MikroElektronika has designed Hexiwear, a wearable development kit that you can wear and hack as a smartwatch thanks to an (optionally) included wristband, or use a an IoT development kit thanks to its docking station taking up to three “Click” boards among a choice of over 180 modules. .
Hexiwear hardware specifications:
- MCU – NXP Kinetis K64x ARM Cortex-M4 MCU @ 120 MHz with 1MB Flash and 256KB SRAM
- Storage – 8 MB Flash memory
- Display – 1.1” full color OLED display with capacitive touch
- Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE and 802.15.4 via NXP Kinetis KW4x Cortex-M0+ wireless MCU
- Sensors -3D accelerometer and magnetometer (NXP FXOS8700CQ), 3-Axis gyroscope (NXP FXAS21002), pressure sensor (NXP MPL3115A2R1), light-to-digital converter, humidity and temperature sensor, heart-rate sensor (HRM)
- USB – micro USB cable for power and charging
- Misc – RGB LED, haptic feedback engine, docking connector
- Battery – 190 mAh 2C Li-Po battery; 600 mA single-cell Li-Ion/Li-Po battery charger (NXP MC34671)
- Dimensions – N/A
The platform can be controlled by Hexiwear app – available for Android and iOS – developed by WalkAbout, and capable of gathering data from all the sensors, turning individual sensors on and off, and programming the device over the air (OTAP). The app can also store the data into Wolkabout Cloud. Hexawear firmware source code can already be found in Github,and you can modify it with Kinetis Design Studio (KDS) free IDE based on Eclipse.
But one cool feature of the wearables development platform is that you can take it out of its bracelet, and insert it into Hexiwear docking station with three mikroBUS sockets with SPI, UART, I2C, PMW, Analog input and power signals that can take three of MikroElektronika’s 180+ Click boards, and allows programming over a micro USB port. This looks great for development, but not so much for a final product, which is why all hardware design files for Hexiwear, and I assume its docking station, will be made available on MikroElektronika GitHub account, as well as on NXP’s Kinetis Designs website, making it an open source hardware project.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351029401/hexiwear-a-wearable-development-kit-for-the-iot-er
The company decided to launch the kit on Kickstarter where they aim to raise at least $20,000. Pledges start at $37 for Hexiwear, a USB cable, and a software cover, but you’ll need to spend $49 to get the wristband with the kit, and $57 for a full kit including Hexiwear docking station. You’d still need to purchase Clikc boards separately as they are not offered as part of any rewards. Shipping is not included, and adds $14 for all rewards, except distributors packs (50 to 100 pieces). Delivery is scheduled in April and May 2016.
Hexiwear is currently being showcased at Embedded World 2016 in NXP and Mouser booths.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Hexiwear docking station appears to be an official NXP product now: “NXP Rapid IoT prototyping kit is priced at $49.99 and will be available for purchase in Q2 2018.”