SiFive Launches Learn Inventor RISC-V Development Platform
The SiFive Learn Inventor is a wireless RISC-V-based development kit inspired by the micro:bit.
SiFive has announced the release of their Learn Inventor development board for pre-order as part of the company’s Learn initiative, a program designed for makers and students as a RISC-V educational platform. SiFive states that the Learn Inventor development board “is the most accessible board to date, which features a comprehensive software package and education enablement course.”
In a recent press release, SiFive CEO Dr. Naveed Sherwani stated: “We’re excited to see the new SiFive Learn Inventor board come to market. The broad features and comprehensive tools will help a wide range of people develop their coding skills for the next generation of devices." The BBC micro:bit inspired the development board, and even sports the same alligator clip connectors and RGB LED matrix.
Under the Learn Inventor’s hand-shaped hood, the board is equipped with a FE310-G003 32-bit RISC-V (RV32IMAFC) processor (64Kb of SRAM, 512Kb of Flash) with RTC and 4X A/D converters. The board packs a ‘widescreen’ 6 x 8 array of RGB LEDs, with each capable of displaying 262,000 colors. The LEDs can also be expanded off-board onto external arrays via the edge connector. On the wireless end, the Learn Inventor is outfitted with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and can host Bluetooth 4.2 LE using an ESP32 module.
The Learn Inventor development board comes with nearly the same connector options found on the micro:bit, including four A/D converters (accessed via onboard coprocessor), and an edge connector with I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, 3.3V, and GND. It even packs an eCompass module with 3-axis acceleration and magnetometer, as well as an ambient light sensor and thermometer that’s accurate to 1°C over the range -40°C to +85°C.
Power for the Learn Inventor is supplied via micro USB connector (also used for programming/debugging), along with any battery combination down to 2.3V (3X AA recommended). Low power operation for the board is handled through multiple power domains and a low-power standby mode. On the software side, the Learn Inventor can take advantage of FreeRTOS, MicroPython, and an SDK, which is available on GitHub, however only FreeRTOS is currently available. As mentioned earlier, SiFive’s Learn Inventor development board is available for pre-order on Pimoroni's product page for about $53.58, with shipping expected in mid-December 2019.