Products like the Arduino UNO and Raspberry Pi have proven nothing short of revolutionary in the maker community by taking something which already existed in various forms and just doing it that much better that it changed the world. DFRobot may be hoping to spark a similar revolution with their unique new single-board computer (SBC), UNIHIKER. Similar to a Raspberry Pi, the UNIHIKER runs Linux, and features quad Cortex-A application cores, although the more efficiency-oriented A53, as compared to the Pi 4’s performance-focused A72s. What really sets it apart from the Pi, however, is the all-in-one, self-contained SBC “lab” that the UNIHIKER offers, thanks to a built-in screen, a bevy of sensors and actuators, and integrated support for a variety of development environments.
UNIHIKER is programmable right out of the box over USB-C, Wi-Fi, or via its own built-in hotspot functionality. Developers can use Jupyter Notebook to develop right in the browser, or more traditional tools like VS Code, VIM, and Thonny, while the included PinPong library facilitates usage of the onboard light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, LED, and buzzer. An additional coprocessor provides easy access to external sensors and actuators over UART, I2C, and SPI, as well as analog and digital pins. An integrated IoT service stores data locally while making it easy to share over MQTT and web services.
UNIHIKER is available from June 13th, starting at $79.90 – see https://www.unihiker.com/ for more information.
Key Features and Specifications:
- CPU: Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A35, up to 1.2GHz
- RAM: 512MB
- Flash: 16GB
- Wi-Fi: 2.4Ghz
- Bluetooth 4.0
- Display: 2.8″, 240 x 320, Touch Screen
- Coprocessor: GD32VF103
- Sensors: Button, Microphone, Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
- Actuators: LED, Buzzer
- Ports: USB Type-C, USB-A, 3-pin/4-pin port, edge connector
- Power: 5V 2A for USB Type-C
- Dimensions: 51.6mm x 83mm x 13mm
- Operating System: Debian
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