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CocoRobo X: The Next Generation AIoT Learning Kit

How did we start this project?

 Maixduino board we acquired earlier last year

We started to work on this project around June last year. We approached Sipeed, a hardware solution company in Shenzhen that has integrated Kendryte K210 into a compact module with Wi-Fi support (ESP8285). So we tried their development board first and then started to design and build our own AI module set, called “CocoRobo X”. Thanks to my friend Xiang Zhu, the man who is in charge of the PCB design for this project, we are able to finish the first prototype in just two weeks.

Process

 The first prototype we made

 Experimenting with an ST7789-driven 1.3’ LCD Screen

The whole product development process is rather exciting. I managed to learn a lot of new stuff on embedded hardware, from RISC-V to FreeRTOS. One of the most satisfying part for me is the solution of how to deal with camera mounting.

The original mounting method from is connect through a 22pin FPC cable, but it’s too fragile. So I went to Huaqiangbei and started search for a better solution. Eventually I decided to use the NGFF connector, which is normally used on SSD card mounting. In addition, its foolproof property enabled us to make a design that can let the user place the camera module facing front or back 

Future

The final product has been released earlier this year. Until now, this product series has been used by more than ten school clients across in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Our initial outlook for this product series was helping users to create their AI-related project more quickly and more convenient, without hassle. Now we are making further improvements on its extensibility and Linux compatibility.