SiFive Learn Inventor RISC-V Development Board

SiFive rolled out an educational development board using their third generation RISC-V core MCU FE310-G003 mainly targeting students, hobbyists, makers. Looks like the edge interface is inspired by BBC Micro:bit board. SiFive is the same company which launched the HiFive1 board with their first ever silicon using RISC-V processor.

SiFive is a leading provider of market-ready processor core IP and silicon solutions based on the free and open RISC-V instruction set architecture. Led by a team of seasoned silicon executives and the RISC-V inventors, SiFive helps SoC designers reduce time-to-market and realize cost savings with customized, open-architecture processor cores, and democratizes access to optimized silicon by enabling system designers in all market verticals to build customized RISC-V based semiconductors.

SiFive Learn Inventor RISC-V Development Board 1

Features of SiFive Learn Inventor Board:

  • Hand-shaped PCB is quite creative
  • The core of the board is 3rd generation 150Mhz FE310 RISC-V Processor(G003) with inbuilt 64KB SRAM
  • 6×8 RGB LED Matrix, each LED supporting ~26200 colors, matrix can be expanded using edge connector
  • 512KB of flash is provided for program
  • 4x ADC inputs via on-board co-processor
  • Accurate RTC on board
  • WiFi / Bluetooth interface using ESP-WROOM-32 module. It also supports over-the-air update for the firmware
  • MicroUSB for powering the board, programming and debugging. On-board Segger-Link is provided
  • Board can also be programmed by file drag and drop
  • Battery connector is also provided to power the board with 3x AA Cells down to 2.3V approx.
  • Edge Connector provides various interfaces like GPIOs, I2C, SPI, UART and power signals(3.3V DC, GND)
  • 2x buttons on the top for user program and one reset button on the bottom side
  • eCompass module having 3-axis accelerometer and magnetometer.
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Temperature sensor with an accuracy of +-1 degree C over a range of -40 to 85 Degree C

The Board supports FreeRTOS, MicroPython and available at no extra cost. The board is fully certified to connect to AWS IoT Core Services.

Documentation

Getting Started Guide and FreeRTOS can be download from here.

I was unable to find the schematic or hardware design files of the board anywhere. I will add link once I am able to locate.

Where to buy?

Currently the board is sold on the Pimoroni website for 40.80 GBP (~$55 US).

Read articles on Embedded System Design.


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