DFRobot Adds a New UNIHIKER, the UNIHIKER K10, to Its Lineup — Promising Educational TinyML
New sub-$30 model includes microphone, camera, color display, and a range of on-board machine learning models, powered by an ESP32-S3.
Embedded and educational electronics specialist DFRobot has announced a lower-cost version of its all-in-one UNIHIKER development platform, designed for experimentation with on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML and AI): the UNIHIKER K10.
"UNIHIKER K10 is an AI learning device designed for education," the company says of its creation. "It integrates a 2.8-inch color screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a camera, microphone, speaker, RGB light, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, light sensor, and accelerometer. It also features edge connectors and Gravity IO interfaces, enabling the connection and control of various digital, analog, I2C, and UART sensors and actuators."
If all of that sounds familiar, that's because DFRobot launched a UNIHIKER back in June 2023 with many of the same features. Where the original — now known as the UNIHIKER M10 — was powered by a Rockchip RK3308 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 system-on-chip and featured 512MB of RAM and 16GB of flash with Debian Linux pre-loaded, though, the new model makes the move to a considerably less costly Espressif ESP32-S3 microocntroller, 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), and 16MB of flash expandable through a microSD card slot.
Despite the dramatically lower specifications, though, DFRobot is positioning the new device — brought to our attention by Linux Gizmos — as ideal for experimenting with on-device artificial intelligence. The stock firmware comes complete with models for facial recognition, image recognition, cat/dog detection, QR Code decoding, motion detection, and speech recognition with support for custom voice commands. These all take advantage of the vector extensions available in the Espressif ESP32-S3's Tensilica Xtensa LX7 processor cores to run entirely on-device with acceptable performance.
"The UNIHIKER K10 supports tinyML, allowing users to train their own custom vision and sensor models," DFRobot adds. "With the ability to develop personalized AI models for specific tasks, users can explore deeper AI applications and tailor the device’s functionality to their unique projects. Whether working with image recognition, sensor data, or other AI-based tasks, tinyML offers the flexibility to push the boundaries of the device's capabilities."
The new UNIHIKER K10 model is now available to buy on the DFRobot store at $28.90 — considerably cheaper than the original UNIHIKER M10, at $79.90.
