison Science Corner known as the Flexduino.

Rajesh is no stranger to making his own PCBs, especially ones inspired by the Arduino. After working on making a few variants over the years, he decided to create an Arduino replica that had a bit more bend than your average circuit board. Manufacturers like PCB Way have options to have custom boards made with flexible layers which is what this one is constructed with.

Although a few shortcuts had to be taken to complete the design, the end result still actually works. We get a look at it in action thanks to the video Rajesh shared, detailing the creation process. In it, we see the finished Flexduino complete with surface-mounted components, GPIO and LEDs that illuminate. One important thing that's missing, however, is the ground plane, which wouldn't be conducive for a flexible PCB like this.

The original Arduino is traditionally fabricated with a dark blue PCB but this flexible board has a yellowish amber color. It's very thin, measuring in at just 1mm thick which makes it even easier to flex. As a finishing touch, Rajesh made a little logo titled "Flexduino" and had it screen printed on the board.

As of writing, the project has yet to be made open source, so we haven't had the chance to explore the source files for ourselves. However, you can get an in-depth look at the design process and see some detailed screenshots of the gerber file data in the YouTube video shared to his Edison Science Corner channel.

If you want to get a closer look at the Flexduino and see it in action for yourself, check out the original video uploaded by Rajesh. Be sure to follow him for future updates, as well as other cool microelectronics creations like this one.

Arduino, popular among makers for its inexpensive but capable microcontroller boards and a vast array of sensors and other components, is making introducing people to its world even easier. The company recently announced its Arduino Plug and Make Kit, which includes everything you need to make seven different starter projects.

One of the biggest struggles many folks have getting started in Arduino and other hobbyist electronics is soldering. Many lack this skill and are hesitant to attempt learning it. Companies trying to make the hobby more accessible, like Adafruit, SparkFun, and Seeed Studio, have each developed their own quick connectors to reduce the need for soldering.

Arduino’s new Plug and Make Kit continues in this vein. SparkFun’s Quiic connector allows you to assemble all the components needed for your project without soldering or even using a breadboard and jumper wires. The kit includes seven of Arduino’s Modulino components, sensors, and actuators for various tasks that you can connect to the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi’s Quiic connector.

Arduino has tried bringing modular kits like Plug and Make Kit to market before but didn’t quite succeed. As Mr. Arduino himself, Massimo Banzi, said, “Innovation takes time, and you have to wait for the right moment.” Evidently, the company’s decided that moment is now.

These Modulinos include controls like buttons and knobs, programmable LEDs, a buzzer, and sensors covering temperature and humidity, distance, and a gyroscope. 

These components, along with everything else included in the Plug and Make Kit, are all you need to build any of seven different projects:

• A weather station to report the current temperature and humidity, as well as forecasted rain.
• A digital hourglass complete with LED indicators of the time remaining.
• A system to monitor temperature and humidity of your plants.
• A game controller.
• A synthesizer to get you “one step closer to being a rockstar, DJ or sound engineer!.”
• A smart lamp.
• A touchless lamp you control with a gesture.

The Plug and Make Kit is available on Arduino’s online store now for $87.36 and includes the following:

• An Arduino Uno R4 WiFi main board.
• The seven Modulino nodes outlined above.
• A Modulino base to keep your project neat and organized
• A USB-C to USB-A cable for programming and powering your Arduino.
• Quiic cables for connecting everything.
• Spacers, screws, and nuts for securing components to the Modulino base.

Learning the ins and outs of microelectronics can be a challenge in the classroom. That's why it's always exciting when we see new products like Arduino Alvik that make the introductory process much more palatable to new makers. Just this week, Arduino has unveiled the new device which aims to help teachers share the joys of programming and robotics with students of all experience levels.

The Arduino Alvik is different from other devices we've covered in the past but also somewhat similar. The new system is designed to use Arduino's Nano ESP32 (a version of Espressif's ESP32 using the Nano form factor) and MicroPython. MicroPython is a version of Python3 for microcontrollers and it can be used with boards like the Raspberry Pi Pico. 

If you're familiar with Lego Technic, you will be delighted to discover the Arduino Alvik has special connectors that work with Technic components. It also supports QWIIC (Stemma QT) connections and is compatible with external Grove sensors. You can easily modify the physical case with 3D-printed components or attach laser cut panels with M3 screws.

The Arduino Alvik also comes with a selection of integrated modules that save you the trouble of having to add them on yourself. It includes things like an accelerometer, line-following sensors and even a 6-axis gyroscope. The system also comes with a built in battery that can be recharged or replaced as necessary so you don't have to worry about plugging it into the wall which can make a huge difference in classroom settings where outlets might be limited.

As of writing, no price has been confirmed and it's not clear when the launch will take place. However, you can find more out about the Arduino Alvik over at the official website where you can also sign up to be among the first to get notified once more information is made available.

Barbie typically lives in a perfect world, but according to a blog post on the official Arduino site, the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi can be used to make nightmares. Wicked Makers performed a cabin in the woods makeover for Barbie's Dreamhouse. The makeover includes a summoning ring, ghostly videos, and a miniature fog machine.

The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is the heart of this ghostly build. Barbie's Screamhouse uses LED filament and small LEDs. All the wiring is routed to the rear of the house and a breadboard is used as a distribution panel and interface for the Arduino's GPIO.

LED filament is a remarkably vibrant component to work with. Rather than a focused point of light, we get a continuous length of LED light, similar to neon in appearance. Inside the filament are a chain of LEDs that get treated just like a typical LED. The filament is used here to make summoning circles and add dramatic lighting to the scene.

Individual LEDs are inserted into a series of SLA 3D-printed skull lighting fixtures, but you'll need one of the best resin 3D printers to get this level of detail. A 3D-printed chandelier uses twisted sections of LEDs to produce an elegant if creepy ambience. If you're an FDM 3D printer fan, the team has a TV set printed on a Bambu Labs printer. This old-fashioned TV set has a distinct The Ring vibe to it.

Barbie's Dreamhouse was torn apart, and all the fixtures and fittings were removed and later repainted for a more demonic purpose. A Dremel tool was used to cut away old plastic and make space for new electronics.

To add some interactivity to the model, an iPad and iPad Mini were used to play scary videos where the windows used to be. They look very effective and provide a little more fear factor to Barbie's already scary-good home.

We do love projects that take old toys and electronics and make them into something extra fun. The team used an Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, but they could also use a Raspberry Pi Pico W or a Raspberry Pi 5. The latter would be able to play the spooky videos via its dual micro HDMI outputs.

When it comes to making dumb devices smart, there’s no board quite as capable as the Raspberry Pi. From its convenient design to huge online community, it’s no surprise that maker Tanay Tanay chose the Pi 4 as a go-to controller from their smart vertical farming system. This project is designed to help users manage their vertical gardens for optimal results. 

According to Tanay, the idea was to create a smart system from scratch that would enable a variety of useful farming features. Tanay wanted things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support for remotely monitoring the plants. Automating routine procedures like watering can be done with great precision when the moisture levels are tracked with a sensor.

The end result is a Pi-powered system with tons of cool goodies to take your plant care to the next level. Tanay is able to monitor all sorts of environmental factors like how much light is available, how moist the air is, how much water is in the soil, what the temperature is and much more. The icing on the cake is a user-friendly interface that can be used to manually water the plants.

The main board for this project is a Raspberry Pi 4 B. It’s connected to an Arduino Nano R3 which is assigned to a specific plant. Some of the sensors confirmed in the design are a soil moisture sensor, an ambient light sensor as well as a water level depth detection sensor. You could always add more or take away modules depending on what you want to do with your vertical farm. For example, a camera could be used to log plant growth progress over time.

Tanay explains that ThingSpeak, an IoT platform, was used in the project design. Tanay was kind enough to share the source code used in the setup over at Hackster. You can find it along with more details about the project’s construction over at the official project page.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you can check it out over at Hackster. Be sure to follow Tanay for more cool projects as well as any future updates on this one. 

The Arduino Shield standard enables Arduino Uno layout boards to use addons that attach directly to the top of the Arduino. For Raspberry Pi we have the HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) standard that works in a similar fashion. But a new Arduino carrier board, the $45 Portenta HAT Carrier, will allow the use of the best Raspberry Pi HATs and cameras on your Arduino Portenta.

The Arduino Portenta HAT Carrier is designed for use with the $199 Portenta X8, H7 and C33 boards which use a dual high-density pins connector to attach to the carrier board. So your Arduino Uno layout boards won't be much use here. By favoring these boards, the Portenta HAT Carrier is focused on industrial applications and robotics.

Looking at the pinout [PDF] we can see that the HAT attaches to the 40 pin GPIO and has four M2 mount points at the corner of the HAT layout. This means that the Portenta HAT Carrier conforms to the HAT standard layout, a wise choice given the sheer number of Raspberry Pi HATs.

Speaking of HATs, there are only two official supported HATs at this time. A Stepper Motor HAT and an RPi Relay Board. Using the Stepper Motor HAT we can make robots or moving projects, and the RPi Relay Board will enable us to switch higher voltages. What about other HATs? If you know your code then you can easily port the Python module of your favorite HAT, but everyone else will have to wait for others to do it (or start learning). 

We can see in the user manual that we have access to a Python module which apes RPi.GPIO. Portenta.GPIO looks like a similar means to control the GPIO, but were unsure as to how compatible the software is. As we are currently seeing with the Raspberry Pi 5, changes to the software mean that HATs are currently non-functional. For Raspberry Pi alternatives, such as the Khadas VIM 4, Asus Tinkerboard, and Nvidia Jetson we often see a facsimile of RPi.GPIO — but it's never quite as good as the original.

The camera connector looks like the 22 pin version found on all flagship Raspberry Pi boards — with the exception of the Raspberry Pi 5 and Zero range, which use 15 pins. With this connector we can attach compatible cameras, which include the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 1 and 2. The user manual states that this is exclusively for the Portenta X8, the top of the range board. The H7 and C33 have no MIPI interface and so cannot use the camera. Software for the camera interface appears to be bundled into the Linux OS and we can see in the manual that it is pretty straightforward to capture an image or stream video.

This is an interesting product and something that we would like to get hands on with just for the sheer enjoyment of hacking a HAT to work with an Arduino. We've done it with a Raspberry Pi Pico, so it should be worthwhile challenge.

If you’re looking for a board to make your project go, the Raspberry Pi Pico W is a fine choice. In fact, maker and developer Paulsb liked it so much he decided to use it twice in his latest project. Using two Raspberry Pi Pico W, he’s developed a custom RC car and a controller that operates the vehicle wirelessly.

According to Paulsb, the RC car has two distinct driving modes. The first one allows you to control the cars movements. This can be done using either the custom controller or using the UDP Joystick phone app. The second mode is avoidance mode in which case the car is able to self navigate while avoiding obstacles. Using the phone app instead of the controller won’t allow you to switch between avoidance and control mode, however.

Paulsb went on to explain some of the design choices in the build. Most notably, the controller uses a Pico W as the main board but he also had to an an ADS1115 ADC board as the Pico W only has three analog channels. The ADS1115 adds an additional four ADC channels to the Pico W controller.

The robot car is also driven by a Raspberry Pi Pico W. The frame for the car comes from an EMO Smart Robot Car Chassis Kit with motors. An L298N motor driver controller board was included to help drive the servos. An HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor is mounted on the front resembling a pair of eyes. This is used to help navigate in avoidance mode. A few 3D-printed assets were developed just for the project as well and can be found on the project page at Hackster.

The software for the project was written using C++ using the Arduino IDE. You can find more details about the project source code over at Hackster. The project has been made open source so anyone is welcome to peruse the source code to recreate the build themselves or modify it for a similar creation.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, check out the project page over at Hackster and be sure to follow Paulsb for more cool developments as well as any future updates on this one.

Writing libraries to support our favorite microcontrollers is a big task, but what if ChatGPT could lend a hand? Adafruit's own Limor "Ladyada" Fried has tasked ChatGPT to write Arduino drivers in her own style, creating a "mini-Limor" bot to handle the task.

Ladyada spends a lot of time writing Arduino libraries, and has produced hundreds of libraries to support Adafruit's impressive range of boards (many of which feature in our best Grove and Stemma QT page). GPT-4 has already been trained using many of Adafruit's drivers found on GitHub. These drivers are written in the "Ladyada style" (Adafruit_BusIO) and that means it can create drivers using this template.

The workflow involves a lot of datasheet references, binary tables and bit insets, all of which need to be understood and converted into C or Python code. This task isn't easy (trust us, we have tried it our self). There isn't a standard format to get this data. Datasheets can be wildly different.

For "mini-Limor", Fried's workflow involves asking ChatGPT to "[write] an arduino library in the same style as ladyada / limor fried". In the example Fried tasks ChatGPT to create a driver for the VCNL4020 ambient light and infrared sensor, an I2C based sensor. The workflow uses a free PDF parsing plugin (AI PDF) that reads a datasheet, extracts register names, values, creates enum tables and text for comments.
Fried then asks ChatGPT to create a skeleton file for the VCNL4020 which it was partially successful in creating. Then Fried asks it to create the registers, using data directly from the datasheet. After that Fried moves on to making the library.

Is this a faster process? Well, no. According to Adafruit's blog post, "The amount of time it takes for ChatGPT to write a driver is about the same as it would take Ladyada" and the resulting driver requires human interaction to check that it is valid, as Fried states in the video, ChatGPT can sometimes "hallucinate" and introduce mistakes. That being said, it does free up Fried to undertake other tasks.

The produced work is based upon Adafruit's own prior work, but Adafruit has confirmed that when any Large Language Model (LLM) is used, it will be disclosed and linked to.

Good drivers form the basis on which learners can cut their teeth without getting too technical, especially with I2C, SPI and many other protocols. If the process can be refined and automated, then it could help developers such as Adafruit to create drivers and libraries for many of the popular programming languages. The process could be used to address third-party software support with the Arduino Uno R4 range of boards. Fried also mentions that this process can also be used with CircuitPython, meaning that the Raspberry Pi Pico range of boards. 

Adafruit has a blog post and links to the entire process, including ChatGPT logs for reference.

The Raspberry Pi community is huge and a great place to make friends—literally. Today we’re showing off one of the coolest friends you can make with the help of our favorite SBC. This bipedal companion robot was created by maker and developer Dan Nicholson and relies on a Raspberry Pi as it’s main driving component. It’s also aided by a couple of custom PCBs as well as an Arduino.

According to Nicholson, the goal of this project wasn’t just to make a cool bipedal robot but also to develop something that others could experiment with at home. Whether you’re new to robotics or a well-seasoned pro, this project was intended to be a platform for makers of any ability to explore and build upon. It’s intentionally modular and can work with a variety of systems, components.

This is the third iteration of his work which has been progressing over a few years. The first was mostly just a proof of concept while the second was a more impressive albeit less stable edition. You can see how far along this third version has come by checking out the playlist on YouTube he shared detailing version 2’s creation.

There are quite a few pieces in this robot created from scratch just for the project. You can find two custom PCBs—one for the Pi 3B+ and one for the Arduino Pro Mini that controls the servos. The body is also 3D printed with files available for anyone to download and print at home. A Google Coral TPU is attached to the head to enhance the Pi’s image processing capability. Additional components include things like a camera module, microphones, buttons, a microwave sensor and even a snazzy NeoPixel LED ring for one of the eyes.

The software for the project is also open source and available for anyone to check out. There is a full build guide over at GitHub which includes detailed information for specific parts of the project like setting up speech recognition and implementing a battery monitor for power management.

If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the video shared to YouTube showing it off and explore the project in greater detail over at GitHub. Be sure to follow Dan Nicholson for future updates, as well.

On the next episode of our Raspberry Pi flavored show, The Pi Cast we have a very special guest joining us. Arduino co-founder, Massimo Banzi.

As well as being the co-founder of the Arduino project, Banzi is also its chairman and CTO since 2004. Banzi has also worked as an interaction designer, educator and open source hardware advocate. Banzi has worked as a consultant for clients such as: Prada, Artemide, Persol, Whirlpool, V&A Museum and Adidas.

The Arduino Success Story

We'll be asking Banzi all about the meteoric rise of the Arduino project, from the earliest boards all the way to its latest incarnation, the R4 Uno range. We'll also have a selection of Arduino boards to talk about as we move through the story.

The Arduino Uno R4 Minima is the fourth version of the famous Arduino Uno form factor and sees the venerable Atmel ATMEGA328P replaced with a powerful Renesas RA4M1, Arm Cortex-M4 running at 48 MHz. In this world of always connected devices and Internet of Things, the new Arduino Uno R4 WiFi has the same Arm-Cortex M4 as the Minima, but adds an ESP32-S3 co-processor to handle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connetivity. The R4 WiFi also features a Qwiic / StemmaQT connector for use with compatible sensors / components.

We've got a full review of both boards for you to read ahead of our show.

Put Your Questions to Arduino Co-Founder Massimo Banzi

The Pi Cast is a live show and we would love for you to join us and ask your questions directly to Banzi.

Questions are asked via the live chat box, and can be asked while the show is live, or you can drop a question in the chat before the show. 

We will endeavour to ask all of your questions. time permitting.

We can't wait to talk to Banzi, and ask your questions directly to the Arduino co-founder.

Raspberry Pi has long been the most famous in the world of single-board computers. But there are plenty of alternatives, such as LattePanda and Khadas, and of course, BeagleBoard, which has announced the availability of its RISC-V powered BeagleV-Ahead.

Coming in at $149, the BeagleV-Ahead is powered by a 2 GHz, quad-core RISC-V 64GCV Xuantile C910 CPU and has 4GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC flash storage on which you can install either Ubuntu or Yocto Linux. The OS is flashed to the board, and we then remotely interface with the board via a terminal or web interface.

The big draw for this board is the RISC-V CPU. In the maker community, RISC-V is gaining popularity, mainly due to its open-source nature and availability in several different price points and packages. This includes Milk-V, which offers three RISC-V machines starting from $9. You can even get RISC-V-powered soldering irons now!

Beagle boards have used Arm-based CPUs in the past, but the switch to an open-source RISC-V CPU is the only significant change between the boards. The distinct BeagleBoard form factor remains, meaning "capes", BeagleBoard's name for add-on boards (think Raspberry Pi HATs or Arduino Shields). Capes connect to the board using the P8 and P9 header, essentially the same as the Raspberry Pi's GPIO. But with the BeagleV-Ahead, we get six analog inputs and a plethora of PWM, I2C, UART, SPI, I2S and good old digital IO.

The BeagleBoard team has a documentation page up; from there, we can delve deeper into the BeagleV-Ahead. There are a few gaps, but this board is just a few days old, so documentation will eventually catch up.

We first reported on this board in 2021, and in the two years since, there has been a pandemic and a global chip shortage which has impacted the delivery time of the BeagleV. That said, it is good to see another RISC-V board being offered to an enthusiastic maker community.

The BeagleV-Ahead is available from several distributors, with an average price of $149. 

Update 7/14 03:39 PT:

Arduino dropped us a tweet to say that Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is now supported in the Arduino Cloud. We have re-tested and confirmed that we can make a "thing" (Arduino Cloud parlance for an IoT device) and have updated the relevant section of this review. The final score remains the same.

Updated Review: 

Despite its age, the Arduino Uno, the most famous board in the range, is still seen as the go to board for makers. In its first decade it has powered countless projects, both great and small. The Uno has seen many variations, but at its heart has been the Atmel chip, until now. 

The Arduino Uno R4 series features a new Arm-powered heart and the same CPU across two boards. The most basic board is the $20 Arduino Uno R4 Minima, essentially the next generation Arduino Uno, but at the other end of the scale is the $27 Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, which features an onboard ESP32 co-processor. An ESP32 co-processor just for Wi-Fi may seem like overkill, it can run at up to 240 MHz versus the Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex M4’s 48 MHz, but the ESP32 has proven to be a rock solid board to build with. We just have to look across our bench to see the many boards based upon it.

Are these new Arduino boards worth the dollars in your pocket, or should you just buy a Raspberry Pi Pico W? To learn that and more we need to put both of the boards on the bench and run a few tests.

Arduino Uno R4 Specifications

Getting Started With the Arduino R4 Boards

Opening the box of a new Arduino is something that we will never forget. From our first R2 board until today. We don’t do unboxing videos and they don’t factor in our review, but the experience is sublime. Minimal packaging that also displays the basic specifications of the boards. The boards come pre-soldered (unlike the Raspberry Pi Pico) and are dark blue in color, in fact they are of a darker hue than our Arduino Uno R2 board. Both boards share the distinctive Uno layout, and that means we can connect Shields (Arduino parlance for add-on boards, Raspberry Pi uses HATs) to our Uno R4, but more on that later. 

Arduinos come pre-flashed with a simple test script. For the Minima we have the classic “Blink” sketch (Arduino parlance for project code) which sees an LED flash on / off every second. For the R4 WiFi we see a 12 x 8 LED matrix dominate the board. The matrix shows a brief Tetris animation before running through a series of geometric animations.

Making GPIO connections is super easy. GPIO pin references are clearly printed on the female headers and the PCB. This is exceptionally useful for those new to electronics. The Raspberry Pi Pico has GPIO references printed on the underside of the board and that can get confusing. Connecting the R4 Unos to our computer relies on a USB C data cable and the Arduino IDE.

Programming the Arduino Uno R4 Boards

The Arduino IDE has been with us since the early days of the boards; heck we’ve been using it for 10 years now. In the last year Arduino has updated its offline Arduino IDE. Now at version 2.1.1, the Arduino IDE is a fantastic improvement over past iterations. Not that we have any issues with the old IDE, it served us well and it still works with these new boards.

Installing the Arduino IDE and connecting the Arduino Uno R4 boards to the computer, and we see the IDE detect and configure the boards for use. It even downloaded the latest drivers and configuration for the new boards. After that we ventured into File >> Examples and selected a series of example sketches for the boards. 

Starting with the Minima, we updated the standard Blink sketch to use a for loop that would blink the LED a few times before stopping, then repeating. Flashing the code took under 30 seconds and all was good. For the R4 WiFi, we chose to use an example that uses the ESP32’s Wi-Fi connectivity along with the R4’s Arm CPU. The onboard ESP32 is an incredibly powerful microcontroller in its own right, but acting as a co-processor it offloads all of the networking that would slow down the 48 MHz Arm CPU. 

The goal of the web example is to create a web server and host a simple HTML page that we can use to control the status of the onboard LED. The example can either be its own Wi-Fi access point, or we can assign it to our existing network. We chose the latter and after adding our Wi-Fi details we then flashed the board and went to Arduino Uno R4 WiFi’s IP address. Clicking the On / Off text then triggered the LED to change state.

With the tests out of the way, we can be a little more adventurous. How about a web controlled motor? Using the example code, with a slight tweak for the GPIO pins, we connected a DC motor to the Arduino via a Cytron Maker Drive motor controller. The Arduino GPIO can only supply 8mA per GPIO pin, nowhere near what a motor requires. With the connections made we flashed the code, then went back to the browser. A press of the text and the motor sprang to life, then we pressed the other text element to turn it off and then we realized that we had forgotten to change the GPIO pin. A quick tweak and flashing the code to the Arduino saw the problem resolved. 

Using Shields with an Arduino, we benefit from ready-made platforms on which we can base our projects. We have Shields for Ethernet, LCD screens, Audio Synths and we even made our own Shield to flash ATTiny85 microcontrollers. These same shields are electrically compatible with the Arduino R4 boards, but the caveat is that the software may require some tweaking. It will eventually catch up, but you may have to get your hands dirty to make things work, something we’ll cover later. 

We connected up a Maplin (a long since closed UK electronics store) branded touch shield and flashed some code to enable the embedded MPR121 capacitive touch sensor. Opening the Serial Monitor and we saw our keypresses being registered. We then connected our Audio Synth Shield, the same one that we hand soldered for our Make Your Own Uno Kit review. Flashing the test sketch and we soon had a “musical instrument” with which to inflict our brand of music on our poor neighbors.

The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi’s 12 x 8 LED matrix is a simple affair. Instead of individual addressable RGB LEDs we have a matrix made from a series of red LEDs. Controlling the LEDs can be done in code, by creating a series of arrays in a file called Animation.h. We can create these using a web application, saving the arrays to a text file which we then paste into the code. There is also a web app which uses web serial in the browser to connect to an Arduino Uno R4 WiFi running a specific sketch. Using this web app we can “paint” the LEDs on or off. Great fun for demonstrating the LED matrix, and surely the spark of an idea for future maker projects.

Arduino Uno R4 WiFi Qwiic I2C Issues

This issue only applies to the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, and the sole reason for that is the inclusion of a Qwiic connector. Yes the same Qwiic connector offered by SparkFun, Adafruit (StemmaQT), Pimoroni (QW/ST) and Cytron (Maker Port) is present on the R4 WiFi and while this is a most welcome addition, it also brings a problem. 

Normally, Arduinos have just a single I2C connection, but the addition of the Qwiic connection means that the R4 WiFi has two. More is a good thing, right? Well yes it is, but software has to catch up to this innovation. The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi cheatsheet, which we only later found, identified the secondary I2C bus and helpfully told us what to do in order to make it work with our range of StemmaQT add on boards. But it wasn’t quite that simple. 

Arduino relies on the Wire.h library to configure the I2C interface, and we can’t just import it into our code. Instead we have to locate the library for our chosen board, in our case Adafruit’s MPR121 touch sensor code. Handily, hovering the mouse over the correct line shows the file path to the library. Copy the path, open it in Notepad++ and change Wire to Wire1. Save. Go back to the Arduino IDE, flash the code and all is good. Yes this is a little time consuming and not for newcomers, but as we said earlier, the software support will catch up once the R4 WiFi gets into more hands. 

With this workflow in hand, we managed to test a VCNL4040 proximity sensor, IS31FL3741 RGB matrix and an LTR390 UV sensor. We also tested a SparkFun Qwiic Shield, providing four Qwiic connectors, all routed via the SDA / SCL pins of the Arduino. Which meant that we had to undo our changes to Wire.h in order to make it work.

Arduino IoT Cloud and the Arduino Uno R4 Boards

The offline Arduino IDE isn't the only means to write code for your new Arduino Uno R4. The Arduino IoT Cloud is an online service to create your own IoT applications (Things) using an online Arduino IoT. The free tier is a little restrictive, but enough for users to cut their teeth.

Originally we encountered a problem in that Arduino IoT did not detect our R4 boards even though we followed the instructions and installed a bunch of software. That isn’t the end of the world, as the Web Editor, an online IDE, works exceptionally well. We flashed code to both of the boards and everything went well.

Arduino Uno R4 WiFi Support Added to the Arduino Cloud

A few days after this review, Arduino announced support for the Arduino Uno R4 WIFi on its Arduino Cloud service. We went back and re-tested by creating an IoT "Thing" with a web controlled LED. Pressing a button on a dashboard would trigger an LED to turn on and off.

Setting up the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi for use with the Arduino Cloud is pretty easy. The only section which may phaze users is when we need to update the firmware, requiring us to download and run a .bat file. This triggered Windows Security and initially prevented use. Clicking "More Info" and then "Run anyway" did the trick. After that we ran through the online wizard, created a "thing", linked the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi as a device, created a dashboard, and the Arduino Cloud auto-generated some boiler-plate code. This code served as the basis for our project, a quick function handler to read the state of the dashboard button, and some LED control code and we had a web controlled LED.

With the Arduino Cloud, the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is a great platform for your first IoT experiments. The free tier is enough for most users and educators, more advanced users will jump onto one of the subscriptions for increased services. With the Arduino Cloud we can create web apps to control devices and components connected to the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, and we can receive data from the device and view it in a web interface.

Who are the Arduino Uno R4 Boards Aimed at, and Why? 

The Arduino Uno R4 Minima is clearly aimed at new users. The $20 price tag, ease of use and form factor will benefit those looking to learn electronics. It is the Arduino that a new generation will claim as their first machine. 

The Arduino Uno R4 WiFi is only $7 more and with that we get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (not at the same time) and the Qwiic connector. This little board, once it receives some software love, will be what educators, hobbyists and professionals will use as the heart of their projects. Just look at how popular the Arduino Uno was in its first decade. Sure it was never a powerhouse, it couldn’t run an OS, or connect to networks. But the community adopted it and made it much more.

Should we Just buy a Raspberry Pi Pico W?

There is no clear-cut answer here. The Raspberry Pi Pico W is much smaller and cheaper than the Arduino Uno R4 boards. The Raspberry Pi Pico is under $5, and the Pico W under $8. They can both be coded using the Arduino IDE and have a massive support base. That said, if you have built your career using Arduino and have all of the kit and knowledge, then the R4 boards are an obvious step along the path. 

Arduino boards have a proven track record in the education sector, largely down to their ease of use and excellent documentation. But Raspberry Pi has the same track record, and its Pico documentation is exceptional.

Bottom Line

It has some flaws, for now, but the Arduino Uno R4 series of boards will soon become the de facto standard on which learners, makers, educators, and professionals base their projects. If you are new to Arduino, the Minima’s $20 price tag is quite enticing, but pay the extra and get the $27 Arduino Uno R4 WiFi as the inclusion of Wi-Fi is an incredible learning opportunity. That said, the Minima will be in our bits box, ready for service when we need to write ATtiny85 firmware or make some musical device / light show for the holiday season.

The Raspberry Pi Pico's RP2040 has been embedded in a plethora of form factors, many of which feature in our list of best RP2040 boards.
SB Component's $4.50 Micro RP2040 may look familiar. It bears a striking resemblance to Solder Party's RP2040 Stamp which sees the GPIO pins broken along the perimeter of the board, but with Micro RP2040 we have an onboard USB C interface, but it came at a cost.

The sacrifice is a handful of GPIO pins. We don't get the full 40 pins from the RP2040, but that said, who uses all of them anyway? Software debug (SWD) pins are present, so you can make your own debug probe, or connect it up to an external debug probe to step through your code. The design of the board follows the Raspberry Pi Pico's castellations, which means it can be surface mount soldered, perhaps using one of the best soldering stations, into a project. The product page also claims that it can be used in a breadboard, but the bottom row of GPIO pins will have to soldered pointing upward, otherwise they will short each other out in the breadboard.

The form factor packs a lot in a small package, making it useful for creating your own USB HID devices. A version with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth would be a killer product, but you can only pack so much into the form factor.

The key difference between the Micro RP2040 and RP2040 Stamp is the USB interface. Micro features a USB C interface built in to the board, whereas Stamp required an off board USB to serial converter or an Arduino Uno shaped carrier board.

Micro RP2040 is available via SB Components for approximately $4.50. Technical details and pinout diagrams can be found in a GitHub repository.

Arduino has announced its two latest boards, the Arduino Uno R4 WiFi and the Arduino Uno R4 Minima. As you can probably guess from the names, the R4 WiFi has onboard Wi-Fi, courtesy of an ESP32-S3 co-processor. The Minima features the same Arm Cortex M4 processor, but omits the ESP32-S3.

Could these boards surpass the $8 Raspberry Pi Pico W and $4 Raspberry Pi Pico? We'll find out when we get our hands on a unit for our review.

Arduino Uno R4 WiFi

The $27 Arduino R4 WiFi sees the familiar Arduino Uno layout but with a slight revamp. The layout remains the same, but instead of a large Atmel ATMEGA328P dominating the board, we see a 12 x 8 LED matrix. This matrix is used to show images and scroll text in much the same way as micro:bit. Replacing the 16 MHz ATMEGA328P microcontroller is a 48 MHz Renesas RA4M1 Arm Cortex-M4 CPU, providing an on-paper performance boost. How it will be reflected in your projects remains to be seen.

But the Arduino R4 WiFi is not just all about flashing lights. An onboard ESP32-S3, itself a competent microcontroller, provides both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for the Uno R4 WiFi. This isn't the first Arduino with Wi-Fi, but it is a welcome addition to the R4, as IoT (Internet of Things) is clearly here to stay. As with many Arduino before it, the Uno R4 WiFi can also become a USB HID device, which means you can design your own inputs and use the Uno R4 as an interface. Custom keyboards, game controllers and assistive technologies are just a few lines of code, and a little soldering away.

An unusual but pleasant surprise is an onboard Qwiic connector. This connector is electrically compatible with many sensors and components using Adafruit's Stemma QT, Pimoroni's QW/ST and of course SparkFun's Qwiic connections. This means that you can easily connect up the best Stemma QT / Qwiic and QW/ST components for quick and simple projects.

Arduino Uno Minima

If you don't need Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and fancy saving $7, then the Minima is the new base-level Arduino for your projects. Essentially, it's the same board as the Uno R4 WiFi, offering the same GPIO options, with the omission of the Qwiic connector. This omission is a great shame, but costs have to be cut to make the $20 price point.

The Arduino Uno R4 WIFI and Arduino Uno R4 Minima are both available directly from Arduino.

DFRobot, makers of the LattePanda series of single board computers (SBC) has launched a new single board computer, which is more affordable but not as powerful as its Delta or Sigma series of boards. The $79 Unihiker is a Debian based SBC that has more in common with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W than the Raspberry Pi 4. The board features an Arm CPU and RISC-V based microcontroller to power your projects.

The most interesting feature of this board is a 240 x 320 pixel, 2.8-inch touchscreen. Under the hood is a quad-core Arm Cortex A35 running at up to 1.2 GHz and 512MB of RAM. The Debian OS is installed to the onboard 16GB eMMC but this doesn’t mean that we are limited to the small screen and single USB port. Instead, we connect using the included USB C cable, creating a locally available device with a fixed IP address. 

Unihiker can also be wirelessly connected to an access point, or even become a hotspot to which you can connect from a laptop, tablet or smartphone. The onboard Realtek RTL8723DS provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. 

Programming Unihiker is flexible. For beginners, DFRobot recommends Mind+, a block based coding environment. For more advanced coders, the benefit of Unihiker being an SBC means that you can write code using many different languages. DFRobot states that Python, Jupyter (a web-based interactive computing platform) or a built-in IoT service which uses the MQTT protocol can be used to bring your creations to life.

Coding with an SBC is nothing without interesting hardware and Unihiker comes with an onboard GD32VF103C8T6 microcontroller, which appears to be a RISC-V based MCU running at 108 MHz. This likely means that the microcontroller is programmed from the underlying OS, in a similar manner to the LattePanda Delta / Sigma. Unihiker also comes with an onboard microphone, PT0603 photosensitive triode (light sensor), buzzer, 6-axis motion sensor (ICM20689) and the ubiquitous LED.

Extra hardware can be connected in a few different ways. Firstly we have three, three pin I/O ports, similar to Grove connectors which provide signal (GPIO pin) voltage and a ground connection for devices. Two of these ports provide an analog-to-digital converter, and all four provide PWM (pulse width modulation) which can be used with motor controllers for rudimentary speed control. 

Two slightly larger ports provide I2C connections for compatible boards / components. Interestingly Unihiker also features a micro:bit compatible GPIO. At the base of the board are a series of “gold teeth” which can be used with compatible breakouts and accessories to make further GPIO connections. The micro:bit, now in its second iteration, is an alternative to Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards. Primarily using a block based coding language, micro:bit is aimed at the education and young learner market.

DFRobot provides a wiki detailing all of the features and a getting started guide provides the foundation for your projects. Unihiker is available now for $79.

If there’s one thing the world of microelectronics can do, it’s bring what seems like magic into the real world. Such is the case today with this fantastic Harry Potter-themed project from maker Mo from the YouTube channel That’s So Mo. Using an Arduino Pro Micro, he transformed a Nimbus 2000 broom prop into a working controller that lets him fly more realistically in Hogwarts Legacy—no spells required.

He started by borrowing a Nimbus 2000 replica broom created by CineReplica. If you’re not familiar, this is the classic broom Harry used in the original franchise. With the addition of a few sensors and a little bit of patience, he turned the broom into a motion controller.

At the moment, it only works for PC, so you won’t be able to duplicate this for consoles using the steps and code he’s provided. The PC recognizes the broomstick as a wired Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller. The input signals from a few sensors are translated as directional pad/joystick input, which allows the motion control to register in-game.

In this demo, Mo uses an $800 Nimbus 2000 prop, but you could replace this with anything remotely broom-like. We’re sure if Filch had magic powers, he’d get away with flying on a mop. The controller is driven by an Arduino Pro Micro connected to an Adafruit LSM6DS3TR-C accelerometer and an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor. You could use a Raspberry Pi Pico instead of the Arduino Pro Micro if that’s what you’ve got on hand. The hardware is mounted to the broom using carefully cut styrofoam pieces and popsicle sticks.

Mo was kind enough to share a detailed breakdown of the code used in this project in his demo video and over at GitHub. If you want to recreate this project, he recommends reading this article from Dave Madison on emulating Xbox controller input with an Arduino and this tutorial from Adafruit on using the accelerometer module.

This is one project you don’t want to miss in action; check out the demo video of the final project shared by Mo over at YouTube. You’ll also find an excellent explanation behind how it works, sure to inspire your inner wizard or at least maker.

It’s one thing to be a hit at parties, it’s another to build one! Today we’ve got a crazy fun project to share put together by Niklas Bommersbach. Using our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, he’s created a beer pong robot that can not only play beer pong but also tends to come out on top with plenty of winning throws to back up its track record. Even when testing against some of the most skilled humans, it’s managed to stand its ground as a worthy opponent.

The main mechanism behind the robot is a giant arm that rotates around to throw ping pong balls. The speed is carefully calculated to land the ball at a predetermined location with a certain trajectory. The project started as a device that could hit targets using the ping pong balls. With a little bit of tweaking, Bommersbach modified the machine to serve as a beer pong opponent.

The Raspberry Pi is responsible for accepting user input and running calculations for the throws. It determines the trajectory details necessary to successfully land a throw and sends the details needed for the stepper motors to an Arduino. The Arduino is primarily used for driving the motors.

The frame for machine is made using extruded metal bars. Bommersbach constructed them to form both the base and rotating arm. Mounting components were 3D-printed to attach the various electronic components including SBCs and motors. Everything is held together using screws.

The Pi calculates the throws based on data input by the user. It’s programmed to assume a standard triangular cup formation. The distance from the front cup is entered into the Pi, this is used to determine the location of the surrounding cups. No visual recognition is used in the project but it would be possible to implement this in the future with a camera module and training it with the right model.

If you want to see this Raspberry Pi project in action, which we highly recommend for some impressive entertainment, you can find the video shared by Bommersbach over at YouTube in which he also provides a detailed breakdown of its construction.

The $648 (review configuration) LattePanda Sigma is a beast of a SBC (single board computer). Packaged deep under a dominating heatsink and fan is a 13th gen Intel I5 CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM and an Intel Iris XE GPU (that is good enough for light gaming).

Almost a year ago we reviewed the LattePanda 3 Delta, which was an Intel Celeron N5105 based system and onboard Arduino co-processor. We felt that it was the all-in-one desktop for makers. Providing a full x86 CPU and our choice of operating system, Arduino support, and it could play a decent game from the early 2010s. Fast forward to 2023 and the Sigma’s specifications blow the Delta out of the water. We get more RAM, better CPU and GPU and a plethora of upgrade options that use off the shelf components. Heck, the CPU and GPU upgrades mean we can play some games from 2022!

We put the LattePanda Sigma on the bench and tested how it performed as a maker desktop, and we also did some light gaming.

LattePanda Sigma Versus Delta Specifications

Using LattePanda Sigma

The LattePanda Sigma is powered by a 13th generation Intel Raptor Lake CPU, the i5-1340P to be specific. This CPU has 12 cores in total: four performance cores (max turbo 4.6 GHz) and eight efficiency cores (max turbo 3.4 GHz). There are 16 threads available (via the e-cores). This mix of cores provides plenty of punch when we need it, and a good level of general performance. The more powerful CPU means that the Sigma is larger than the 3 Delta, which features an Intel Celeron N5105. It also means that the Sigma is way larger than a Raspberry Pi 4, approximately 2.5 times the area. 

As the Sigma is an x86 based SBC, we are free to use Windows or a Linux distribution of our choice. Our review unit came with a 500GB WD Black SN770 NVMe SSD with an unregistered version of Windows 11 pre-installed. LattePanda supplies a range of custom operating system images, but you can just install your own choice and tweak it to work.

Boot time for the LattePanda Sigma is fast. At 20.92 seconds the Sigma is a close second to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with eMMC which clocked in at 20 seconds. Raspberry Pi OS is a lighter OS than Windows 11, so the difference is remarkable given Windows 11’s relative “bloat”. 

A fairer comparison would be Windows 11 on an NVMe drive with the LattePanda 3 Delta. Coming in at 70.13 seconds, the Delta was much slower than the Sigma. This is to be expected given that the Delta has a PCIe 3.0 interface, versus the PCIE 4.0 of the Sigma. We also compared the Raspberry Pi 4 (micro SD) boot time of 30 seconds, and Khadas VIM4’s 36.38 seconds boot for reference.

We noticed that the PCIe 4.0 interface used for the main drive was able to keep up with our WD Black SN850X, with a constant read speed of just under 7GB/s when using Ubuntu 22.04.

We have an AMI BIOS which affords us a great deal of configuration. We can tweak almost every aspect of the Sigma, converting it into a low power desktop, or we can alter the CPU settings to grant us a little more computational power. 

Storage options with the Sigma are condensed when compared to the Delta. Gone is the eMMC. Instead we have three M.2 PCIe slots. The main slot is for PCIe 4.0 NVMe, second is PCIe 3.0. The final slot is M.2 B Key and can be used with a SATA III drive or PCIe 3.0 x1.

All of these options are impressive for what is really a turbo-charged SBC. But whereas we had to manage our expectations with the Delta, the Sigma can be your desktop PC and the brains behind a robotics or machine learning project. The Arduino element is there to control the motors, sensors and other components that make the project move, but the Raptor Lake CPU is there to give your projects the brains.

Gaming is more than possible. The Delta saw a hard limit of mid 2010s era games, but with the Sigma we have an Intel Iris Xe GPU with 80 Execution Units running at up to 1.45 GHz. That is a considerable amount of power for an “SBC” and it means that we can push gaming a little farther. 

We tested Stray, a 2022 indie game which sees the player investigating a mystery in a futuristic world. Oh and you are a cat. To get a constant 60 fps you’ll need to drop the resolution to 720p and everything else to low. If you can survive 30 fps, then 1080p with medium settings is possible, but your framerate will take a dip in congested areas. We noticed a large drop to 8 fps when the game loaded in a new area. 

This prompted us to enter the BIOS and turn off energy saving features. This gave us a little more GPU power and our framerates hovered around 40 fps. As we said, 1080p 30 fps is the sweet spot for Stray. 

We also tested Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun, a game that has just been released. This “boomer shooter” looks like the original Doom, but on modern hardware. It ran well at 1080p, most of the time way above 60fps. There were some dips, but if the fps counter wasn’t there, we would be hard pressed to notice. 

How about something a little older? I went through my Steam library and pulled out the original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and this is where I hit a small issue. Matching my monitor’s resolution of 2560 x 1440 was a breeze, as was using high quality textures. The issue was moving the player to the firing range caused the game to hang, every time! 

The solution seemed to be running the game in safe mode, performing the player orientation and then turning everything back to my preferred settings. I was soon on a container ship in the middle of the ocean with Captain Price and co. If you want the best gaming performance, then you need to think outside of the box. 

The USB-C connectors offer Thunderbolt 4, so with an external enclosure and one of the best GPUs you can unlock plenty of potential. Another means is to use one of the M.2 slots and an Occulink connection with an external GPU. This would provide similar functionality to Thunderbolt 4. YouTuber ETA Prime has connected an Intel ARC A750 to the LattePanda Sigma using Occulink and has seen remarkable results.

Design of LattePanda Sigma

There is no denying that the LattePanda Sigma is a beast of an SBC. It is more like a Mini PC than a true SBC. Dominating the top of the Sigma is a large heatsink and fan. It’s so large, in fact, that ports and pins are cut out of it for easier access. The bulk does not mean that the Sigma is undesirable. All of the ports are located on the long sides, and on the short sides are pinouts for SATA, USB, fans and even a front panel connection. Flipping the Sigma over and we are greeted to a large heatsink.

Removing the four screws and we find the pre-installed 500GB NVMe drive in the PCIe 4.0 slot. We also find the Intel Wi-Fi / Bluetooth card which we included in our review unit. The underside of the Sigma is well designed, with plenty of space for adding drives, and direct contact between the drives and the heatsink.

On the same heatsink are four screw holes, which do not appear to conform to a VESA mount. These screw holes can be used to mount the Sigma to a fixed point, but you’ll need to work out your own fixing solution, perhaps something using the best 3D printers?

Cooling LattePanda Sigma

The Intel i5-1340P Raptor Lake CPU uses Intel 7 lithography and is designed with low power / mobile devices in mind. As the Intel i5-1340P is a much more powerful processor than the N5105 of the Delta, we can expect to see a higher temperature.

We tested the Sigma and Delta using Windows 11, y-cruncher and a PinePower 65W USB C power outlet with realtime power metrics. The Delta hit a max temperature of 80 degrees Celsius. The Sigma, well the performance cores hit 100°C and the efficiency cores hit a high of 88°C. Luckily the included beefy heatsink and fan are whisper quiet, unlike other SBC cooling fans we have tested.

The idle temperature for the Sigma was 25°C compared to the Delta’s 41°C. We tested the idle temps by leaving the board idling for 10 minutes. So the take away from this test is that the Sigma can really heat up when under load.

According to its datasheet, the Intel i5-1340P chip runs between 28 and 64W, but in our tests, we noted that at idle, the Sigma pulled 6W. Under stress, via y-cruncher we pushed the LattePanda Sigma to pull 66W! How does that compare to the Delta? At idle, the delta pulled 4.56W, under stress 19.76W. Again this all boils down to the i5-1340P CPU.

Let's look at the power consumption. Under stress, the LattePanda Sigma consumes 10 times more power than the Raspberry Pi 4 and Khadas VIM4 (60W versus 6W). If you are building a project with a power budget, for example robotics or off-grid data collection, then perhaps the Raspberry Pi or Khadas VIM4 is more applicable.

If your power budget needs to be even lower, perhaps a microcontroller such as the Raspberry Pi Pico W is a better option. That said, the extra power consumption can be factored into your build and if you really need that much processing power in a portable form factor, the Sigma packs a real punch.

LattePanda Sigma GPIO

The GPIO of the LattePanda Sigma is different to that of the Delta. We get less GPIO pins than the Delta, but what we get is pretty much an Arduino Uno in a different form factor. The GPIO is for the onboard Arudino Leonardo compatible coprocessor. It seems that an Arduino compatible co-processor is quite useful for Intel based SBCs. The LattePanda 3 Delta had its own (and a breakout for RS232 and audio) as does Seeed’s Odyssey.

The double row of headers has a pinout printed on its side. Reading the pinout was simple and clear, in fact we prefer it to the Delta which saw its heatsink get in the way.

Controlling the Arduino GPIO is possible using the pre-installed Arduino IDE, an older version of the IDE (1.8.19) which works, but would’ve liked to have seen v2.0 onwards. In fact, we installed the latest Arduino IDE and set the board type to Leonardo, but the IDE would not upload to the board. We attempted to install the board, but alas it didn’t work. Not a massive loss, but the latest Arduino IDE is leaps and bounds over its predecessors. 

Using the pre-installed IDE, we tested the Arduino GPIO with the humble LED, blinking the LED every half second. With that success under our belt, we connected a one meter length of WS2812B NeoPixels and installed the appropriate libraries. Moments later, colors erupted from the chain of RGB LEDs.

This GPIO is a better compromise than the Delta, and for Raspberry Pi alternatives, it is pretty good. Other Raspberry Pi alternatives have attempted to ape (hardware and software) the Raspberry Pi format, and they have varying levels of success. By using a simple pinout form factor, while retaining compatibility with Arduino code and components, the LattePanda Sigma provides the GPIO access that we need. Sure the pinout isn’t Arduino shield compatible, but we can use a few wires to bridge the gap.

LattePanda Sigma Linux Performance

If Windows isn’t your thing, we hear you. Linux is generally a better fit for SBCs and so we installed the latest LTS (Long Term Support) release of Ubuntu 22.04.2 then fully updated the OS. Our installation was contained on a 1TB WD_Black SN850X  NVMe SSD so that our previous Windows installations remained untouched. 

We’d love to say that “Ubuntu just worked”, and while there were no installation issues and it detected our hardware correctly, there was an issue that existed between 22.04 and 23.04. The issue was that the live USB failed to fully boot, complaining of “unable to find a medium containing a live file system.”

A quick Google search revealed that this has been a problem for other computers. The solution? Weirdly it was to remove the live USB during the boot process (just as the Ubuntu logo flashes on the screen) for two seconds, then put it back in. Yes, that worked. I installed the latest Arduino IDE and hit the same Arduino IDE issue as Windows. So I followed the LattePanda 3 Delta guide to configure the LattePanda Leonardo board, but this only works with the older Arduino IDE. Suffice to say I was able to configure the board with Arduino 1.8.19 and complete a series of GPIO tests. 

Ubuntu 22.04.2 is a slightly lighter OS than Windows 11. It felt no different than Windows 11 for its responsiveness,largely down to the powerful Intel CPU and the generous 16GB of DDR5 RAM. We could happily sit down and use Linux on the Sigma for our general work and to write code. We’d leave the gaming side of things to Windows as even after installing the latest drivers, configuring Steam to use Proton and then downloading shaders, both Stray and Warhammer: Boltgun failed to launch.

LattePanda Sigma versus LattePanda 3 Delta versus Raspberry Pi 4

The Raspberry Pi 4 is, like it or not, the benchmark from which other SBCs are measured. Sure it's not a desktop replacement and the hardware package is now five years old (pandemics and global supply chain issues artificially extended the shelf life of the Pi 4), but it is a good all-rounder from which we can measure.

The LattePanda 3 Delta is much more powerful than the Pi 4; we proved that in our review. But the Sigma screams past them both in terms of raw performance, as it should given the 13th gen Intel CPU and 16GB of DDR5. But this performance comes at a price, around $648 for our review configuration. This is just over double the price of the LattePanda 3 Delta and for $648 we can buy eight Raspberry Pi 4 8GB at non-scalper prices.

What about the Jetson Orin Nano? The $499 Jetson Orin Nano is a close contender with an Nvidia GPU featuring 32 Tensor Cores, a six-core Arm A78AE v8.2 64-bit CPU and 8GB of LPDDR5. But we have to reserve our judgment until our review is complete. We had to postpone the review due to software issues at the time of its release.

Bottom Line

If you need lots of computation power and a GPIO then the LattePanda Sigma is a contender for your cash. You will need to justify the spend as $648 is a lot of cash for what is essentially a mini PC with an embedded Arduino. That said, the package is sublime and clearly well thought out.

The $648 price tag is initially hard to swallow but again this isn’t just a replacement for the Raspberry Pi, it is a desktop computer in a slightly larger SBC form factor. You could happily use this machine for day-to-day work, while using less electricity than on a traditional desktop. Or you can embed it into a robotics / autonomous / AI build and harness all of the CPU cores to perform complex operations while on the move.

Arduino compatibility is still the icing on the cake for the LattePanda machines. It is easy to use and works with the many thousands of libraries available in the Arduino ecosystem. Sure, we can’t directly use Arduino shields, but unless you have bought into that system, you aren’t going to miss them.

The LattePanda Sigma is a revolution compared to the Raspberry Pi 4. Compared to the LattePanda 3 Delta, it is an evolution, and one that will entice makers craving more power for their builds. The Sigma is the new maker’s desktop, for makers that need the extra horsepower.

If you’ve dreamt of the ultimate mecha-powered future with giant robots and mecha suits controlled by the human body, you’re sure to get excited about this project from Ultimate Robots. The team has created a robotic arm that can be controlled using muscle movement thanks to their EMG signal sensor PCB, the uMyo. It also leverages one of our favorite microelectronics boards -- the Arduino.

This project was designed as a simple demonstration of what the uMyo sensor module can achieve. It’s fitted with three separate uMyo PCBs to detect movement from the wearer accurately. Each finger on the robotic arm has two tendons. These are connected to a wheel that is operated by a servo. The servo determines whether or not to curl or uncurl the fingers.

The shining gem of this creation is the uMyo sensor. It’s an open-source device designed to be worn for user input. It can transmit data wirelessly, so the wearer shouldn’t expect to be bogged down with cables tethering them to the output device. According to Ultimate Robotics, the uMyo can detect signals from various muscle groups, including arms, like in this project, legs, face muscles, and torso muscles.

Two uMyo sensors are placed at the elbow to monitor finger muscle signals. A third sensor is used at the wrist to monitor thumb muscle movement. The signals are transmitted to an Arduino, which uses an nRF24 module to receive the wireless signal. The Arduino then processes the input to send commands to the servos via a PCA9685 driver board, causing the robotic arm to move in response.

Not only is the uMyo sensor open source, but so is the software used in this robotic arm project. The team was kind enough to share everything on GitHub for anyone interested in perusing the source code.

To get a closer look at this project, check out the official uMyo breakdown uploaded by Ultimate Robotics at Hackaday. The team shared plenty of details about how it works and what goes into the PCB. You can find more information on the robotic arm on Reddit and see it in action via YouTube.

Music is deeply intertwined with math, and microelectronics is inherently mathematical, so it’s no surprise to find projects like this impressive Arduino-powered MIDI instrument. Unlike most other electronic instruments, this one is sure to take your breath away as it requires the player to control it using the power of their breath. It was designed and created by a maker named Xavier Dumont who made the project totally open source for anyone interested in creating their own.

Dumont has dubbed the project MIDILodica. It’s housed inside a custom 3D-printed shell and features a custom PCB to support the buttons and LCD screen. You can find details about how it works as well as all of the 3D printable files in the official GitHub repository.

The MIDILodica boots with a custom splash screen before loading a user interface. Users can pick from options in the main menu that impact how the instrument performs. Certain settings will change the effect of what blowing harder or softer does. For example, some settings will change the pitch while others will impact the volume of the output. You can also customize the buttons on the instrument, as well, and there are plenty to customize.

The main board used to drive this project is an Arduino Micro. It’s soldered to Dumont’s custom PCB, which has support for an Adafruit 320 x 172px TFT display, 40 tactile switches, a pressure sensor and even an SEN-08680 membrane potentiometer. This allows for an additional level of control that operates changes based on where your finger is located on the sensor. You can find a full list of part requirements on the GitHub page along with the PCB Gerber files.

The software for the MIDILodicawas created by Dumont just for the project. It includes the interface as well as all of the cool effects you can play with when adjusting the settings. If you want to get a close look at the source code, again, check out the official MIDILodica GitHub repository where Dumont shares everything you need to get started. If you’re looking for more inspirational microelectronics projects, you should visit our list of Raspberry Pi projects, which includes tons of cool creations from makers around the world.

There’s nothing like spilling your favorite drink all over the floor. But before you let the disappointment wash over you, consider the accident another glorious opportunity for a fun microelectronics project! At least, that’s what The Fedmog Challenge did when they created this awesome self-balancing tray project. It’s powered by an Arduino Nano and automatically detects when the serving tray is at an angle then makes adjustments to keep the surface level.

The project was created totally from scratch from the housing to the code used to program the system. The unit consists of quite a few 3D-printed components, including four arms that are used to stabilize the upper plate. Each arm has three joints with ball bearings in each one for smooth rotations. 

The idea was to create a stable unit to carry drinks on top of to prevent them from spilling. According to The Fedmog Challenge, it doesn’t work exactly as planned as some improvements could be made but, in general, the concept is there and the system does make corrections to stabilize the top plate.

The Arduino Nano takes advantage of an MPU 6050 module to measure the angle of the top plate so it can send the proper stabilization commands. It also requires a step down converter and some terminals along with a battery so the device can be portable. The major electronics are mounted to the bottom of the bottom plate.

As far as improvements go, The Fedmog Challenge suggested first approaching the response speed. It would be greatly improved with a faster correction time for tilt adjustments. Also, because the unit is 3D-printed, the arms are somewhat flimsy and not very stiff. This makes the unit very susceptible to vibrations and other minor movements which make it hard to correct with accuracy. The Fedmog Challenge was nice enough to make the project open source and assures that all of the STL files and code created for the project would be provided to anyone who requests it.

If you want to get a closer look at this project or just see it in action, check out The Fedmog Challenge over at YouTube and pour yourself a cold one while you’re at it.

Let’s face it—SSDs are ruling the market regarding internal storage, but you shouldn’t count traditional hard drives down and out just yet! Today we’ve got an impressive project to share with you from Ben, the mastermind behind  Ben Makes Everything, that puts an old HDD to fun use. With a little tinkering and a lot of patience, he’s created a portable laser text projector.

The executives at Pure Storage predict HDDs will be obsolete by 2028 but clearly they haven’t considered the laser text projecting potential of old hard drives. The unit is battery-powered, lending to its portability, and it even can connect wirelessly via Bluetooth. The text messages are visible from a distance greater than 90 feet; just be sure not to shine the light toward your eyes for safety reasons.

Ben created a video detailing the creation process of the project. It took more than one try to get a final version he was satisfied with, but the result was well worth the effort. By the end of the project, he’d settled on using a green laser which is extremely strong and more visible than other laser wavelengths.

The hard drive uses a brushless motor. This rotation is vital to creating the text effect. Ben designed a mirror array from scratch using Fusion 360 that rotates using the HDD motor. An Arduino is thrown into the mix to help control the array. The green laser sports a heat sink and comes with its own driver board that can be used to interpret input signals.

The laser flashes on and off against the mirrors, which create lines. These horizontal lines are used to build the letters, forming the text. Ben explains how the code works in greater detail in the original project video. We highly recommend checking it out to better understand how the laser works to build the text.

If you want to see this amazing hard drive-powered laser text projector in action, check out the original video shared on YouTube. We also recommend following Ben Makes Everything for more cool projects and future creations.

The LattePanda Sigma, launched today by the LattePanda team from $579, improves upon the power of the LattePanda 3 Delta with a Raptor Lake-based CPU, 16GB of LPDDR5, and an Intel Iris Xe GPU. All of this makes it a much more powerful machine than the LattePanda 3 Delta and the Raspberry Pi 4. 

The LattePanda 3 Delta was already an impressive board, much more powerful than a Raspberry Pi 4. However, the specs for the Sigma blow the Delta firmly out of the water.

The choice of a 13th-Gen Intel Raptor Lake Core i5-1340P (12 core, 16 threads) is a big upgrade from the quad-core Intel Celeron N5105 found in the LattePanda 3 Delta. The GPU also sees an upgrade, now sporting an Intel Iris Xe GPU with 80 execution units and up to 1.45 GHZ, compared to the Delta's now rather pedestrian Intel UHD GPU running between 450 and 800 MHz.

The Sigma's RAM upgrade is also welcome. While the 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM afforded by the Delta was enough for most tasks, 16GB of LPDDR5 running at 6400 MHz means we could get a big performance boost for all projects. 

What the two share, though, is an onboard Arduino Leonardo-compatible co-processor, which is located this time along the short edge of the board. In our review of the LattePanda 3 Delta, we loved the easy GPIO access, and using the Arduino IDE and Python firmware, we easily created projects. The Sigma seems to share the same pin arrangement, and while it isn't a true Arduino Uno pinout, it is functional.

The LattePanda Sigma is pitched as a "Hackable Single Board Sever with Mighty Power," but that doesn't restrict it to just sitting in an office. The onboard Arduino Leonardo provides a GPIO interface accessible via a USB-to-serial interface. With some Arduino and Python code and a USB camera, building a powerful machine learning/computer vision project would be simple. Sure, the Sigma is larger than a Raspberry Pi 4, but it could be easily integrated into a robotics project. The CPU / GPU combo is potent and could easily be used as a low-power desktop machine with four 4K displays running simultaneously. To keep it cool, we see a combined heatsink and fan assembly dominating the board's top, taking up more space than the LattePanda 3 Delta's cooling solution.

The dual Thunderbolt 4 ports are an enticing proposition. We potentially benefit from fast data transfer speeds and potentially external GPUs. Gaming is possible, on the Intel Iris Xe GPU, heck we managed a competent session of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the LattePanda 3 Delta, so it should be a cakewalk for Sigma.

The LattePanda Sigma is now available direct from DFRobot, starting from $579 for a base unit, $648 with a 500GB SSD and Wi-Fi 6E module.

Embedding tech into fashion, maker and Harvard Graduate School of Education student Rehana Al-Soltane has produced a dress which features servo-controlled flowers that bloom, thanks to an Atmel microcontroller, a custom PCB and some awesome 3D printing. This is no mere "stick electronics to a dress" project. No, this is a true labor of love which encompasses many maker skills.

Rehana is an experienced multi-discipline maker who is adept with a soldering iron and a sewing needle. For their final project they created "The Blooming Dress", a dress which was hand stitched and embedded with an Atmel microcontroller, similar to those found in Arduino, along with a servo to control the opening and closing of rose blooms as the user presses a capacitive touch input on a custom PCB.

The process is involved and started with designing the shape of the leaf. The shape has to be perfect in order for the servo actuated movement to be precise. After some exploration, including using a Prusa MK3S+ 3D printer, one of the best 3D printers, to print directly on to fabric (the new Prusa MK4 claims to print on any surface, including cardboard), Rehana elected to sandwich a thin plastic sheet between the rose petals, giving the blooms flexibility and strength. The shape of the blooms is also important, and Rehana went through many shape iterations before finding the solution which was then laser cut.

The continuous servo motor pulls threads through flexible 3D printed channels. These channels flex to the shape of the bodice, while providing a path for the threads to follow. The bodice is made from black velvet, but a satin version was made during the testing phase. Assembly saw the channels sewn to the bodice and fishing wire connecting the servo to the blooms. The servo had its own pouch sewn to the side of the bodice.

Controlling the project is an Atmel microcontroller, as found in many Arduino boards. This is soldered into a custom, hand-made PCB which shares the silhouette of the dress. There is no USB port on the PCB, but we can see six GPIO pins which connect to the microcontroller, so we must assume that programming the chip involves a USB to serial interface (CP2102, CH340 etc) and the code appears to be Arduino based. The project could be easily replicated using a Raspberry Pi Pico, perhaps even a Raspberry Pi Pico W for remote control via a web interface.

With the physical build and software complete, Rehana tested the rose blooms on a mannequin before wearing it themselves.

This project is the culmination of solving electronics, sewing and engineering problems. The problems faced during the build saw many iterations and learning experiences for Rehana and from that their knowledge has grown.

The full project build is detailed by Rehana and is well worth reading.

SB Components are set to launch another crowdfunding campaign, a Picoder based on our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico. This time the project, labeled as a "Raspberry Pi Pico Learning Kit," is bundled with a series of live training sessions to make the most of the kit and the learning experience.

Picoder is a portable all-in-one learning platform with the Raspberry Pi Pico W at its heart. The Raspberry Pi Pico W is removable, meaning it can be upgraded when / if a newer model is ever released. Coming in a plastic case, Picoder features a range of components embedded into a large PCB. However, this isn't a new idea. Seeed has done something similar for the Arduino, and recently we reviewed Pico Bricks, which had embedded components. What is different with Picoder are the component choices.

Picoder Component List

• Raspberry Pi Pico W on header
• Half size breadboard
• LCD Screen
• 8 x 8 RGB LED Matrix
• Light Dependent Resistor
• BME280 Temperature, pressure and humidity sensor
• HC-SR04 Ultrasonic sensor
• RFID Reader
• Buzzer
• 4 x Buttons
• 2 x LEDs
• Potentiometer
• Servo
• 2 x Relays
• HAT Breakout
• USB C Power input

Of particular interest are the LCD screen and RFID module. These two components are not commonly found in learner kits, and it opens up the kit to more advanced users. Perhaps the most interesting part of the project is not the kit but the support. SB Components claims, "PiCoder also includes free live training sessions with experienced instructors. Join our community of learners and get personalized guidance and support as you explore the world of coding." These live sessions could be the feature that elevates Picoder from being "just a kit" into a learning platform. 

How much will it cost, and what rewards will be on offer? Unfortunately, we have yet to find out. Picoder is listed as an upcoming project on Kickstarter, with no date or pricing listed. 

Remember that crowdfunding a project does not guarantee receiving a finished product. Backing a crowdfunded project is akin to an investment; you believe in the project and want it to succeed. You are not purchasing a retail product.

Learning to code, especially with electronics can be fraught with issues. Are your connections correct, are they designed to work with your board and is your code correct? All of these issues can be deadly to the progress of a learner. Learning to fail and try again is a key skill, but it requires some level of success. Pico Bricks aims to make it easier for learners to code and make electronic circuits using our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico.

There are three kits. A $59 base kit which provides the main board and a few extra components. The IOTExpert Kit comes in at $84 and, with it, you get more components to build a smart greenhouse, servo controls and work with sensors. The top tier kit is the $117 Zero to Hero kit, and this kit packs the IOT kit along with servo controlled robotics, a robot chassis, RFID reader and many other sensors. 

Pico Bricks is marketed at educators, but can it teach this old dog a few new tricks? To find this out, and to learn more about the kit, I put it on the bench and made some projects from the ebook. Note that my review kit is an amalgamation of the IoT and Zero to Hero kit, so my focus is more on the basic board, than the included extras.

Pico Bricks Specifications

Setting up Pico Bricks

Pico Brick's visual aesthetic is clear, easy to understand electronics. There are no garish design flares, just simple labels to identify the components. The PCB is housed in a plastic base. Initially we thought it was 3D printed, but it looks to be injection molded. The PCB can be removed from the base, take care though as it is a tight fight. The base is there to prevent accidental shorts from occurring. The protoboard, an area where projects can be soldered, is a nice touch for when learners are ready to make their own circuits.

The beauty of Pico Bricks is that there is little or no setup to do. The hardware comes pre-connected; all we need to do is install the relevant software. The online guides and ebook provide the knowledge necessary to do so. Inversely, the trickiest to setup is the most simple means to code. MicroBlocks is an open-source, block based editor for microcontrollers, and it requires the installation of custom firmware.

Once the firmware is installed, the browser based editor can talk to the Pico, and code can be run. Using MicroPython requires the tried and true means of downloading the latest firmware and dropping the UF2 file onto the drive. When trying Arduino setup, my first go failed as I forgot to unplug the Pico, hold BOOTSEL and then plug it back in. If you don’t do that, then the Arduino IDE will fail to upload the code.

Using Pico Bricks

Pico Bricks has thought of every level of user, and this is something I like. All of the components, be they part of the frame or the extras supplied in my kit, can be controlled using MicroBlocks, MicroPython and Arduino. They can also be controlled using C/C++ and CircuitPython or one of many other Pico supporting languages.

Pico Bricks provides an easier hardware interface. For my tests, I stuck with the suggested languages, and I can report that most of them worked as expected. I followed a few projects from the ebook and found that MicroBlocks tutorials were excellent and easy to follow, apart from one.

The greenhouse tutorial utilizes an ESP8266 (ESP-01) module for Wi-Fi connectivity. The guide displayed all of the blocks necessary to make connections, but it didn’t tell me how to get them. Also, it never told me how to create functions, some of which were necessary to send serial data between the Pico and the ESP8266. The MicroPython and Arduino projects had the code, but didn’t explain how to import modules / libraries to use some of the components. Luckily I know how to do this, but someone moving from block to text code projects will hit a big issue. Right now, the hardware is solid, but the accompanying ebook is a mixed bag.

The hardware is the star of the show. As I am a big fan of Stemma QT and Grove connectors I like this layout a lot. It reminds me of Seeed’s Grove Beginner Arduino Kit in that the components are spread around the Raspberry Pi Pico. The $4 Raspberry Pi Pico is connected via a series of header connections, with extra connections available for traditional components. The use of a header means that we can replace the Pico with a Raspberry Pi Pico W and benefit from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Surrounding the Pico are a series of white connectors. These connectors work with the embedded components; in fact they are labeled according to their position. There is no need to use the included wires. The embedded components are electrically connected to the Pico via traces in the PCB. This means that we can easily start building projects using the components.

The connectors come into their own when used with external components, and in my review kit, a mix of the IoT and Zero to Hero kits, I had many more components to connect to. The embedded components can be broken off and used externally, which is useful for embedding in a robot or data collection project. The $59 base kit provides the same functionality as my more expensive review kit, but you receive none of the extra components which are needed for all of the ebook projects.

Can I use my extensive collection of Grove components with Pico Bricks? The short answer is yes, but there is a caveat. I connected a Grove relay to the LED connector using a Grove lead. A few moments later, I had a loop clicking the relay open and closed. The connection between the Grove lead and the connector on Pico Bricks was ok, if a little flimsy. Trying to use a Pico Bricks cable with a Grove component is where I hit a barrier; it just didn’t fit. It seems that the Pico Bricks connector has a different shaped

connector, that means the lead cannot be forced into position without stressing the plastic. Top tip, if you have Grove components, use the Grove lead. If you are planning to buy Grove components, buy some leads too.

The component choices are not original, Cytron’s Maker Pi Pico introduced the ESP-01 module to this format, and Seeed’s Arduino based Grove Beginner Kit introduced many of the components. What Pico Bricks does introduce are a relay and a motor driver. The relay is a standard module, rated for up to 250VAC. We don’t advise the use of 250VAC with this component. High voltages can be deadly and all proper safety practices should be followed. The best safety practice is not to mess with it, trust me I’ve had a couple of mains electric shocks, they are not fun!

The motor driver is an L9110S, a competent motor controller for basic robotics. I tested it with a motorized pump (included in the review kit) and it worked with minimal code.

Who is Pico Bricks For?

Pico Bricks has a clear focus on education. The ease of use and ebook are clear indicators of such. The all-in-one design lends itself nicely to educators who want to get their class working quickly and with minimal fuss. The embedded components means that there are no messy wires to connect and tidy up at the end of the session.

Bottom Line

At $59, the base kit isn’t cheap. It has some great features but the base kit needs to lower its price to make it more appealing to home users. Educators, your best bet is the Zero to Hero kit.

The extra spending brings a curated kit of parts, all guaranteed to work with Pico Bricks, and with an accompanying ebook which can be useful in lessons. For makers in general, this is more a curiosity than an essential purchase. If you have children, then Pico Bricks is a useful means to introduce coding and electronics without needing to dedicate a drawer to components.

Makers, if you just want a simple connection system for Raspberry Pi Pico electronics, grab yourself a $4 Seeed Grove Shield. You may not get all the components, but you can buy exactly what you need for very little outlay. I loved my time with Pico Bricks, even if I’m not the intended demographic. It is a fun kit that is well worth exploring.

MORE: Best RP2040 Boards

MORE: Best Raspberry Pi Projects

MORE: Raspberry Pi: How to Get Started

One of the most popular microcontroller boards around, the Arduino Uno launched all the way back in 2010 and the Uno R3 (revision 3) has been the standard for more than ten years. So it was big news yesterday when, as part of its Arduino Day live stream, the company announced the upcoming Arduino Uno R4 board, which will offer huge leaps forward in processing power, RAM, storage and connectivity.

Due out in May for an as-yet-undisclosed price, the Arduino Uno R4 will be available in both "Minima" (regular) and Wi-Fi versions. The wireless version will have an Espressif S3 module that supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. 

The Uno R4 will maintain the same pinout and layout as its predecessor but step up to a 32-bit, Renesas RA4M1 CPU running at 48 MHz. That's a huge upgrade from the 8-bit, 16-MHz ATmega328P processor in prior Unos. The new chip is based on the Arm Cortex M4 architecture as opposed to the AVR RISC-based platform on the prior processor. Arduino says that most existing software libraries should work with no modification but a few that were optimized for AVR might need to be tweaked.

The Uno R4 will have 32K of SRAM, which is 16x more than the 2K on the Uno R3. It will also have 256K of onboard NAND versus 32K on the R3. There's a USB-C port for connecting a PC in lieu of the clunky USB Type-B port on older models. The barrel power connector remains in place but can now handle up to 24V instead of 20V. A 12-bit analog DAC, a CAN bus and an SPI port are also on board.

In the official photo (shown at the top of this article) of the Uno R4, Arduino has put yellow and green boxes over parts of the PCB. In its broadcast, the company said that it is maintaining an element of surprise and not revealing what's under the boxes until closer to the launch.

If you want to be among the first to buy an Uno R4, you can sign up for the waiting list which will alert you when the board is for sale. There's also an early adopter program for developers who have written popular libraries. If you are accepted into the program, the company will send you a free Uno R4.

While we don't know what the Uno R4 will cost, it seems safe to assume that the Minima version will go for $25 or more as that's what the Uno R3 costs today. The Uno R4 WiFi will obviously be pricier.

The new Uno R4 should be a boon for makers who builds robots or iOT devices with Arduino currently. It will be compatible with a huge ecosystem of shields and other accessories while providing much better performance. 

However, the Uno R4 faces very stiff competition from boards based on Raspberry Pi's RP2040 chip. The RP2040 operates at a generous 133 MHz (about 3x the Uno R4) with dual cores and 256K of SRAM. There are numerous boards with the RP2040 but the first-party Raspberry Pi Pico goes for just $4 for the basic model or $6 with Wi-Fi / Bluetooth.  

On the other hand, the Uno R4 can handle a lot more power than an RP2040 board as its power connector supports up to 24V instead of a mere 5V on Raspberry Pi's platform. We have a detailed comparison of the prior gen Arduino versus Raspberry Pi Pico, which we'll update as soon as we get our hands on the R4.

The market is filled with Raspberry Pi clones that promise to be faster, cheaper or have more ports. However, most of these single-board computers use cheap processors from lower-end brands such as RockChip and Mediatek. A new player, the Thunderberry5, uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, the same brand found in many major brand phones, tablets and Arm-powered laptops.

An upcoming board from French company MakeMyBoard, Thunderberry5 claims to be "the first Raspberry Pi-like SBC based on Qualcomm AI-CPU" and powering the show is a Qualcomm QCS610 Snapdragon. The Kryo 460 Octa-core CPU is powered by two Gold 2.2 GHz cores, and six Silver 1.8 GHz cores. That sounds like it would be faster than the 1.5 to 1.8-GHz CPU in the Raspberry Pi 4 B, but we wouldn't know for sure without testing.

The SoC's Qualcomm AI Engine (AI Stack and Neural Processing Engine) provides the power for general AI duties, making the board an interesting platform for machine learning and robotics. Graphics duties are carried out by an Adreno 612, clocked at up to 845 MHz. Thunderberry5 comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of eMMC 5.1 on which the OS choices are currently Android 10 or Yocto embedded Linux. 

The curveball with this board is the embedded RP2040 microcontroller. An embedded microcontroller isn't new. We have reviewed Seeed's Odyssey and LattePanda 3 Delta, each of which had an Intel CPU and an Arduino compatible Atmel microcontroller. But, this is the first board that we have come across to feature the RP2040 as an embedded microcontroller. 

In the block diagram, we can see that the "RP4020" -- surely a typo for RP2040 -- is connected to a 2 x 20 pin header GPIO labelled "HAT_conn". We cannot ascertain if this is pin compatible with the best Raspberry Pi HATs and we have contacted the project creator for clarification. We can see in the block diagram that the RP2040 is baked into the board and uses a USB 2 to serial interface for communication. This means that it will appear as a device to the underlying Linux operating system.

Other than the specs and some images, we don't know too much about this Raspberry Pi competitor, but we have contacted the creator to learn more about Thunderberry5. For now, the price and release date are a mystery, but we will update this story once we have more information.

The Arduino Mega and Due boards are for those of us who need more GPIO pins than the traditional Uno form factor. A new board, GIGA R1 WiFi, just announced by Arduino, offers the familiar Mega / Due form factor, and Arduino claims that "it’s the most powerful [Arduino] ever designed for makers, engineers and creators". So lets delve under the hood and see what it has to offer.

The GIGA R1 WiFi has two Arm CPUs which form the brains of the board. The 32-bit Cortex M7 is clocked at a 480 MHz and the Cortex M4 comes in at 240 MHz. Both of these speeds are much faster than the Raspberry Pi Pico's 133 MHz dual core Arm CPU, but then the GIGA R1 WIFI is priced at $73, versus $4 for the Pico. 

So what's the purpose of a dual core Arduino? Arduino claims in the press release that this board can run two Arduino programs simultaneously. We can even run Arduino and MicroPython code at the same time, useful for projects that require time critical actions.

GIGA R1 WiFi's choice of form factor is for a reason; it needs the extra space for all 76 of the GPIO pins. The sheer number of GPIO pins on offer is more than enough for even the most complex robotics, IoT or AI projects. 

To achieve 76 pins while retaining the Mega / Due footprint Arduino have used space in the center of the board to breakout additional GPIO pins. While this change looks compatible with shields (Arduino parlance for addon boards, similar to Raspberry Pi HATs) it would be prudent to check before basing any projects on the board. You can find the pinout diagrams via the product page in the Arduino store [PDF]

The Wi-Fi in GIGA R1 WiFi is provided via a Murata 1DX module and external antenna. This provides Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n at up to 65 Mbps. The same chip also provides Bluetooth functionality.

Using cameras with microcontrollers for machine learning and Computer Vision (CV) is no longer just a folly. Even the Raspberry Pi Pico can be used for basic computer vision projects. GIGA R1 WiFi's camera compatibility looks to use Arducam's range of cameras, and with such a powerful board it is clear that Arduino are hopeful that makers will build CV projects using its new board.

The eagle eyed amongst us will have noticed the two USB ports on the board. A USB C port for power and data, and a USB A port which can be used for USB host functionality. The GIGA R1 WiFi can be used as a USB HID device to simulate mouse / keyboard, but we can also plug in a USB device to the board. USB mass storage, keyboard or mouse can all be used in projects with this board. 

Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi is available for purchase now via Arduino's online store.

The Raspberry Pi Pico's "Pi Silicon" RP2040 SoC was the plentiful source of microcontroller brains during a long period of supply chain woes. It was natural for official partners (Adafruit, SparkFun, Arduino and Pimoroni) to release their own spins on the $4 microcontroller, and others including Banana Pi followed suit. For its latest model, the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 we see the same 40 pin form factor but there are a few differences between the official Pico and Banana Pi's

Let's start with the price. Coming in at a MSRP of $6.58 (currently discounted to $5.26) the board is $2 more than an official Raspberry Pi Pico. For the additional dollars we get an onboard WS2812B "NeoPixel" RGB LED connected to GPIO3 (PDF) and a 4 pin JST-PH socket. This socket is more commonly referred to as Stemma QT, Qwiic or QW/ST and in reality it breaks out the I2C interface (I2C0 on pins GP8 and 9 to be specific) for use with compatible devices.

The keen-eyed amongst you will notice that the dimensions of the Banana Pi board are 4.8mm longer than the Raspberry Pi Pico. This could be to due to the choice of USB-C over micro USB. The USB-C socket is slightly larger and requires a little more circuitry than micro USB. Bear in mind that the length change also fouls the placement of the M2 mounting holes which are now wider on the USB-C end (17.6 mm versus 11.4 mm) and this could break compatibility with your board designs. The longer length is a consideration for those wishing to replace a Pico with this board. The longer length may just squeeze in place, but watch out for the mounting hole placement. GPIO pin spacing remains the same as the Pico (2.54mm between each pin) so accessories and add-ons should work out of the box. Also note the castellations that enable the board to be surface mount soldered to a PCB.

Programming the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 is a straightforward process. Officially we have the choice of MicroPython and Arduino. Being an RP2040 based board there are other alternatives, such as TinyGo, Rust and CircuitPython. Right now there are no official versions crafted for the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 but an eager community will soon port them.

If you need a similar form factor but with Wi-Fi then the Banana Pi BPI-PicoW-S3 is not to be overlooked. Powered by an ESP32-S3 SoC with a dual core 240 MHz CPU and 320KB of SRAM this pin compatible alternative offers the wealth of the ESP32 community along with a Pico form factor. The PicoW-S3 can be programmed in MicroPython, Arduino and CircuitPython.

More information on the Banana Pi BPI-Pico-RP2040 can be found via the official wiki. There are schematics and mechanical drawings for those of us eager to add the board to their next project. The board is on sale via Aliexpress. 

Arduino was there before the Raspberry Pi and it democratized access to electronics and hardware hacking long before everybody’s favorite SBC. The Arduino Uno, the most famous board in the range is now over a decade old. In that time it has powered countless projects, but we have never officially been able to make our own. Until now.

Arduino’s $58 Make Your Uno kit is much more than an Arduino Uno in a box of components. Rather, we have to construct our own Uno from the included parts. This means that we need to use one of the best soldering irons to solder the components into place. But this kit doesn’t just give us the parts to make an Arduino microcontroller; we also construct our own shield (a similar concept to Raspberry Pi’s HAT add-ons) and an Audio Synth which we can use to make music / beeps / boops.

A great learning tool and an all-around good time to build, the Arduino Make Your Uno kit is a fantastic gift for kids, established makers or for yourself. However, if all you want is a working microcontroller board, there are much cheaper options. A regular Arduino Uno (without audio synth and shield) costs $28, a fully-functional clone goes for $18 and a more powerful alternative like the Raspberry Pi Pico W can be had for just $6.

Arduino Make Your Uno Kit Specifications

Assembling the Kit

Straight off the bat, this is a lovely kit to build. The PCB is of a high quality, something we have experienced with Arduino boards in the past. As this kit is aimed at those new to soldering, the first task is to solder a debug circuit. This is essentially an LED with an inline 1 Kilo Ohm resistor. Two wires from the circuit are used to check that each of the Uno’s GPIO pins are working correctly. This is a nice touch. It enables us to get building without worrying about making mistakes. With that built, we move on to the star of the show, the Arduino Uno.

Building the Uno is relatively straightforward. The included components are all through hole, making for easier soldering. The only component to feature surface mount components is a USB-C to Serial board. This board is pre-assembled and drops straight into the main Uno PCB. Just a few legs to solder and the USB-C and Uno are joined. 

Online instructions guide us through the soldering process. Typically soldering lower components before moving on to taller. These instructions are not just mere diagrams and text. Rather, they are interactive 3D models which show the components being placed into the boards. This is a nice touch for those new to soldering. We can visualize how the parts are inserted, spin the board around for a better angle and zoom in to spot exactly where we need to be. Coming as someone who has followed countless circuit diagrams, this is a refreshing and most welcome change.

It should take a beginner about an hour to solder the kit. More experienced makers will undoubtedly shave minutes from that time. But no matter your experience, you will have fun soldering this kit. Our one criticism of the white PCB is that it shows all the flux from our solder. That’s nothing a quick clean with isopropyl alcohol can’t fix.

Once the Arduino is built, it is a thing of beauty. The components on the board may differ to the surface mount soldered versions on a typical Arduino Uno, but the pin layout and form factor is unmistakable. We moved forward and soldered up the Audio Synth shield. This shield is a collection of six potentiometers which are connected to the six analog input pins of the Arduino. The audio is routed to an LM386N power amplifier and then played via a speaker on the PCB. The Audio Synth shield fits atop the Arduino Uno and we then reuse the packaging to create a simple instrument. But how do we program it? For that we need an IDE.

Programming the Make Your Uno Kit Audio Synth

As this is an Arduino, we need to use the Arduino IDE and we tested it with the latest Arduino IDE 2.0 release and an older 1.8 series IDE. It worked flawlessly with both, a testament to the longevity of the Uno range which has worked with many iterations of the IDE. We connected the Arduino Uno to our Windows PC and the device was detected as an Arduno Make Your Uno Kit, a nice touch that sets it apart from typical Unos.

The Audio Synth has a basic sketch (Arduino parlance for a project’s code) that will play beeps and boops, but there is an advanced sketch which turns the kit into a synth instrument, of sorts. Sounding like a prop from a 1980s sci-fi movie, the Audio Synth shield is great fun.

Can we use other shields with the Make Your Uno? Why yes we can. We tested an official, but elderly Ethernet shield and ran a quick web server example sketch. It just worked, with no drama or issues. An Uno, soldered just hours before, was now serving content to devices on our network.

Who is the Make Your Uno Kit Aimed at, and Why?

Squarely, the kit is aimed at newcomers to the Arduno and maker community. The simplicity of the kit, the wonderful instructions and the lessons learned by building from raw components makes this a syllabus rather than a lesson.

We learn so much by doing, and after all the work we are left with a device which we can use to build even more wondrous things. That said, in the age of IoT, it would’ve been nice to have a model with Wi-Fi baked into the board.

Bottom Line

If you are new to the Arduino or soldering then this is a fun kit to make. You could just buy a $6 Raspberry Pi Pico W microcontroller, which uses a more powerful RP2040 CPU and has built-in Wi-Fi, but you would be missing out on the learning that this kit provides.

At the end of all your hard work you have an Arduino Uno, ready to go further and become much more than just a collection of components. It seems that Arduino has once again helped us to rediscover our love of making.

Maker and Developer Abdullah Yıldırım, also known as Ronin, has created a custom LoRa module that works with one of our favorite microcontrollers, the Raspberry Pi Pico. This custom module also integrates with Arduino and introduces Wi-Fi connectivity with the help of an ESP8266.

If you’re unfamiliar with LoRa (Long Range) devices, this is a type of wireless frequency that can be used for a variety of applications, including underwater communication. There are two different LoRa modules used in this project. Yıldırım designed one to use an RFM95 LoRa module and the other uses an RA-01 module. A Pico is connected to one along with a screen to display details about the communication status with the other LoRa setup.

In the demonstration video, Yıldırım is testing the system with a Raspberry Pi Pico. Because he’s not using a Pico W, it has no native Wi-Fi capability. The ESP8266 chip provides this feature which is useful in this case, as the project is intended to be used with other boards beyond the Raspberry Pi Pico.

The custom PCB was designed from scratch By Yıldırım and was produced via PCBWay. Yıldırım was kind enough to make the design available for anyone interested in printing their own. It comes with no surface-mounted components so some soldering is necessary to get off the ground. It’s designed to work with an ESP8266EX and has a series of resistors, a button and more. A full list of components needed is listed on the project page.

According to Yıldırım, the software side of the project was created using Arduino IDE. If you want to get a closer look at the code used in this project, head over to the official project GitHub page as Yıldırım has opted to make the system completely open source.

If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the demo video shared to YouTube and don’t forget to peruse the project’s GitHub page for a closer look at how it all goes together. Be sure to follow Yıldırım, also known as Ronin, for more cool creations and future Pi projects.

The concept of quadruped robots isn’t new, but it’s as cool and fascinating today as it was a few decades ago when four-legged robots first surfaced. While there have been great advancements in the field of robotics since, it’s important to continue to push forward and inspire the next generation of engineers. Petoi carries on this mission by developing products like Bittle that teaches young robot enthusiasts the mechanics of building and programming their inventions.

Bittle is a programmable robot dog targeted at robotic beginners ages 14 years and up, or anyone who wants to have fun learning and playing with robots. Priced at $339 (assembled), Bittle comes programmed with a few starter tricks like walk and trot that learners can try out to familiarize them with what the robot can do, and then later expand to more complex types of behavior. This may seem like an expensive STEM kit, especially in today’s economy, but it’s fairly affordable compared to similar quadruped products on the market right now. In fact, some servo-based quadruped robots like the Xgo Mini or the PuppyPi retail for closer to a thousand dollars. Petoi can keep its production costs down thanks to its open hardware framework and open-source software platform.

Bittle’s open-source platform also allows you to add a Raspberry Pi or attach Grove sensors to extend its capabilities, explore AI machine learning projects, or try out various STEM experiments. These add-ons, however, are not included in the basic package, so you’ll need to purchase them separately. Unfortunately, Raspberry Pis remains in short supply, so you might be hard-pressed to find a good deal on it, much less find one in stock.

Set Up and How it Works

Bittle ships in two models, a pre-assembled kit and a DIY construction kit. It comes with three color options: black and yellow, blue and yellow or red and yellow.

 Bittle Basic Kit 

Our Bittle sample unit came pre-assembled with the black and yellow color combo. It required minimal setup since the main body and legs were already put together. All that was needed was to snap the head in (which also came pre-assembled), add the tail, charge the batteries and Bittle was good to go out of the box. Almost everyone could enjoy this model, even younger makers (kids under 14), who just want to play with Bittle as a regular pet toy and get some hands-on experience on movement manipulation or adding on to its built-in routines.

There are three ways you can control your Bittle: using the IR remote control that comes with the kit, downloading the mobile app on your phone, or installing the desktop app on your computer.

The pre-assembled robot also came pre-calibrated and preloaded with a set of basic tricks like walk, sit, stand and trot, which you can control to speed up or slow down using the controller of your choice. It also had some more fun tricks that my 9-year-old was excited to try right away, like “Say Hi,” “Pee,” “Do pushups” and “Play Dead.” 

I could see my daughter's eyes light up with how naturally Bittle could move and trot around. It was very agile and maintained good balance even as she changed the direction of its movements from left to right and back and forth on our living room floor. However, Bittle wasn’t as graceful moving on the carpet as it was on hardwood or other smooth surfaces. 

She thoroughly enjoyed manipulating the speed for each movement as well, which led to discovering a cool feature — Bittle could actually flip itself back to a standing position if it tripped up or somehow fell due to an obstacle in its path. She was amazed at this fail-safe maneuver because it was autonomous and looked like something a real pet would do.

Standing six inches tall and weighing less than two pounds, Bittle is the perfect size for her to pick up and place in different play settings. However, she wasn’t a fan of its head constantly falling off. Though it was easy enough to snap back in place each time it fell, after a while, she found herself avoiding certain movements because she did not want to ‘hurt’ Bittle. Oddly enough, it turned out to be an actual feature of the robot rather than a product defect. The head also acts as a clip that can hold onto tiny objects and is also where the add-on sensors are placed for exploring fun STEM projects.

Bittle’s short battery life quickly became an issue. As it turns out, an hour isn’t enough time for play and exploration at all. 😊 Once the warning light turned on and Bittle slowed down or stopped, my daughter knew it was time to plug him back in for charging. It might be a good idea to purchase extra batteries (sold separately or as an add-on) so you can just switch them out and limit the disruption to the flow of fun and learning.

Bittle Construction Kit

Bittle also comes in a do-it-yourself construction kit model, which ships unassembled so you can have the experience of putting together the entire robot yourself — a worthy and most enjoyable activity for anyone interested in robotics. You’ll also learn circuitry and cable management. It's even $10 cheaper than the one that comes prebuilt.

The main body frame and legs are made of hard, durable plastic material. It’s cleverly designed with an interlocking mechanism, so parts easily snap in place. Assembly videos and tutorials are available online if you need instruction or help. There are also diagrams that you can refer to in the online manual. When you assemble Bittle yourself, you’ll need to upload code to the NyBoard and make sure your connectors are connected to the right circuit.

After calibration, then you can attach the flat-end screws. The kit comes with a mini screwdriver, but to speed up the build process, you can use an electric screwdriver if you have one handy. It should take about 40 minutes to assemble, calibrate and upload the software.

I would say that although our review unit did not initially require assembly, we got the experience of disassembling Bittle’s legs and putting them back together in an effort to troubleshoot some calibration issues that came up after extended time testing Bittle’s maneuvering capabilities.

One thing we appreciated was the time and support we received from Petoi in this process. They were quick to respond and very helpful when we reached out with issues. First, we needed to break down and unscrew all the legs, remove the servos from their sockets and then put everything back in place. After that we had to go through manual calibration of each servo motor. The calibration joint tuner included in the kit came in handy, but the provided screwdriver was hard to use. We recommend using a different one if you have one in your toolbox, or even using an electric screwdriver if you have one. Honestly, it took some time to get Bittle calibrated properly. There was a lot of trial and error involved, and we had to redo the process a few times before we got Bittle back to an acceptable workable state.

Joint Calibration Tip: Try to center the holes when aligning the corresponding holes on the calibration tuner tool. 

Bittle Hardware

Servos

Bittle uses nine customized PS1 servos: two on each leg that act as joints and one for the head. The kits ship with an extra servo as a spare.

Note: When building the robot, it’s important to make sure you position the servos correctly to ensure the legs will work properly. The direction of the motors is important, and the cables must be properly connected to the NyBoard to ensure robot operations run smoothly.

NyBoard

Bittle is based on a customized Arduino board that comes pre-programmed with a dozen neat tricks or routines that the robot can execute (for the assembled model). Our review model came with the first version of the board, though Petoi has come out with version 2 already.

Bittle Adapters / Connectors

Bittle comes with three adaptors that you can use to charge, code, calibrate or load new firmware to the robot.

• USB
• WIFI
• Bluetooth

Bittle Controllers / Apps

There are three ways you can control Bittle:

IR Remote Control

Bittle kits ship with an IR remote control (battery not included). Each button shows an icon that corresponds to a pre-programmed maneuver that you can try out. Our remote control stopped working after some time, even after we added a new battery.

Mobile App

You can install the Petoi Robot Controller App on iOS or Android and connect to Bittle via Bluetooth. From here, you can calibrate each servo, use the main control pad to engage with Bittle, or upload new capabilities.

Desktop App

Use the Petoi Desktop App for new firmware uploads, joint calibration and composing new skills. It’s compatible with Windows PC or Mac. You will need the Micro-USB dongle to connect to Bittle through the USB adapter. We found that this is not the most reliable method because there are times when the app could not find a port and would show errors. We preferred connecting to Bittle via Bluetooth.

Programming Bittle

To start coding Bittle, there are two applications available: using Codecraft (Petoi’s custom Scratch-based app) and the Petoi Desktop App.

Codecraft

To use Codecraft to program Bittle, you must make sure you have OpenCat 1.0, as version 2.0 is not yet compatible with Codecraft. First, you need to connect to your Bittle to check what version of OpenCat is currently installed. Use the USB adapter and dongle, WiFi or Bluetooth to connect, then run the Petoi Desktop App. In the main menu window, click on Firmware Uploader. The next window will show you what version of OpenCat you have. You can easily change between versions using the pulldown menu option available. Just choose the version you need, click the Upload button, and follow the prompts provided.

You can download the Codecraft app on your computer or go online to https://ide.tinkergen.com/ and select Bittle to start experimenting and programming different routines for Bittle. When done, click the Upload button on the left side menu. It takes a few seconds before Bittle executes your script. My daughter, who is already familiar with Scratch from use in school, dove right into Codecraft. She particularly enjoyed seeing Bittle trot to the tune of Jingle Bells and combining multiple skills and looping them. Unfortunately, we did not have any of the Grove modules available, but she expressed the desire to use those in the future.

In addition to needing to downgrade your OpenCat version to use Codecraft and use the USB adapter to connect to Bittle, you may experience issues with port detection. We often had to close and re-open the app because the software kept throwing connection errors. Thank goodness for the Bluetooth option!

Skill Composer

To program new skills for Bittle using the Desktop App, connect to Bittle, run the Desktop App, and Click Skill Composer. If you downgraded to the 1.0 version of OpenCat for Codecraft, we recommend that you now upgrade or go back to version 2.0 or the latest version of OpenCat available before you use the Skill Editor. We had issues when using the older version for the Desktop App.

Under Skill Editor, click on the Add button to add another line and choose one of the Preset Postures. You can use the Preset Postures as-is or adjust the movable sliders (in yellow) on the left-hand side to customize its movements. Save and hit Play to run the script. You can add a loop or program the number of times you want the script to repeat.

We experienced the same port detection errors when using the USB connection to use Skill Composer and had to re-try a few times before the software found the available port.

There are 16 online courses available for beginners and advanced learners. Bittle also supports Python and C programming languages.

Bottom Line

Who wouldn’t want a pet robot like Bittle? It’s cool, it’s fun and it’s entertaining. Moreover, it’s an amazing piece of tech that will keep young enthusiasts and hobbyists engaged while introducing them to the basic concepts of robotics. Granted, Bittle isn’t the friendliest looking pet robot out there — my daughter mentioned Bittle reminded her of a guard dog, and it reminded me of Alpha, the Doberman Pinscher from the movie Up. But even that could be a great challenge for young makers because they can dig into their own creativity to come up with fresh ways to mimic real-life dog interactions. One idea we had was to play around with its head movements to inject more character and personality into Bittle — there are lots of possibilities to explore through the Skill Composer.

In terms of its value, compared to Xgo Mini ($799) or PuppyPi ($423-$940), Bittle at $339 is in the lower price range and is currently the more affordable option. While that's a steep price to pay if you or your child are only interested in using Bittle as a toy for entertainment, the true value of Bittle comes in the education it brings. The hands-on coding experience from the apps, free online coding courses, and further expansion projects and experiments definitely make Bittle a worthwhile investment. Not to mention the support of the open-source online community.

While Bittle's out-of-the-box agility was highly impressive, it’s important to reiterate the calibration process was not easy and Bittle’s short battery life might leave young learners hanging. However, like many STEM robot kits, Petoi's Bittle is designed to provide an entryway to robotics and AI, which was certainly achieved during our time with this robot. Overall, the technical hiccups are outweighed by the educational experience and the fun Bittle provides when operating smoothly. Perhaps the next model will offer upgrades to correct the issues we found in our testing.

The Raspberry Pi Pico form factor is one that’s just begging to be copied, but Banana Pi has gone one better and borrowed the name, too. The BPI-PicoW-S3, brought to our attention by CNX Software, is a new microcontroller board that features an ESP32-S3 dual-core chip, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Acting as a direct competitor to the new (Raspberry Pi) Pico W, the (Banana Pi) PicoW runs faster than its namesake, with a 240MHz dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller with vector instructions (important for AI and signal processing workloads) and backed by 512kb of RAM. There's 2MB of flash on board, plus Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5LE. Power and data are supplied via a micro USB port. There's a tiny reset button, and the whole thing fits into the exact same dimensions as the (Raspberry Pi) Pico, at 51x21mm (2x0.8in).

The ESP32-S3 from Expressif Systems features a pair of 32bit cores and a ULP core for low-power modes. Wi-Fi is limited to the 2.4GHz band, but the Bluetooth implementation includes long-range support with a data rate of up to 2Mbps. It has 44 programmable GPIOs, though only 27 are available via pinout, the same as the Raspberry Pi Pico, while up to 14 can be configured for capacitive touch input, assuming you have that many fingers. On-board security uses the AES-XTS algorithm for flash encryption, and there's secure startup via RSA and digital signatures. The chip also supports ‘World Controller’ mode, which allows two non-interfering execution environments to implement a trusted execution environment or permission separation mechanism.

The pinout for the GPIO is almost the same on both boards, with some minor variations, and the Banana Pi Pico can be programmed using the same languages (MicroPython, Arduino, C) as the Raspberry Pi board, though the C framework is different, using ESP-IDF rather than the Pico SDK. Documentation is currently sparse, and some programming experience may be needed to use the board fully, with support for the chip’s neural network-accelerating vector instructions "available very soon." 

The board is currently available from AliExpress for $5.50, but costs an additional $7.49 to ship to the US, with delivery dates currently in the middle of October. For comparison, a Raspberry Pi Pico from the same site costs $3.70 with $2.34 shipping, though it arrives a week later. Whichever one you go for though, be sure to check out our list of AliExpress promo codes to bring down the cost. 

Have you ever wished your smartwatch was more of a computer and less of a fashion item? Have you ever felt the need to type on keys that are surely too small for normal human fingers to use? The dream of the 1980s was a computer the size of a watch, and in the 21st century we are gifted with this and more. Chinese company Lilygo, whose products we’ve featured before, harks back to the 1980s aesthetic with this tiny Bluetooth keyboard, as spotted by CNX Software.

It's cute, but the amount of actual use you can get out of it is questionable. And sadly, you'll require a specific smartwatch, so there's no turning your Apple Watch into a productivity machine this time. The Watch-Keyboard-C3, as it's snappily known, connects to an ESP-32 C3 microcontroller and a LilyGo T-watch. The watch is included with the keyboard bundle if you don't have one. There's also an optional audio module with a mic and speaker.

The mini keyboard connects over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 4 for all your wireless networking needs, and a USB-C port for power and data. There's also a three-axis accelerometer on board, really designed for counting steps but with the right code it could be used as a gesture control input system. The tiny computer can be programmed via Arduino tools; there's no desktop OS on this one. In addition, there's some sample code on GitHub in two repositories, but not much else regarding documentation or tools. 

The ESP32-C3 was announced in November 2020 and it is part of the larger ESP32 range of boards which started way back in 2016. The ESP32 microcontrollers have become popular thanks to its low cost, plentiful supply and ease of use. The many models of ESP32 come in various configurations. Some offering single or dual-core CPUs with speeds reaching 240 MHz and up to 512KB of SRAM. With faster CPU speeds and more RAM than a Raspberry Pi Pico W, ESP32's are a good choice for the established maker.

The Keyboard-C3 is available right now from AliExpress for just shy of $50, and you can probably get it for less with an AliExpress promo code, if you want the whole package and don't already have a compatible smartwatch.

The Arduino IDE 2.0 has been in beta since early 2021 and, in those early days, we took it for a test drive and liked what we saw. When Arduino announced that 2.0 was moved to a stable release, we just had to take it out for another spin.

Arduino IDE 2.0 brings a number of improvements to the original IDE. Most notably a refreshed user interface. Here are a few more end user improvements.

The Arduino IDE 2.0 introduces code autocompletion, useful when typing in large sections of code. As we type, the IDE suggests possible keywords / commands that we can use. This feature has been a standard in many other IDEs, and is a welcome addition to Arduino IDE 2.0.

If you like your code editors dark, then Arduino IDE 2.0 has a plethora of themes to choose from.

Found in the File >> Preferences menu. Change the theme to your liking and every facet of the editor will accommodate your request.

Finally, the Serial Plotter has received an update and now it looks stunning. The serial plotter is useful to measure and interpret analog signals and voltages.

Under the hood, Arduino IDE 2.0 sees improved compilation time and in-app updates for our boards and software libraries. Talking of updates, Arduino IDE 2.0 can also be updated from the app, saving us the trouble of downloading the latest version from the Arduino website.

Getting to Know Arduino IDE 2.0

The best way to understand the new IDE is to use it. In this how to we will download and install the new IDE and then use it to create a fun project using NeoPixels.

1. Open a browser and go to the official Arduino website to download the installer for your operating system. We’re using Windows 11, and so downloaded the 64-bit version for our computer.

2. Follow the install process and, when complete, start the Arduino 2.0 IDE.

3. Allow the Arduino IDE through your firewall. The IDE will communicate with its servers to ensure that we have the latest version and software libraries.

4. When prompted, install the USB driver. This enables the Arduino IDE to communicate with many different development boards, such as Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi Pico.

The New Arduino 2.0 IDE

The new IDE has seen many “front of house” improvements, and we have to say that it looks incredible. Whether you are new to Arduino or a seasoned pro, we’ve put together a quick reference on where to find the new features.

The Arduino 2.0 IDE has seen a significant redesign, but the most basic elements remain the same.

1. This is the Sketch area (Sketches are Arduino parlance for our project files) where we write the code that makes our project.

2. The Output area is where we see output from installing new software libraries and debug information as our code is flashed to a microcontroller.

What has changed is to the left of the application. A new vertical menu contains quick access to a number of once hidden, but well used features.

1. Sketchbook: Here all of the sketches (our projects) are contained for fast access. Our Sketchbook contains the demo project for this how to.

2. Boards Manager: The Arduino IDE can be used with many different boards and here is where we can install support for them.

3. Library Manager: This is where we can install, update and remove software libraries for our projects. For example we can install libraries to control NeoPixels, Wi-Fi and sensors.

4. Debug: Running the debug tool will show any errors in our code.

5. Search: Use this to find a specific value in your project. Here we use search to look for a specific constant that we use to control the speed of our demo project.

6. Board Selection: The Arduino IDE can work with many different boards and this dropdown makes it easy to change boards, and locate the correct COM port.

Configuring a Board, Installing Software

Learning a new IDE, especially one that looks as good as Arduino IDE 2.0 is best done by undertaking a project. We get to learn all of the new features, and improve our workflow. 

To test the Arduino 2.0 IDE we created a simple project that uses Adafruit’s NeoPixel library for Arduino boards to create a quick RGB LED light show for the dark nights.

1. Connect your Arduino Uno (or compatible) to your computer. Using a genuine Arduino is the best option, but compatible boards will work just as well.

2. Select your Arduino from the Board selection dropdown. This will configure the board and port ready for use.Other types of boards may require additional configuration.

3. Skip this step if using a genuine Arduino. From the Boards dropdown, click “Select other board and port”.

4. Skip this step if using a genuine Arduino. Search for your board, then select it and the correct port. If unsure on the port, check our guide for more information.

5. Click on the Library Manager and search for Adafruit NeoPixel. Select Adafruit NeoPixel from the list and click Install.

Creating a NeoPixel Project

NeoPixels, Adafruit’s term for WS2812B addressable RGB LEDs, are a great way to introduce microcontrollers and the new Arduino IDE. Why? Simply, they are great fun. We can control the color and brightness of each RGB LED to create animations and effects.

For This Project You Will Need

• An Arduino Uno (or compatible)
• NeoPixels We recommend Adafruit’s NeoPixels as they are high quality.
• 3 x Male to male jumper wires

The circuit for this project is simple. Our NeoPixels are connected to the three GPIO pins on the Arduino. If you have never soldered before, fear not as soldering connections to your NeoPixels is straightforward. Take a look at our How To Solder Pins to Your Raspberry Pi Pico guide which will give you the basics. If you need a soldering iron, Pinecil V2 is a great iron for all budgets and levels of users.

Connecting up to eight NeoPixels to an Arduino Uno is perfectly safe, but any more and you should consider external power for the NeoPixels

We shall use Adafruit’s NeoPixel library to control a short chain of NeoPixels, changing their color from red to green and then blue.

1. Click on File >> New to create a new sketch. Clear the contents of the sketch.

2. Include the Adafruit NeoPixel library in the sketch. Python programmers will be familiar with this, in Python we import a module of code.

#include 

3. Create three constants that will contain the GPIO pin used for the NeoPixel data pin, a pause (in ms) and the number of LEDs in our chain. We are using GPIO pin 6, and we want a 10 ms pause between each LED color change and we have 96 LEDs in our chain. Best practice is to keep the number of LEDs below eight if using the 5V supply on the Arduino. In our example we briefly used 96 to illustrate how a long strip of NeoPixels works.

#define LED_PIN    6#define PAUSE 10#define LED_COUNT 96

4. Declare the NeoPixel object and passing the number of pixels (LEDs), what GPIO pin is used, configuration of the LED (RGB or GRB) and the bitstream of the pixels (typically 800 Hz).

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(LED_COUNT, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

5. Create a function, setup, and use it to initialize the NeoPixels, turn off the LEDs and then set the brightness to 25. Brightness is a value between 0 and 255. The value of 25 is 10% brightness.

void setup() { strip.begin(); strip.show(); strip.setBrightness(25);}

6. Create a function, loop, and use it to set the color of the LEDs to red, green and blue using a wipe action (we will later create this function). Use the PAUSE constant to add a 10 ms delay.

void loop() { colorWipe(strip.Color(255,   0,   0), PAUSE); // Red colorWipe(strip.Color(  0, 255,   0), PAUSE); // Green colorWipe(strip.Color(  0,   0, 255), PAUSE); // Blue}

7. Create the colorWipe function that uses the color and delay time as arguments.

void colorWipe(uint32_t color, int wait) {

8. Inside the function, create a for loop that will iterate through all of the LEDs in the strip, setting the color of each pixel before pausing for 10 ms and then moving to the next LED.

 for(int i=0; i

Complete Code Listing

#include #define LED_PIN    6#define PAUSE 10#define LED_COUNT 96Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(LED_COUNT, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);void setup() { strip.begin(); strip.show(); strip.setBrightness(25);}void loop() { colorWipe(strip.Color(255,   0,   0), PAUSE); // Red colorWipe(strip.Color(  0, 255,   0), PAUSE); // Green colorWipe(strip.Color(  0,   0, 255), PAUSE); // Blue}void colorWipe(uint32_t color, int wait) { for(int i=0; i