EYE on NPI - Qualcomm & Arduino UNO Q Microcontroller Board

This week's EYE ON NPI is as mysterious and powerful as the extra-dimensional being from Star Trek (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(Star_Trek)) - it's the new Arduino UNO Q (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/arduino/uno-q-microcontroller-board) microcontroller board, released as part of the Qualcomm/Arduino acquisition announcement (https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2025/10/qualcomm-to-acquire-arduino-accelerating-developers--access-to-i). This Uno-shaped board is packed with both an STM32 microcontroller and a Qualcomm Dragonwing microprocessor so you get the best-of-both-worlds: 3.3V/5V logic compatibility with timers and ADCs, plus a full Debian install and AI support for running local vision models. We last checked in on Arduino we were reviewing their new announcements based on a partnership with Renesas: the Arduino Nano R4 SoC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLAI41ZfCfw) which is a miniaturized version of the UNO R4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0EU8urz5M). These boards feature an Arm microcontroller, with lots of fun on-board accessories like an LED grid, Qwiic connector, and WiFi/Bluetooth module. These boards represented a bump in capabilities over the classic UNO R3 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/arduino/A000073/3476357) but are still under-powered compared to the 'Portenta' line (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/arduino/ABX00045/15294134). So, when we see the Arduino UNO Q (https://www.digikey.com/short/qc9d09fm) is a merging of three separate 'strands' of Arduino development history. One, it's shaped and has hardware-compatibility with the classic UNO which has been their mainstay for decades. Two, it has the powerful microcontroller type that the Pro line features. And three, it revives some of the Linux-based boards that Arduino had previously released like the Yun (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/arduino/A000008/4486331), Tian (https://docs.arduino.cc/retired/boards/arduino-tian/) and Tre (https://docs.arduino.cc/retired/boards/arduino-tre). What sets the Q apart is that this time instead of being just a chip-supplier partnership, Arduino has been acquired as a subsidiary of Qualcomm (https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2025/10/qualcomm-to-acquire-arduino-accelerating-developers--access-to-i) which means that there's going to be first-class engineering support for the onboard Dragonwing processor. Speaking of, let's take a look at the hardware included in the new Q! There's two chipsets on each board: the big processor is a Qualcomm Dragonwing™ QRB2210 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/qualcomm/QRB-2210-0-NSP752-TR-00-0/27904331) - 64-bit System-on-Chip with 4 × Arm Cortex-A53 running at 2.0 GHz and Adreno 702 GPU running at 845 MHz for 3D graphics. This chip runs mainline Debian OS with upstream support so you can configure a kernel and distribution image without needing patches. Arduino and Qualcomm distribute their own ready to go image too (https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/uno-q/update-image/). This chip has modern A/V support with both CSI camera and DSI MIPI display capability to match. Those high speed connects are available on the dual 60-pin bottom connects - while there isn't a sub-connect board right now, it's likely that Arduino will develop one soon. Meanwhile, you can use their documentation (https://docs.arduino.cc/hardware/uno-q/) such as STEP and Gerber files if you want to start adding a direct-plug integration into your hardware now. The second chipset is a STM32U585 Arm Cortex-M33 with 2 MB Flash, 786 kB SRAM and running at 160 MHz - it runs the Arduino Core via Zephyr OS and from the block diagram, looks like it communicates with the main core via UART and SPI. The STM is what handles GPIO, PWM, ADC, DAC, timers, etc since it is 3.3V logic and has some 5V logic-level compatibility. The main headers on the Arduino - and some of the bottom extra headers - expose the STM logic so you can connect standard sensors, OLEDs, relays etc. While there are some GPIO from the Dragonwing also available, they're 1.8V logic and are already allocated in the Linux Device tree. The Arduino UNO Q (https://www.digikey.com/short/qc9d09fm) is available for pre-order right now from DigiKey for a door-busting $44! We've already put in our order, and we'll do a project to check it out as soon as it arrives. After you get your pre-order in, check out some of the projects that have already been published to get a sense of the Q's capabilities like this MAME emulation arcade cabinet (https://projecthub.arduino.cc/jcarolinares/arduino-uno-q-arcade-cabinet-machine-39dd38) or face-recognition car (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGDxAXpH_Ag). You can start dreaming of what you'll be able to do with a full computer + microcontroller board that fits where your old UNO R3 would fit, while you wait for the shipping notification.